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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Natural Science

Meet the new Curator of Vertebrate Collections at the MSU Museum

IBIO Faculty Chan Kin Onn to curate collection

By Caleb Hess | Aug 27, 2025 |  
A man holding a preserved snake in a jar smiles at the camera. Behind him, multiple other preserved animal specimens can be found.
Chan joins MSU from the University of Kansas. Here, Chan holds a specimen from the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute's herpetology collection. Courtesy photo.

The Michigan State University (MSU) Museum announced on Wednesday the appointment of Chan Kin Onn, PhD, as the newest Curator of Vertebrate Collections. Chan is an Assistant Professor in the department of Integrative Biology within the College of Natural Science. Chan is one of two new curators appointed in the Fall of 2025, alongside Micah Ling, appointed as Curator of the Michigan Traditional Arts Research Collections.

These appointments mark a significant expansion of the Museum’s curatorial capacity and its commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, research,and community engagement.

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“The MSU Museum is transforming to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world,” said Devon Akmon, Director of the MSU Museum. “These new curators reflect our continued commitment to building a 21st-century collaboratory—an innovative space where the sciences, arts, cultures, and technologies intersect. Their expertise will help shape the future of our collections, exhibitions, and programs as we deepen our connections with communities and expand our impact across disciplines.”

From field, to museum, to back again

Dr. Chan will serve as Curator of Vertebrate Collections and is an Assistant Professor in MSU’s Department of Integrative Biology. His research explores the evolution of Southeast Asian amphibians and reptiles, biodiversity conservation, and genomics, while his curatorial focus will enhance the Museum’s natural science collections and support experiential learning in evolutionary science and ecology.

These curatorial appointments align with the MSU Museum’s strategic goals as it prepares to reopen in January 2026 following a major renovation. The expanded curatorial team will contribute to future exhibitions, collections stewardship, research collaborations, and public- facing programs that support MSU’s land-grant mission.

A man wearing a headlamp examines a field workstation.
Chan, seen here preparing gecko specimens for a field expedition in Borneo, is an evolutionary biologist in the department of Integrative Biology. Courtesy photo.

Chan Kin Onn is interested in understanding how biodiversity is generated, partitioned, and distributed across space and time. In particular, his research focuses on complex speciation scenarios involving gene flow, continuous morphological variation, and varied evolutionary histories. He enjoys exploring various methods to elucidate how genotype, phenotype, and the environment interact to drive the formation, maintenance, or collapse of species boundaries.

This story is adapted from a release prepared by the MSU Museum. For more information, please visit museum.msu.edu.