Bionomia, https://bionomia.net was borne from a thought experiment - an idea that there is utility in stitching together digital tokens that represent natural history specimens and digital tokens that represent human collectors and determiners. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID), Wikidata, and other networks and inititatives form the foundation for this new, global way to pivot on the names of people and to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments. Active, public linking activities like this have a role to play in what might be a Digital Extended Specimen and is a litmus test of our present-day capacity to realize such a grand vision. But, there is more than mechanics at play when linking specimens to people. Anyone with a passing curiosity in genealogy, a desire to honor their peers and their academic advisors, or a wish to learn about the characters that formed their local natural history museum or herbarium is struck by something deeper here than mere links between tokens. Bionomia is a simple project that, through the decisions and openly shared linking actions made by its users, occasionally illuminates the darkness of colonial pasts, enlightens us about the unrecognized champions of natural history, and elevates our future scholars and natural historians. Let's be mindful of these motivations as the informatics landscape unfolds. Let's remind ourselves and our decision-makers that the narratives in our natural history collections are holistic, human stories imbued with emotion. These are the engines of agency that Bionomia aspires to empower.