From the Field to the Folder: Workshop on Herbarium Specimen Curation and Best Practices

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

The vision of CSBR is preservation of biological collections in the U.S. that will lead to new discoveries through research and better understanding and appreciation of biodiversity through improved education and outreach, resulting in improved environmental and economic policies. This workshop seeks to engage students, women and individual from groups under-represented in STEM. The activities proposed will broaden participation by targeting curators and managers at MSIs in Georgia and adjacent states. This award will support participant costs and supplies for a workshop for collections managers and curators with the goal consolidating efforts of the Georgia Herbarium Alliance Consortium. The workshop would provide participants with hands-on training in best practices in workflows that are critical to collections security, preservation and digitization. In addition to targeting herbaria within Georgia, the workshop seeks to enhance practices in neighboring states and use expertise from iDigBio personnel in training activities. These activities strengthen the infrastructure for biodiversity research, goals of the Collections in Support of Biological Research (CSBR) and the Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) programs. The CSBR program supports collection security and preservation while the ADBC program increase visibility and access to data and images for millions of biological specimens through digitization. These data are made available to the research community, government agencies, students, educators, and the general public. Improving the ability of natural history collections managers and curators in Georgia and surrounding states will strengthen this resource and include the best practices learned as part of the normal workflow in their facilities.