Thank you for writing the Post article; well done! There's a smallish (100K specimens) herbarium at Clemson University. Several years ago, CU moved it to newer, larger quarters on campus. So hopefully it is safe ... for now. As a layperson who cares about plants, it saddens me to hear how other places see herbaria as dispensable simply because they don't bring in $.
I hope it remains safe! The Clemson collection is so special. We need to keep them in universities to support research and education on biodiversity--especially now when we need scholars in these fields more than ever.
Hi is there an opportunity or is it feasible for private ( individuals or non profit organizations ) to replace or supplement this service ? What is involved and critical to success of an herbaria? I am interested in healthy land and seed preservation
These are great questions. There are non-university affiliated botanical research centers and herbaria, often associated with large botanic gardens (e.g., MOBOT or NYBG). Many of the closed university herbaria have gone to sites like these. The problem is that this centralization removes specimens from universities, eliminating the possibility to train students in botany. It also removes botanical research from universities. Without herbaria in educational institutions, we won't be able to train the next generation of botanists, ecologists, and biodiversity researchers. This is alarming, especially considering the current and projected rates of species extinction.
Thank you for writing the Post article; well done! There's a smallish (100K specimens) herbarium at Clemson University. Several years ago, CU moved it to newer, larger quarters on campus. So hopefully it is safe ... for now. As a layperson who cares about plants, it saddens me to hear how other places see herbaria as dispensable simply because they don't bring in $.
I hope it remains safe! The Clemson collection is so special. We need to keep them in universities to support research and education on biodiversity--especially now when we need scholars in these fields more than ever.
Hi is there an opportunity or is it feasible for private ( individuals or non profit organizations ) to replace or supplement this service ? What is involved and critical to success of an herbaria? I am interested in healthy land and seed preservation
These are great questions. There are non-university affiliated botanical research centers and herbaria, often associated with large botanic gardens (e.g., MOBOT or NYBG). Many of the closed university herbaria have gone to sites like these. The problem is that this centralization removes specimens from universities, eliminating the possibility to train students in botany. It also removes botanical research from universities. Without herbaria in educational institutions, we won't be able to train the next generation of botanists, ecologists, and biodiversity researchers. This is alarming, especially considering the current and projected rates of species extinction.