Abstract Detail

Lightning Talks – Germinating Ideas

NSF-supported upgrades to the T.M. Sperry Herbarium, Pittsburg State University.

Herbaria are critical repositories of plant data, teaching opportunities and research. Funding by the National Science Foundation has enabled label data on millions of herbarium specimens to be uploaded online. The Sperry Herbarium at Pittsburg State University received an NSF grant and has uploaded virtually all of its vascular plant and much of its bryophyte data. The facility was moved in 2021 and now occupies recently renovated quarters in Hartman Hall, where it houses 67 full and 12 half cabinets with a storage capacity of ca. 100,000 specimens. Forty (mostly) undergraduate students have participated in curatorial activities in the past nine years, and workers have documented dozens of state records (Kansas and elsewhere) and approximately 340 county records. Additional numerical highlights of interest, including the geographical origin of specimens and overall taxonomic representation in the holdings are summarized.

1 - Pittsburg State University, Department of Biology, T.M. Sperry Herbarium, 1701 S. Broadway, Pittsburg, Kansas, 66762, United States

Keywords:
Herbarium curation
digitization
student mentoring.

Presentation Type: Germinating Ideas Lightning Talk
Number: LT2005
Abstract ID:76
Candidate for Awards:None