Databasing, Curating, and Protecting: A proposal to update and modernize the University of Washington Herbarium

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A grant has been awarded to the University of Washington under the direction of Dr. R. Olmstead to improve the long-term preservation of and access to the University of Washington Herbarium's (WTU) vascular plant, nonvascular plant, and fungal collections. The University of Washington Herbarium is the largest herbarium in the Pacific Northwest, with over 570,000 specimens divided among vascular plants, cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens), fungi, and algae. The collections are an invaluable botanical resource because they support systematics, floristics, and conservation biology research both nationally and internationally. The goals of this project include replacing wooden specimen cases with steel ones, converting the outdated compactor system from electronics based to mechanical assist, databasing all western North America vascular plant specimens, and curating the moss and lichen collections. The purchase of steel herbarium cases will protect tens of thousands of specimens against pest, fire, or water damage. Currently these specimens are exposed to these risks due to their storage in wooden cabinets. Archival storage specialists will be contracted to convert the existing mobile storage unit to mechanical assist in order to eliminate further reliance on a 22 year-old electronic system for which neither spare parts nor trained maintenance personnel are available. Housing specimens in modern cases, and having operable storage equipment will ensure that the collections are available to current and future users of all backgrounds. A database manager will be hired to supervise the databasing of WTU's Pacific Northwest vascular plant collection. A curator with graduate-level training in systematics will be hired to curate the moss and lichen collections. These important collections, including specimens resulting from recent biotic surveys, have not received the attention of a trained expert in over 20 years. The activities of this project support the University of Washington's mission of research, education, and public outreach. Improved storage of and accessibility to WTU's specimens ensures novel opportunities for the scholarly use of the collections by on and off-site researchers for generations to come. Participation in this project by undergraduate students provides training opportunities in museum curation and research. Importantly, the impact of this project extends well beyond the scientific and university community. Users of WTU's collections include the public, students from all education levels, government agency personnel, and conservation-oriented non-profit organizations. Reliable access to properly stored and curated specimens ensures their long-term availability to a broad audience.