Rehousing the Ethnobotanical and Archaeobotanical Collections of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology

密歇根大学人类学博物馆民族植物学实验室包含超过33，000个植物标本和相关文件，用于研究过去和现在植物物种的文化用途。 来自700多个考古遗址的标本为研究野生物种的驯化，气候变化以及过去10，000多年来人类与环境的相互作用提供了重要证据。 从许多世纪早期的美洲土著社区收集提供了对土著农业和生态实践的见解，对当代可持续性和生物多样性问题具有重要意义。 该奖项将提供资金，以改善这些重要收藏品的护理和记录：将它们重新安置在新的档案质量柜中，更新数据库信息，并扩大对收藏信息的物理和数字访问。沿着确保保存不可替代的民族植物学样本，该项目的更广泛的影响包括增加密歇根大学学者和学生对藏品的访问，并通过网络传播，远远超出。 此外，博物馆将发展和加强与国家和国际生物多样性和植物学组织的关系，通过互联网传播收藏信息，并将与遗产社区，特别是美洲土著部落合作，研究民族植物学知识和资源。

The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology Ethnobotanical Laboratory contains more than 33,000 botanical specimens and associated documentation for the study of cultural uses of plant species in the past and present. Specimens from more than 700 archaeological sites provide critical evidence for examining the domestication of wild species, climate change, and human interactions with the environment over the last 10,000-plus years. Collections from numerous early 20th century Native American communities provide insights into indigenous agricultural and ecological practices with important implications for contemporary issues of sustainability and biodiversity. This award will provide funding to improve the care and documentation of these important collections by: rehousing them in new archival quality cabinets, updating database information, and expanding physical and digital access to collection information. Along with assuring the preservation of irreplaceable ethnobotanical samples, the broader impacts of this project include increasing access to the collections to scholars and students at the University of Michigan and, through web dissemination, far beyond. In addition, the Museum will develop and enhance relations with national and international biodiversity and botanical organizations, disseminating collection information via the internet, and will collaborate with heritage communities, particularly Native American tribes, in studying ethnobotanical knowledge and resources.