Partnership to the Macrofungi Collection Consortium for the Richard Homola Mycological Herbarium

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The goal of this project is to add 8,000 macrofungi specimens from the Richard Homola Mycological Collection at the University of Maine to the Macrofungi Collection Consortium (MaCC). Label information for each specimen will be digitized along with supplementary 35mm color slides, field notes, and scanning electron micrographs of spores. The data and images will be publically accessible through the MyCoPortal and iDigBio websites for research and public use. Student training, course development, and public engagement through workshops are also goals of this project.A primary goal of the MaCC is to understand the diversity of macrofungi and their symbiotic partners. Additionally, understanding how these attributes, diversity and interactions, have changed over time, and informed human endeavors is critical. Maine covers half of the area of New England and contains a diversity of habitats, including eastern deciduous forest and northern boreal forest, which support a remarkable diversity of fungi. The Homola herbarium contains extensive collections from Maine by Dr. Homola and will fill historical and geographic gaps in the MaCC data. This award is made as part of the National Resource for Digitization of Biological Collections through the Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections program and all data resulting from this award will be available through the national resource (iDigBio.org).