Curatorial Support for the Field Museum Herbarium

菲尔德自然历史博物馆的植物标本馆收藏了250万份标本，集中覆盖了中美洲和南美洲地区，是西半球第五大植物标本库。通过馆长的研究和调查活动，通过与其他植物标本馆的交流，以及通过私人收藏的捐赠，植物标本馆正在积极扩大其馆藏。来自世界各地的植物学家都依赖于植物标本室的标本，这些标本可以通过访问调查人员和借阅的方式获得。博物馆已经启动了一项雄心勃勃的计划，为植物标本室建造新的收藏区，这将缓解馆藏的拥挤，允许目前无法获得的标本进行处理和提供，并为多年的收藏增长提供空间。博物馆植物部主席约翰·恩格尔博士制定了一个三年计划，使所有积压的标本可用，并实施向新建的收藏区过渡的第一阶段。自然历史标本的收藏，如菲尔德博物馆的植物标本室，是研究地球生物多样性的重要资源。这些资源的持续增长和改进对于当前对生态学、进化、全球变化（以及其他研究领域）的调查和未来几代研究人员都是至关重要的。

The Herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History contains 2.5 million mounted specimens with concentrated coverage of Central and South American areas, and is the fifth largest repository of plant specimens in the western hemisphere. The Herbarium is actively expanding its holdings through the research and survey activities of its Curators, through exchanges with other herbariums, and through donations of private collections. Botanists from around the world rely on access to the specimens in the Herbarium which are made available to visiting investigators and through loans. The Museum has initiated an ambitious plan to construct new collection storage areas for the Herbarium, and this will relieve crowding in the collection, allow currently inaccessible specimens to be processed and made available, and provide room for many years of collection growth. Dr. John Engel, Chairman of the Museum's Botany Department, has devised a three-year plan to make all backlogged specimens available, and to implement the first phase of transition to the newly constructed collection area. Collections of natural history specimens such as the Field Museum's Herbarium are critical resources for the study of biological diversity on Earth. Continued growth and improvement of these resources is essential for current investigations into ecology, evolution, global change (among other areas of inquiry), and for future generations of researchers.