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| University of Minnesota Herbarium | |
|---|---|
| Name | University of Minnesota Herbarium |
| Established | 1891 |
| Location | Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Collection size | ~1,000,000 specimens |
| Director | (see Notable Staff and Curators) |
| Website | (unlisted) |
University of Minnesota Herbarium The University of Minnesota Herbarium is a major North American research collection housing vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, and algal specimens that support taxonomic, floristic, and conservation studies. Founded in the late 19th century, the herbarium serves students, faculty, and international researchers affiliated with institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, and Field Museum of Natural History. Its holdings underpin collaborations with agencies including Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and academic programs at University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
The herbarium traces origins to collecting efforts linked to early Minnesota explorations and territorial surveys comparable to expeditions like the Lewis and Clark Expedition and botanical surveys associated with Frederick Law Olmsted-era landscape work. Growth accelerated during the eras of directors influenced by contemporaries at Harvard University Herbaria, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and collectors such as John Torrey, Asa Gray, and regional figures aligned with Minnesota Historical Society initiatives. Twentieth-century expansions paralleled institutional developments at University of Minnesota Twin Cities, integration with teaching programs modeled after curricula at Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley, and specimen exchanges with United States National Herbarium and state herbaria across the Great Lakes and Prairie Provinces.
The holdings encompass approximately one million preserved specimens across vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, lichens, and algae, with strengths in Laurentian Mixed Forest flora, Prairie grasses, and boreal taxa shared with repositories such as Royal Ontario Museum and Canadian Museum of Nature. Collections include type specimens and historical series collected by field botanists connected to expeditions akin to Percy F. Weston-style surveys, with comparative material exchanged with Missouri Botanical Garden and cataloged in formats similar to those used by Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Significant regional collections document floristic change in ecosystems like the Mississippi River corridor, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and prairie remnants conserved by groups like The Nature Conservancy. Complementary archival materials include field notes, maps, and correspondence associated with botanists known from institutions such as Yale University and University of Michigan.
Research at the herbarium supports taxonomic revisions, floristic inventories, and conservation assessments coordinated with faculty in departments comparable to Department of Plant Biology (Harvard), involving grants and partnerships with funders like the National Science Foundation and programmatic links to initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and Consortium of Midwest Herbaria. Graduate and undergraduate instruction integrates specimen-based courses analogous to those at University of California, Davis and Michigan State University, supervising students engaged in systematic treatments for families represented in the collections and contributing to monographs and checklists used by agencies like U.S. Forest Service and United States Geological Survey. Collaborative research includes phylogenetic studies using molecular protocols developed at laboratories like Salk Institute and bioinformatics pipelines employed by groups such as Encyclopedia of Life contributors.
Specimens are housed in climate-controlled cabinets within facilities managed according to standards set by organizations akin to Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections and equipped for loans to institutions such as Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and New York Botanical Garden. Digitization efforts align with national projects like the National Digital Herbarium model and data mobilization through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, employing imaging workflows similar to those adopted by Harvard University Herbaria and data management systems used by Integrated Digitized Biocollections. The herbarium has undertaken georeferencing campaigns and specimen imaging supported by collaborations with computational groups at University of Minnesota Twin Cities and infrastructure partners like iDigBio.
Public programs include identification clinics, exhibitions, and citizen science initiatives comparable to projects run by Missouri Botanical Garden and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Outreach partnerships with organizations such as Minnesota Historical Society, Bell Museum, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and conservation NGOs like The Nature Conservancy broaden access to specimens and databases. Educational activities engage K–12 and lifelong learners in ways similar to community science efforts by Smithsonian Institution and regional biodiversity surveys coordinated with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Curators and staff have included professionals who developed collections, curated type material, and led major digitization efforts, with career trajectories analogous to curators at New York Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Their work has intersected with scholars and institutions such as Asa Gray, John Torrey, Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Field Museum of Natural History, and funding sources like the National Science Foundation. Collaborative networks extend to herbaria across the United States and Canada, including University of Washington Herbarium, University of Michigan Herbarium, and Ottawa University Herbarium.
Category:Herbaria in the United States Category:University of Minnesota