Instructor: Dr. Michael B. Thomas
– Self-paced course –
1. INTRODUCTION
a. Video 1 (14:30 min. ) Introduction to Plant Diversity – by Craig Savage
What are plants? Where did they come from? How do we organize plants? What trends do we see in the evolution of plants?
b. Video 2 (30 min.) Field Botany: Systematics & Angiosperm Phylogeny Overview – By Colorado College OBE
c. Video 3 (4:30 min.) The New York Botanical Garden: The Steere Herbarium
Barbara Thiers, Ph.D., Director of the The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden, reveals the inner workings of this unique collection of over 7 million dried plant specimens.
d. Video 4 (5 min.) JSTOR Global Plants: Inside The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium
Take a tour of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium wtih Director Barbara M. Thiers.
e. Module 1: Review the Index Herbariorum – Search for NHR Record | Search for Dian Fossey | Search for National Museums of Kenya
Identify who are the Collection Managers and Curators for each institution.
Which of the neighboring countries to Rwanda have herbaria? How many herbaria in total within the region?
2. COLLECTING SPECIMENS
a. Video 5 (6 min.) Collecting plants for the herbarium – SIU School of Biological Sciences
Learn how to collect plants in the field in order to make herbarium specimens for your plant study!
b. Supplies and Equipment – Visit Herbarium Supply Company to browse for supplies
Review field inventory checklist – NHR Botany Field Equipment Checklist
c. Video 6 (6 min.) Pressing plants for the herbarium – SIU School of Biological Sciences
After choosing an appropriate plant to collect, learn how to press that plant in the next step of creating a herbarium specimen.
d. Video 7 (X min.) RBGE Herbarium: Basic Plant Collecting and Pressing
Filmed at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, this video provides a thorough introduction to collecting and pressing plants to make herbarium specimens.
e. Field Work Best Practices
GPS vs. Cell phone
Notebook vs. Smart Phone App.
3. PROCESSING SPECIMENS
a. Video 7 (17 min.) Herbarium specimen mounting – SIU School of Biological Sciences
b. Video 8 (16:49 min.) Mounting a Specimen – MIchigan State Univesity Herbarium
4. DATA MANAGEMENT
a. Video 9 (6 min.) Herbarium specimen imaging – SIU School of Biological Sciences
b. Video 10 (X min.) Accessioning a herbarium specimen – SIU School of Biological Sciences
c. Video 11 (X min.) Introduction to Symbiota Collections Management Data Portal Software
5. PLANT CONSERVATION
CPC Rare Plant Academy Course – Applied Plant Conservation Course
IUCN Assessor Course
BGCI’s Species Recovery Briefs – a series of six concise guidance briefs based on chapters of the Species Recovery Manual