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Abstract Detail



Paleobotanical Section

Clark, Lia [1], Pigg, Kathleen B. [2], Basham, M. Anne [3], Makings, Elizabeth [3], Landrum, Leslie [4], Fertig, Walter [3].

Vascular Plant and Lichen Herbaria and Fossil Plant Collections at Arizona State University have a new off-campus home.

In May 2013, the ASU Natural History collections were consolidated from several disjunct locations on main campus and moved to a newly renovated off-campus building 3 miles away at 734 W. Alameda in Tempe. Moved were Vascular Plant and Lichen Herbaria, Fossil Plants, Hasbrouck Insect, Malacology and Vertebrate Collections. A 24,000 sq. ft. area houses our collections, research and outreach facilities including a display hall, classrooms, library, kitchen and patio. The facility officially opened in October, 2014. Plant, lichen and fossil plant holdings comprise a prominent part of these collections. The ASU Vascular Plant Herbarium, rich in Sonoran Desert plants, is facilitated by Liz Makings and houses the offices of Professors Emeriti Donald J. Pinkava and Leslie R. Landrum. Pinkava continues his work on Opuntia; Landrum works on American Myrtaceae and edits CANOTIA, a journal of Arizona botany and mycology. Liz Makings' expertise is in grasses and plants of the Southwest. The Herbarium is significantly involved with SEINet (Southwest Environmental Information Network), an information pool databasing Southwest plants from 85 herbaria in 26 states and Mexico. In 2013 there were 258,000 visits, representing 145,000 new users. Currently, 200,000 of ASU's 292,000 vascular plant specimens are databased in SEINet. The Lichen Herbarium, established by Thomas Nash III in 1971, is currently being curated by Walter Fertig. It has 115,000 accessioned specimens, making it the 5th largest lichen collection in the US, and houses over 450 type specimens, being especially rich in vouchers from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and northern Mexico. The Fossil Plant collections include specimens supporting our research in Tertiary floras of North America, particularly from North Dakota and Washington. We have excellent teaching and comparative live plant collections, many from the work of James E. Canright and his students. Education and Outreach coordinator Anne Basham also acts as Project Director of the Biota 3D Lab that develops innovative learning tools using new augmented reality technologies. This semester we are collaborating with Basham on a display on plant evolution for the Hayden Library “Nature of Creation” exhibit. We participated in other outreach activities such as ASU's Night of the Open Door and taught Plant Diversity and Evolution in the onsite classroom. By bringing all of the collections together in a central place, the new facility has fostered new opportunities for students and volunteers, new research and outreach collaborations; and is promoting the visibility and significance of natural history.


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Related Links:
TaxonBytes
SEINet
ASU SoLS Natural History Collections
ASU Paleobotany & Vascular Plant Morphology


1 - Arizona State University, School Of Life Sciences, 410 E. Beth Drive, Phoenix, AZ, 85042, USA
2 - Arizona State University, School Of Life Sciences Faculty & Admin, Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA
3 - Arizona State University
4 - Arizona State University, Plant Biology-Arizona St Univ, PO Box 871601, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1601, USA

Keywords:
natural history
outreach
collaborative
herbarium
fossils.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPB008
Abstract ID:1285
Candidate for Awards:None


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