Herbarium opens in University library
Fans of popular criminal investigation shows on television will appreciate the significance of today's launch of a herbarium at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
That’s because scientists on these TV programs often rely on herbariums (extensive reference collections of pressed and preserved plant specimens) to identify or match forensic evidence found at crime scenes.
The main users of the University’s new facility, however, will be academics, researchers, students and community members with more of an interest in botany than criminology.
Contained within the collection are about 8,000 plant specimens of trees, shrubs, herbs and weed species from across the entire greater Sunshine Coast region.
The collection, which was started in 1950 and includes valuable historical records of plant distributions in many areas prior to clearing, is housed in a climate-controlled room in the USC Library.
Library staff have started digitising the specimens for a virtual herbarium that will be accessible to researchers world-wide via the Internet.
The University has thanked those who have contributed to the establishment of the herbarium, particularly the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries - which donated the herbarium to the University - and to Hessie and Keith Lindsell of Buderim who helped fund the project.
The herbarium is expected to be used by USC staff and students, visiting researchers, the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, local councils and land care groups.
— Terry Walsh