The Plant Press

Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium The Plant Press New Series - Vol. 17 - No. 4 October-December 2014 A Curator’s Perspective The Erosion of Collections-Based Science: Alarming Trend or Coincidence? By Vicki A. Funk* ver the last few years many ger have much of a science presence, just New York State Museum, Albany (NYS; visitors have passed through a few collections managers, emeritus cura- established in 1836; 279,000 specimens) Othe doors of the U.S. National tors and adjunct curators who have jobs Most of the research staff was let Herbarium (Herbarium Code: US) bring- elsewhere. At the time, most of us thought go a few years ago, including all of the ing depressing news about some of our this was a unique event. How could an botanists. According to the staff direc- fellow botanical institutions and research institution with 4.5 million objects and tory, there are four curators, all zoolo- centers. Institutions, which house historic specimens, spread over a broad array of gists, one of which appears to be a state and otherwise important botanical speci- departments go out of the research busi- employee. They do have collection mens, have been closed. The scientists ness? How did they think they would keep managers listed for most collections, who study, preserve, and curate them, their collections, exhibits and education including botany, but the herbarium does have been fired, downsized, forced into programs up to date? But in the nearly 10 not appear to have an active research retirement, or had their focus directed years since that event, additional examples program. away from taxonomy and systematics. of this type of nearsighted administrative When reasons are given they usually behavior has become more frequent as Brooklyn Botanical Garden (BKL; estab- involve budget shortfalls; unfortunately, research program after research program lished in 1910; 300,000 specimens) collections and research are easy targets. has taken the brunt of budget shortfalls; In August 2013, Brooklyn Botanic But when I mentioned this to one former we have become increasingly more Garden suspended its research program museum director who was visiting, his alarmed. and shuttered its herbarium. All mem- reply was, “When I was a director and bers of the Garden’s Science Department had a budget shortfall I went out and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTG; were laid off, except for one herbarium raised more money, I did not fire my established in 1936; 165,000 specimens) assistant who was transferred elsewhere staff!” Fairchild has long been active in sys- and a part-time plant mounter. The Is this a trend or a coincidence? tematic research. The board and admin- Science Department’s director was on Perhaps a more detailed examination istration decided to move to a different sabbatical at NSF and she has since left of events will provide an answer and model where they would no longer pay the the Garden for a position elsewhere. so we begin with the Milwaukee Public salaries of research staff but rather have The Director of Living Collections was Museum and continue up to the ongo- Florida International University faculty made the Director of Collections with ing recent troubles at the Royal Botanic work out of Fairchild. They currently the additional responsibility of managing Gardens, Kew. have only one research scientist working the herbarium. The staff laid off had 60 there. Over a period from 2007 to 2009, years of combined experience with BKL. n 2005 Milwaukee Public Museum the emphasis for research seems to have Currently no scientific research is being (MIL; established in 1882; 250,000 shifted from tropical systematics to ecol- conducted at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Ispecimens) eliminated science and ogy and conservation. In fact, you cannot The herbarium, once widely used by sci- fired most of its staff. If you check the even find the herbarium on the Fairchild entists especially those doing research in museum’s website it seems they no lon- website. If you search for it on Google all New York City and Long Island, remains you can find is the FTG Virtual Herbarium essentially inaccessible to the public. which contains only about half the collec- * With contributions by many individuals in Continued on page 13 the botanical community. tions. Travel Pedro Acevedo traveled to Puerto Rico England (7/12 – 9/26) to conduct research Florentinae; and to Turkey (7/17 – 8/20) (8/26 – 9/17) to conduct a floristic inven- on Commelinaceae for Flora Zambesiaca to collect for a revision of Poa in Turkey tory of a military installation in Aguadilla, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (Taurus Mts., Pontic Mts., and Mt. Ararat) to use the rare book library at the Univer- Vicki Funk traveled to Honolulu, with Evren Cabi (Namık Kemal Univer- sity of Puerto Rico in San Juan, to visit Hawaii (7/4 – 7/16) to study Compositae sity, Tekirdağ) and to present a talk on the museum home of Agustin Stahl in and to present a talk at the Island Biology phylogenetics and geography of Poa at Bayamón, to present a talk on the work of 2014 meeting at the University of Hawaii NKU. Stahl in Humacao, and to collect field data at Manoa; to Boise, Idaho (7/25 – 8/3) to Alice Tangerini traveled to Boulder, on invasive plants of Puerto Rico. attend the Botany 2014 conference; and to Colorado (7/13 – 7/19) to present a port- Walter Adey traveled to St. John’s, Oaxaca, Mexico (8/27 – 9/7) to conduct folio and a lecture at the annual meeting Canada (8/29 – 9/23) to carry out experi- field work on Compositae and participate of the Guild of Natural Science Illustra- mental research on Clathromorphum in a Ethnobotany project funded by a Con- tors; and to Boise, Idaho (7/26 – 7/30) to climate archive at the Logy Bay Marine sortium Level II grant. present a workshop at the Botany 2014 Lab at Memorial University. Amanda Grusz traveled to San Jose, conference. Ashley Egan traveled to Boise, Idaho Costa Rica (6/5 – 7/15) to lead the Organi- Alain Touwaide and Emanuela (7/26 – 7/30) to participate in the Ameri- zation for Tropical Studies (OTS) Tropical Appetiti traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia (9/7 can Society of Plant Taxonomists council Plant Systematics graduate field course; – 9/15) to attend the Conference of the meeting and to present a talk at the Botany and to Boise, Idaho (7/26 – 7/31) to pres- International Society for the History of 2014 annual meeting; and to Leiden, Neth- ent a talk at the Botany 2014 conference. Medicine, where they organized a the- erlands, Copenhagen & Aarhus, Denmark, Carol Kelloff traveled to Ithaca, New matic session on “The Silk Road and the and London, England (8/14 – 9/15) to con- York (9/10 – 9/14) to present a poster at circulation of materia medica, remedies, duct herbarium research and to present a the Plant Biology Retreat and to work and therapeutics. Methods and practices talk at the Flora of Thailand meeting held on the T.F. Lucy collection in the Bailey from China to the Mediterranean.” at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Hortorium. Warren Wagner traveled to Boise, Robert Faden traveled to London, W. John Kress traveled to Cairns, Idaho (7/18 – 7/31) to present a talk at the Australia (7/18 – 8/9) to present an invited Botany 2014 conference, to participate The Plant Press symposium at the annual conference of in the American Society of Plant Tax- the Association for Tropical Biology and onomists council meeting, and to collect New Series - Vol. 17 - No. 4 Conservation and to meet with colleagues Onagraceae DNA samples in Colorado Chair of Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. and Utah. Warren L. Wagner Gary Krupnick traveled to Honolulu, Jun Wen traveled throughout Cali- ([email protected]) Hawaii (7/6 – 7/12) to present a poster at fornia (8/1 – 8/8) to conduct field work the Island Biology 2014 meeting at the for the Vitaceae treatment of the Flora of EDITORIAL STAFF University of Hawaii at Manoa. North America; and throughout the south- Editor Sylvia Orli traveled to Panama City, east U.S. (8/10 – 8/18) to conduct further Gary Krupnick Panama (9/22 – 9/26) to attend the 7th Vitaceae field work. ([email protected]) Annual Meeting of the Global Plants Kenneth Wurdack traveled to Bronx, Initiative. New York (8/27 – 8/28) to attend a Ph.D. Copy Editors Paul Peterson traveled to Boise, Idaho defense and examination as an external Robin Everly, Bernadette Gibbons, and Rose Gulledge (7/24 – 8/13) to present two talks at the graduate committee member. Botany 2014 conference and to collect Ning Zhang traveled to Durham, News Contacts grasses in the surrounding area. North Carolina (7/14 – 7/20) to attend a MaryAnn Apicelli, Rusty Russell, Alice Eric Schuettpelz traveled to Boise, workshop on next-generation sequencing Tangerini, and Elizabeth Zimmer Idaho (7/26 – 7/31) to present a talk at the data for phylogenetics and phylogeogra- The Plant Press is a quarterly publication pro- Botany 2014 conference; and to Berkeley, phy at Duke University. vided free of charge. To receive notification of California (9/30 – 10/4) to study fern col- when new pdf issues are posted to the web, please subscribe to the listserve by sending a message lections at the University Herbaria of the to [email protected] containing only the University of California at Berkeley. following in the body of the text: SUBSCRIBE PLANTPRESS-NEWS Firstname Lastname. Rusty Russell traveled to Panama Replace “Firstname Lastname” with your name.

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