Friends of the TRTE Herbarium

Purpose

The Friends of the TRTE Herbarium support the mission of the herbarium to serve both the scientific community and the public. The friends can help enhance the research and educational opportunities at TRTE through gracious donation of time (volunteer program) and/or funds (herbarium donations).

 

Volunteer Program

We are actively searching for people with time and enthusiasm who are interested in getting involved in volunteering. This is a great experience for all those looking for something to do or looking to gain experience in computers or the life sciences. No botanical/technical experience is necessary and there is no minimum time involvement. Some sample projects we are working on include specimen preparation/curation, typing and databasing, sorting of specimens and filing, and developing digital imaging and web pages.

 

Donations

Due to less and less funding from government and other traditional sources for botany, we are soliciting donations to defray the operating costs of the herbarium. Although we get a small sum of money from the University, it does not cover the total operating costs. Any donation to the herbarium would be a substantial contribution to us and would be used solely for herbarium operating costs. Because we must use only archival/museum quality supplies for our specimens, the costs can get rather high. Some examples of our expenditures include acid-free mounting paper, folders, fragment packets, and label paper, pH-neutral glue and gummed tape, fade-proof ink pens, insect-proof storage cases and pest management supplies, library books, etc. We have set up a “Friends of the Herbarium” donations fund, administered by the Department of Biology at the UTM. If you are interested in contributing, please contact one of the curators.

Thank you!