An Air of Mystery

As the newest undergraduate addition to the Herbarium, I have many things to learn: not only the many rules involved in the process of databasing, name-checking, annotating, accessioning, and foldering specimens, but also the many exceptions to the rules. Emilie has been a wonderful teacher, and so far I have learned the basics of our assembly line of organization. I now know how not to handle the specimens, how to database in such a way that anyone could pick up and continue where I left off, and what to do with mystery specimens that have no species name, no accession number, multiple species on one mounting, or no mounting at all.I have learned the importance of everyone in the Herbarium working in the same order and with the same process.

And, I have also learned things that no one tells you, like that when you have been annotating the same species for three hours, your vision tends to begin to split in two. Now I understand why shorter shifts are important. Forgetting to set aside a non-accessioned species, or forgetting to annotate a species whose scientific name and phylogeny has altered sometimes two or three times since its collection, will only lead to confusion and headaches later.

Thus far, despite the occasional split vision, working here at the Herbarium has been a very rewarding experience. At the end of each shift, I feel accomplished at the progress that I have made, even if that just means weeding out non-accessioned or unidentified specimens, or giving multiple species within the same folder a new home. I take satisfaction in knowing that everything that I do will make it all the more easier for the next person at the next step in this massive project. And, it feels good to know that when this is all finished, the whole scientific community, not just Brooks hall, will benefit from what we do here, and from what our predecessors started.

That is another thing that I love about the Herbarium. It has an air of quiet, peaceful mystery. I am fascinated by the history involved. Having grown up in the era of cold, clinical internet text, it is novel to directly handle specimens that have such history to them. Some of the specimens were collected over fifty years ago. I have seen the handwritten annotations of E.G. Voss, the author of the textbook that we are using as a guide to our phylogenic organization of the Herbarium. I feel a sort of excitement working with them, the special brand of feeling I usually only get when I hold the 100-year-old books that my great grandfather collected, or when I buy a used book that has a handwritten message to a loved, previous owner inside.

Furthermore, seeing multiple annotations on each specimen makes me realize how far we in the scientific community have come, and how much the field of botany has changed and will continue to change. I have to wonder if twenty years from now,a new set of students and professors will be shaking their heads at our out-of-date organization and our incorrect family names. Somehow, however, I doubt that Dr. Monfils will let that happen.

Until next week!

Abigail