Anniversaries and hopes for the future.
On 2nd January 1944, a thirteen-year old school-leaver called Peter Sell started work at the Herbarium at the University of Cambridge and embarked upon a lifetime in botany that gave us publications like "Sell & Murrell". |
| Herbarium volunteers, Univ. Leicester Image: L. Marsh |
Sadly, Peter died in October 2013 before he could complete a full seven decades at the Herbarium. So, as well as raising a glass to Peter's memory today, how about we try to "complete" those days for him?
Peter Sell is, of course, irreplaceable, but even relatively inexperienced botanists can make a virtual contribution to herbarium curation with Herbaria@Home. This is a good way to get started, and you can also browse collectors, check what they saw in your area - some records go back over centuries - and find out why herbaria are so important to botanists.
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| Chris Metherell in the Herbarium, Univ. Reading Image: A. Culham (?) |
If herbaria really don't appeal, there are lots of other ways to get involved with botany this year. Recording what's in flower for the New Year's Plant Hunt would be a great way to get started - and to raise a metaphorical glass to Peter Sell (1931-2013).
I too can recommend volunteering at your local herbarium - outside the larger organisations you may end up as the only botanist looking after a collection which may not have been curated for years and may even have specimens which have never been looked at - great fun and useful too.
ReplyDeleteYes, lots of interesting and valuable work for experienced botanists in herbaria - and lots of ways that beginner botanists can help out too. It's also a great way to improve your plant ID skills - flick through a herbarium folder, with lots of specimens of one particular species, and you soon get its jizz!
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