Small Collections Grant
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Unveiling the botany vocation of undergraduate students through a herbarium experience
Brazil
Database, Digitally image, Process backlog, Conserve
Cost (USD):
2000
FLOR
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Objective:
Our main goals are 1.To speed up the process of incorporation and digitization of accumulated specimens in Herbarium FLOR due to a shortage of collaborators in the last months, & 2.To offer an opportunity for undergrad students (Biology, Agronomy & related areas) who feel a vocation for botany to consolidate their professional inclination, by experiencing the routine of work in Herbarium FLOR through a temporary paid internship. In order to provide this opportunity in the most favorable conditions, we also aim to improve the safety conditions, maintenance and working supplies now available.
Timetable:
The acquisition and installation of digital door lock, extractor fan and paper trimmer will be executed as soon as the grant is available, in order to prepare the installations for the reception of interns.
We will open two calls in a period of one year, granting 6 months of paid internship to two students in each call (renovations will be allowed depending on the students’ performances), for which they will dedicate 12 hr/week on a schedule compatible with their didactic obligations. The students will receive training from the curators and will be closely accompanied by them during their first weeks, and after the 6 month period, they will be asked to write a report describing their activities and their perceptions on how the experience affected their initial vocation/ appreciation to Botany.
Scoring Rubric
Reviewer's name:
Collection Improvement (max. 120 points)
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Facilitating access to the physical collections by digitization (e.g., data entry, setting up database structure with an outline of the platform to be used, purchasing equipment, and imaging specimens) – up to 30 points.
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Enhancing physical collections by improving the conservation status of specimens in the herbarium (e.g., better folders, protecting covers, mounting paper, labeling, etc.) – up to 30 points.
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Curating specimens (e.g., updating families, species identification, identifying types) – up to 20 points.
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Increasing our understanding of the flora or funga by making new herbarium specimens available, such as processing of backlog or collecting and mounting of new specimens from understudied sites – up to 20 points.
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Securing collections by distribution of duplicates (or orphan collections) to other regional or international herbaria or shipping endangered collections to another herbarium – up to 20 points.
This proposal scores:
/120
Methods & Funding (max. 40 points)
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Match between the proposed budget and methods for the aims described – up to 10 points.
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Perceived need, the extent to which the project will benefit from IAPT funding: e.g., due to active floristic work or contribution to poorly collected sites, due to threatened conditions of collections, and for the degree of involvement of others (outreach and education). We give more points for herbaria in low- and middle-income countries – up to 20 points.
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Sharing duplicate specimens with other herbaria – up to 10 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Broader Impacts (max. 40 points)
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Degree of regional importance of the collection or the taxonomic importance of the targeted collection – up to 10 points.
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The project will yield durable benefits (specimens, digitized metadata, databases, websites) – up to 15 points.
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The project involves outreach/mentoring and broad dissemination – up to 15 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Year of last successful SCG application:
Has applicant applied for SCG before?:
Plan:
We believe that one of the most remarkable traces of a skilled taxonomist the passion for biological collections, and this is something that should be awakened and stimulated in our promising students since their early careers. We plan to open internship calls for a 6-month paid internship in the Herbarium, doing routine activities of mounting and incorporating samples in the cabinets, databasing and digitizing specimens. We will have the candidates write a short letter of intentions for them to train their writing skills and express their vocation in the area, and will select the best candidates based on their proposals and grades in the Botany discipline of their courses. We currently have a major security gap corresponding to the door that gives access to the Herbarium, which imposes risks not only to the collection, optical and digitizing equipment, but also to the staff and students working after ours or weekends, and we plan to minimize this problem by installing a digital door lock with access control by the curators. Also related to security of the users in pandemic times, or collection room needs maintenance in the ventilation system, which will be solved by the replacement of the extractor fan. Finally, we plan to improve the working conditions of the students (and ultimately, of all the contributors of the Herbarium in the future) with the acquisition of a large paper trimmer, capable of cutting mounting sheets in a rapid and neat manner.
Institution:
IH Code:
Country:
Target areas:
Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Juliana de Paula-Souza
Applicant Last Name/s: