Small Collections Grant
This page is used to provide assessment scores for each grant application assigned to you. Please use the rubric below the grant details to enter your assessment scores and any notes you wish to include.
Please note that all scores entered must be whole numbers (no decimals), or you will be unable to save this form.
Enhancing herbarium collection with rare and endangered native plants from New Mexico and the southwestern United States
United States
Conserve
Cost (USD):
1999
ABQBGH
ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden
Objective:
The primary objective of this project is to improve the ABQ BioPark’s herbarium by prioritizing, preserving and cataloguing key specimens of rare and endangered species from New Mexico and the southwestern United States. Many of these species are under-represented in herbaria and are of high value for research, education and conservation. A secondary objective of this project is to establish a systematic and sustainable process for adding new specimens to the collection to address and prevent backlog. All specimens will be digitized, published online and included in our database.
Timetable:
We expect to complete the project’s primary objective within one year. Collecting, pressing, and drying specimens will occur during the growing season (roughly March through October). Accessioning, mounting, labeling, digitization, and data entry will be done in the off season.
The collection specialist will train and supervise a small team of highly skilled volunteers to increase the project’s capacity and input as many specimens as possible within the project’s first year.
At the end of the year, the collection specialist will finalize and distribute herbarium protocol for future use by BioPark staff. This protocol will alleviate backlog and guide strategic accessions for the herbarium’s small collection.
We anticipate the collection specialist will work five hours per week for 24 weeks of 2021. Their work will be amplified with the assistance from the volunteers.
The BioPark’s strategic plan calls for a permanent full-time collection manager to oversee ongoing herbarium work.
Scoring Rubric
Reviewer's name:
Collection Improvement (max. 120 points)
-
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.
-
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.
-
Curating specimens (e.g., updating families, species identification, identifying types) – up to 20 points.
-
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.
-
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)
-
Match between the proposed budget and methods for the aims described – up to 10 points.
-
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.
-
Sharing duplicate specimens with other herbaria – up to 10 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Broader Impacts (max. 40 points)
-
Degree of regional importance of the collection or the taxonomic importance of the targeted collection – up to 10 points.
-
The project will yield durable benefits (specimens, digitized metadata, databases, websites) – up to 15 points.
-
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:
The ABQ BioPark will hire a part-time collection specialist to oversee the herbarium’s digitization, data entry and online publishing for one year. Currently, herbarium work is done entirely by volunteers. A dedicated staff person will ensure that the BioPark’s ex-situ collection of rare and endangered plants is fully represented in the herbarium. Targeted species include Mentzelia conspicua and Cirsium wrightii. Other species from the BioPark’s display and greenhouse collections will be prioritized for representation in the herbarium.
The collection specialist will document all accession procedures for future implementation by full time staff and volunteers under the direction of the BioPark’s Curator of Plants.
The collection specialist will facilitate partnerships between the BioPark and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC). These critical connections support the BioPark’s IUCN Red List assessments and conservation plans, particularly for medicinal plants. They will increase engagement with botanists, academics, researchers, natural resource managers and other herbaria.
Herbarium specimens of rare and endangered plants will support work with regional conservation agencies and botanical facilities.
This project will modernize the ABQ BioPark’s small herbarium and establish a sustainable system to support robust and enduring research, conservation and education programs.
Institution:
IH Code:
Country:
Target areas:
Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Maria Thomas
Applicant Last Name/s: