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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.

Digitalization of the data included in the herbarium specimen sheets of VALA (Spain)

mafermo@upvnet.upv.es

España

Database

Cost (USD): 

2000

VALA

Universitat Politècnica de València

Objective:

The main objective is to transfer the data included in the label of each herbarium sheet to Elysia database and upload this information to GBIF and BDBCV. Secondary objectives are to promote public outreach and to disseminate scientific knowledge and to provide training and build capacity to a student.

Timetable:

At our university, with a budget of $2,000, we can hire a person for up to 100 hours (more details available at https://www.servipoli.es/). The student can work up to 15 hours per week during two months and a half. This would enable us to digitize approximately one-third of the herbarium and to upload these data on GBIF and BDBCV. However, securing the grant would be invaluable in promoting the importance of our herbarium and significantly advancing the digitization process.

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.

  • 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)

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  • 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)

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  • 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

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Year of last successful SCG application:

Has applicant applied for SCG before?:

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Plan:

1. Digitize Specimen Data
- Capture high-quality images of each herbarium sheet to facilitate accurate data transcription with minimal handling.
- Continue data digitization using ELYSIA, an open-source software developed by the Spanish Node of GBIF for managing biological collections (https://gbif.es/en/software/elysia/).
2. Share and integrate data
- Upload VALA’s data on GBIF. We will share species-level (taxonomic), species-occurrence data, and sampling-event data. To optimize efficiency, we will align our dataset with the identifiers used by the GBIF-Spain node in general and Herbarium VAL in particular.
- Contribute to The Biodiversity Data Bank of the Valencian Community (BDBCV) (https://bdb.gva.es/es/), the region’s largest platform for recording species distribution data.
3. Promote public outreach and to disseminate scientific knowledge
- Promote our project through local media, including UPV’s website, UPV television news, and institutional social networks.
4. Provide training and build capacity.
- Train a student in herbarium management and plant conservation techniques. We aim to hire a student in Biology, Agronomy, or Forestry who has an interest in botany, providing hands-on experience in specimen handling, data management, and conservation practices. The student could also learn about and promote the importance of herbaria and natural history collections.

Institution:

IH Code:

Country:

Target areas:

Applicant First Name/s:

email:

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"Other" target:

Maria Ferriol Molina

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Applicant Last Name/s:

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