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.
Processing the Northern Ireland Lake Survey (NILS) Backlog at the Ulster Museum Herbarium BEL
Northern Ireland
Process backlog
Cost (USD):
2000
BEL
Ulster Museum, National Museums NI
Objective:
The Ulster Museum (UM) is taking positive steps to revitalise its herbarium by employing the first botany curator in 15 years. Our objective is to have an active, accessible, well curated collection & to get the collection ready for mass-digitisation. This will enable us to contribute substantive botanical work, grow our user-base, educate new botanists & demonstrate that a fully functioning herbarium plays a vital societal role in Northern Ireland (NI) by contributing to fundamental research and biodiversity conservation. Successful fundraising initiatives are vital to this success.
Timetable:
Timetable
March 2024: submit funding proposal
April 2024: source mounting materials (budget met by UM)
June 2024: expected funding notification
July 2024 project commencement
Sept 2024 project completion
Key Project Activities
1. Induction to the herbarium, equipping the student with training in specimen handling, mounting, collections management & integrated pest management skills. To be carried out by the curator.
2. Organize the collection for mounting, sort specimens taxonomically, geographically & undertaking a rapid condition assessment. To be carried out by the curator & student.
3. Conduct an inventory assessment & prepare specimen labels. To be carried out by the curator & student.
4. Mount specimens. To be carried out by the student.
5. Input specimen data into collections management system. To be carried out by the student.
6. File collection in the herbarium. To be carried out by curator & student.
7. Communicate our project through our museum webpage and social media, engage local botanists through the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland to alert them to the new collection and invite them to use the herbarium. To be carried out by curator & student.
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:
We will meet the objectives of improving the collection curation and accessibility by processing a specimen backlog. The NILS collection comprises approximately 500 unmounted aquatic plant specimens. It is the most comprehensive study & forms the conservation baseline for lakes in NI. Aquatic habitat loss & pollution are major problems in NI. In 2023 algal blooms in Lough Neagh reached the extent that they attracted attention outside the scientific community making international news. As a result a quarter of our herbarium enquiries in 2023 concerned aquatic plants. This collection contains species that are difficult to identify in the field, making it an incredibly important reference collection. Processing the NILS collection will advance our understanding of the distribution & ecology of our aquatic flora & contribute to species conservation & environmental stewardship. It will aid specimen access, preservation, storage & processing conditions. Clearing the specimen backlog & mounting new material has largely been done with the assistance of students on an ad-hoc basis. Fine leaved aquatics are among some of the most difficult material to mount. It is hoped that by paying a student who can dedicate the necessary time specifically to this task the standard of mounting will be higher, resulting in better specimens & it will be completed in a short time frame ready to meet the needs of interested stakeholders.
Institution:
IH Code:
Country:
Target areas:
Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Rhonda Ridley
Applicant Last Name/s: