| Year 1 of the California Phenology (CAP) Network has seen a flurry of activity across the state. A new data portal (cch2.org) now hosts over 2.4 million specimen records from 45 California herbaria; more than 215,000 specimens are imaged and accessible online; and hundreds of people, from students and volunteers to collections managers and faculty, are getting involved with herbarium digitization. This may, to an outside observer, beg the question: why are we so excited about herbarium specimens? Why are we spending our time and money to "capture California's flowers" ? |  |
One of many answers to this question is that specimens hold stories; lots of them. Behind every clump of grass carefully strapped to paper, for every bouquet of leaves and flowers delicately arranged and glued into place, there are people, places, events, and discoveries: tales that revolve around real people's lives and stories from before human history.
The purpose of this new blog is twofold: to tell stories of the present and stories of the past. Here we present practical information like news, updates, and event announcements, but here we also think deeply about the historical treasures we zealously curate. Here we hope you find content that is both useful and inspiring, a little science and a little art.
Here we tell stories.
The purpose of this new blog is twofold: to tell stories of the present and stories of the past. Here we present practical information like news, updates, and event announcements, but here we also think deeply about the historical treasures we zealously curate. Here we hope you find content that is both useful and inspiring, a little science and a little art.
Here we tell stories.
