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Natural history collections have served as libraries of our world’s biodiversity for centuries. These libraries—holding plants, fungi and insects—are known as herbaria. There are over 3,565 herbaria

This June, I attended the annual Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) meeting in Edinburgh, UK. SPNHC is an international society whose mission is to improve the

Volunteers have always been integral to Denver Botanic Gardens’ success. In fact, our natural history collections are the result of hard work by devoted volunteers. Kathryn Kalmbach and several other

Greetings from the new head curator of natural history collections, Jennifer Ackerfield (me!). Although I am new to the Gardens, I have been studying the flora of Colorado for over 20 years. Many of

Thanks to funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Award ID: MA-30-18-0410-18), all of Denver Botanic Gardens’ natural history collections have been safely moved into their new home

Join Gardens’ adjunct researcher Dr. Don Hazlett for a look into the field of ethnobotany. Dr. Hazlett will be giving the second talk in our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our

Denver Botanic Gardens and University of Denver (DU) are currently collaborating to conduct research that documents climate change effects on native flora in Colorado. We have been using preserved specimens from the Gardens Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and other regional herbaria to determine if flowering time has changed over the last 100 years. A preserved plant with reliable label data is proof positive that it existed in a specific place at a specific time in the state it is shown.

Forty years ago, a family physician named Dr. Sam Mitchel turned a hobby into a real scientific endeavor by establishing a "mushroom collection" at Denver Botanic Gardens. The fungal collection at the