Professors’ Projects

Here is a brief description from Cara about the herbarium and the work she is doing. Excellent job Cara! 

The Margaret H. Fulford Herbarium at UC was founded in 1927 and contains about 118,500 specimens. The herbarium serves as the official herbarium for Spring Grove Cemetery and Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. 

Our ongoing projects are as follows: 

1. Global Bryophyte & Lichen Thematic Collections Network 

2. All-Asia Thematic Collections Network (TCN) 

3. CSBR: Natural History: Relocation & critical updates to storage, curation & digital access to the Margaret H. Fulford Herbarium 

While Asia is the largest continent on Earth, it also includes the earth’s largest mountains and the largest variety of habitats. More than 1/3 of the earth’s 350,000 species grow there. Scientific research about this diversity is difficult because most of these specimens have not been put on a digitized platform. This project’s specimens focus on five biodiversity hot spots that include 20% of the earth’s vascular plant flora. These hot spots once covered 3 million k2 and now cover less than 300,000 km2 (about half the area of Texas). Online data for these hotspots are limited, along with the research to identify species based on their characteristics and study the responses plants are showing to the earth’s accelerated climate change. 

My job is to digitize herbarium specimens (see more of Cara’s work here) of Asian vascular plants to propel biodiversity discovery and help create relationships among 25 consortium institutions in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Some I find dated all the way back to the 1800s. I analyze their original label and use state of the art tools to enter them into a digital database. The All-Asia Thematic project is digitizing 3 million Asian vascular plant specimens from various US herbaria while aggregating & mobilizing the digitized records from the project with international partners in China, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. This project will enhance learning for science degree-based students by taking a closer look at biodiversity challenges and solutions for the future. While this project is fast paced and a little different from the nursery and hydroponics growing side of horticulture (both of which I have gained experience from), I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I am learning, and it feels accomplishing to be part of something so beneficial for future biodiversity. 

BS Horticulture Assistant Professor Educator, Brian Grubb, Assistant Director Bear Pantry and Resource Center, Joy Kostansek and UC LCB Real Estate, Urban Agriculture certificate student, Benjamin Booker spent 3 days in Columbus at the Urban Food Systems Symposium. The three presented a poster on their work developing the Bearcat Pantry and Resource Centers Urban Food Garden.  The poster was well received during the 1.5-hour session on the first day of the event. The symposium included a one-day tour of gardens and food enterprises in Ohio.

Specifically, the BS Horticulture program and Urban Agriculture Certificate have integrated 4 UC courses into the gardens develop by integrating student learning outcomes from these courses. The horticulture program and its students can work and create in this space in fall semester, with HORT 3042, Urban Landscapes: Agriculture. During the spring semester, HORT 4012 Plant Propagation, students are starting the plants for the garden, and in summer, HORT 3031 Edible Sustainable Landscapes, students have to opportunity to grow and develop the garden. Additionally, two DAAP students, Sam Lorenc, BS HORT and Maddie Liauw BS ARCH were hired as interns to care for the garden in 2024.

UC faculty Dave Volkman and Brian Grubb are registered (license) in Hemp cultivation with the Ohio Department of Agriculture Hemp Program. All hemp plants are grown in accordance with Ohio State laws as outlined by the Hemp program. Students gain experience working with hops (Humulus lupulus) and hemp (Cannabis sativa) from completing this course. The class is part of the Cannabis Studies Certificate and attracts students with multi-disciplinary backgrounds.