Herbarium Internship

When I started at UCSC, I felt a little underequipped to handle some plant science questions. To improve my plant skills, I started attending volunteer sessions at the Norris Center Herbarium. There, I’ve met many great botanists like Al Keuter, Ken Kellman, and Lise Peterson, who helped me grow a love of botany.

To help my understanding of Elkhorn Slough’s native plants, I started contributing specimens to the Norris Center. I have so far collected 22 specimens from Elkhorn Slough, consisting of Salicornia pacifica, Frankenia salina, Distichlis spicata, Spergularia macrotheca, and more. I hope to gain a fuller understanding of the range of species that inhabit the marshes I study.

Now that I have established a stronger botany background, I have started to support other students. The Norris Center recently received funding from the California Institute for Biodiversity to work through a 5000 specimen backlog of Randall Morgan’s collections. This has allowed us to bring on interns to support this project.

I contribute by organizing a team of undergraduate students through the ENVS department internship, facilitating their learning in specimen collection, notetaking, mounting, data accession, and more.