International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques

The International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques focuses on the specialist skills of herbarium curation and management, including preparing, storing, preserving and organising plant specimens and the information associated with them.

Herbarium Techniques students learning about the practicalities of mounting preserved plant specimens

Herbarium Techniques students learning about the practicalities of preparing herbarium specimens (Image: RBG Kew)

Course details

With their wide-ranging collections of preserved plant specimens, well-curated herbaria represent a vital resource for plant diversity research, enabling the accurate identification and classification of plant materials that underpin any other botanical studies or conservation activities. This course, designed primarily to meet the needs of herbarium technicians, covers many aspects of herbarium curation and management, including preparing, storing, preserving and organising plant specimens. It highlights the value of the data associated with herbarium specimens and focuses on collecting information, and then extracting, using and sharing it within the context of international biodiversity legislation. The course also offers a brief introduction to taxonomy and plant identification.

While Kew's Herbarium is undergoing an extensive reorganisation and refit, we are taking the opportunity of reviewing the Herbarium Techniques course and will be offering a revised course in 2013.

Course venue: the course is based in the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives building at Kew

Fee: £2,900 - this is an indicative fee for planning purposes
The fee covers the cost of tuition, all course notes and organised field trips. It does not include accommodation, subsistence or transport to Kew from participants’ home countries.

Who is the course designed for?

This course provides an ideal opportunity for herbarium technicians to gain skills and experience which will enable them to develop and make use of their own herbarium. Candidates should be well motivated, have a genuine and practical interest in herbarium management and preferably be employed by a recognised institution.

Participants of any nationality are welcome. There are no restrictions of age or formal qualifications, but a reasonable standard of English is essential including a knowledge of the appropriate technical terms. It is not possible to accept more than 12 participants per course. We aim to make the selection as international as possible, with priority given to countries (or areas) not previously represented.

Course objectives

The course aims to give participants:

the knowledge and skills to become a proficient herbarium technician
the insight to select methods most appropriate to the needs of their own institutes
an understanding of the principles of herbarium management
an appreciation of the value of information available in a herbarium and making it accessible to a wider audience
a wider understanding of international conservation and development policy
an opportunity to establish international contacts in a group with similar interests and aims.

Examining herbarium specimens (Image: RBG Kew)

Course content

role of taxonomy
development, purpose and types of herbaria
the herbarium building and specimen storage
pests and treatments
materials
label design and production
centralised accessioning, recording and dispatch procedures
preparing specimens for mounting (including duplicate extraction)
mounting specimens
family arrangement of herbarium collections
ancillary collections (spirit, carpological, seed and wood)
collections of illustrations and photographic records

special curation (eg succulents, palms)
curation of fungi
incorporating mounted specimens in the herbarium
handling specimens and helping visitors
repairing herbarium sheets and dealing with mixed sheets
duplicate distributions
processing loans
satisfying requests for samples to be used in ancillary disciplines
dissecting flowers and preserving the results
rearranging the collection according to a new publication
essential herbarium literature

Preparing plant specimens for pressing (Image: RBG Kew)

plant collecting and pressing
collecting and preserving fungi
collecting material for ancillary disciplines in the field
collecting and dispatching living material

Introductions to:

the larger fungi
plant morphology
family recognition
plant identification
plant names
check-list compilation
illustration
photography of herbarium sheets
photography of plants in the field
collectors, itineraries, maps and gazetteers
palynology
tropical ecology
conservation
economic botany
seed banking

Course teaching

A series of lectures, demonstrations and visits provides comprehensive coverage of herbarium techniques and management. This will be reinforced by guided and individual practical sessions when participants will have ample opportunity to learn and practise a variety of skills. Participants can also gain additional practical experience in a subject of particular relevance to their home institution.

There will be tours of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, including the Jodrell Laboratory and the Economic Botany collection, and of Wakehurst Place, including the Millennium Seed Bank. Participants will also visit the herbaria at the Natural History Museum and the University of Oxford.

All sessions are taught in English.

Course assessment

The course will be assessed by:

multiple-choice examination papers
assessment of practical and written assignments

Successful candidates will be awarded an International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques. Candidates who complete the course but do not achieve a pass standard will be awarded a certificate of attendance.

How to apply

Please complete an application form using the application guidance notes

If you are unable to print out an application form, please contact the Course Co-ordinator for an application form and further details.

Course Co-ordinator
International Diploma in Herbarium Techniques
Conservation Team
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey, TW9 3AB
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5625/5634
Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5278
Email: courses@kew.org