News Archive
2024
Aug: The Herbarium's Nature Atlas accrued its 10,000th species on Friday, August 30, with an entry for a Malayan civet, Viverra tangalunga, an unusual relative of the cat family native to the Malayan Peninsula and nearby islands.
Jul: The Herbarium surpassed 23,000 specimens on July 13 with a specimen of Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum, collected by Micaela Nieves (Plant Sciences '25) in Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve. With the cooperation of the Lancaster Conservancy, Micaela's thesis research seeks to document the flora of this Preserve that is popular with nature enthusiasts in the region. Her collection of Japanese stiltgrass is the first one to voucher the occurrence of this invasive species in the preserve.
Apr: Dr. Hardy presented a lecture on Forensic Botany at the Millersville Lioness Club (Apr 2).
Mar: Dr. Hardy will be lecturing on Forensic Botany at the Advanced Homicide Symposium of the Pennsylvania State Police (Mar 8, PSU Harrisburg).
Feb: Dr. Hardy will be speaking on "Herbaria & Forensic Botany" at the Lancaster County Garden Club (Feb 12).
Jan: Dr. Hardy will be giving the talk "Case Studies in Forensic Botany" at the Biology Colloquium on Wednesday, Jan 31 (4 pm, Caputo 210).
Jan: Dr. Hardy will be sharing an overview of his recent forensic botany case work with the Elizabethtown Rotary Club on Monday, Jan 29 (6 pm).
2023
Dec: David Modica ('23) successfully defended his honors thesis on the Allium green onion vegetable complex and will graduate this Winter. Congratulations David.
Oct: Dr. Hardy will be speaking about forensic botany in the Willow Valley Special Events series (Oct 19).
Jun: Dr. Hardy and Herbarium Associate Dr. John Wallace gave seminars on Forensic Botany and Forensic Entomology, respectively, at the 2023 Pennsylvania State Police Advanced Homicide Symposium at Penn State Harrisburg (Jun 7).
Apr: Plant Sciences majors Rachel Parfitt ('23), Micaela Nieves ('24), Duncan Lynn ('23), and David Modica ('23) are presenting their research at the 2023 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University Biologists conference at East Stroudsburg University on April 1. No foolin.
Feb: Plant Sciences major Damian Disbrow (Plant Sciences '23) was accepted into graduate school at West Virginia University. He will be starting Fall 2023.
Jan: Dr. Hardy gave a talk on the history of forensic botany and his recent forensic casework to the Elizabethtown Rotary Club on Jan 6.
Jan: Dr. Hardy and Dr. Ramos-Sepulveda had their article reporting the first occurrence of the plant pathogen Dickeya zeae in Puerto Rico published in the journal Plant Disease [https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-22-0174-PDN].
2022
May: Duncan Lynn (Botany ’22) will be conducting his thesis research this summer with support from Noonan and Neimeyer Hodgson and Biology Student Investigator Grant.
Apr: Plant Sciences major Damian Disbrow (Plant Sciences '23) will be one of 10 students nationally selected for South Dakota State University’s REU program in the Plant Sciences.
Mar: Botany major Hannah Reinhart (Botany '23) is the recipient of the nationally competitive Flower Trials summer internship with the Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
Mar: David Modica (Plant Sciences ’23) will be working this summer as a Robertson Endowed Library Garden Botany Intern.
2020
Jun: Recent botany graduate Liam McTigue (MU Botany '20) is recipient of the competitive Morris Arboretum's 1-year paid Arboriculture Internship. Wonderful news, Liam!
Jun: Recent botany graduate Kevin Faccenda (MU Botany '20) is off to pursue his doctorate in botany at the University of Hawai'i - Mānoa. Kevin: Dr. Hardy will likely be planning a visit so be sure to have a lei waiting for him.
May: Kevin Faccenda (MU Botany '20) and Liam McTigue (MU Botany '20) successfully defended their Departmental Honors theses. Congratulations on all of your hard work.
Apr: Ian Fitzhugh (MU Botany '21) and Duncan Lynn (MU Botany '21) were selected to be co-recipients of the 2020-21 Robertson Library Garden Botany Internship.
Feb: Herbarium and botany alumna Lindsey Sloat (MU Botany ’06) recently had one of her papers published in the journal Nature Climate Change (Sloat et al. Nature Climate Change 8: 214-218). Her article documents the effects of climate change on grazing lands globally.
2019
Nov: Dr. Hardy and collaborators in Chemistry, Education, and two neighboring institutions are the recipients of a nearly $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to purchase a scanning electron microscope for the university. Read more here.
Nov: Emily Ritter ('21) and Dr. Hardy collected and accessioned the herbarium's 20,000th plant specimen on Nov 1. It is a flowering specimen of the South Asian curryleaf (Murraya koenigii), a member of the citrus family. You can view the specimen here.
Sep: Adam Hummel ['21] is this year's recipient of the Robertson Library Garden Botany Internship.
Jun: Kevin Faccenda ('20) is the recipient of a MUSE summer scholarship to conduct researcn on the Lancaster County flora.
May: Liam McTigue ('20) accepted an internship at the prestigious, world-reknown Arnold Arboretum. Congratulations, Liam.
2018
Sep: Craig Whitman ['20] is this year's recipient of the Robertson Library Garden Botany Internship.
Aug: Students of the Lancaster County Conservancy's 2018 Master Naturalist class toured the herbarium. Serendipitously, an MU alumnus was among the students and discovered that the specimens he had collected as a student for Dr. Parks's botany class in 1976 were well-preserved in the herbarium. (Aug 28)
May: Dr. Hardy gave a demonstration "Fun with Plant Pigments" to Eshelman Elementary's first grade students on Thursday, May 24.
May: Members of the Joint Field Meeting of the Botanical Society of America, Torrey Botanical Society and Philadelphia Botanical Club toured the herbarium on Thursday, May 24. At the tour, participants were shown sample specimens and were given a demonstration on pressing plants and the mounting of herbarium specimens to herbarium sheets. A Millersville Biology alumnus on the tour was shown herbarium specimens of his that were made 51 years prior while a botany student under Professor Hal Weirich.
Apr: Botany students Kevin Faccenda ('20) & Liam McTigue ('19) were the recipients of multiple grants in support of their research and studies at MU. Congratulations to them both.
Mar: Botany student Ian Fitzhugh ('19) gave a nice talk on the carnivorous flora of Pennsylvania to the Muhlenberg Botanical Society at the North Museum of Natural History. Well done, Ian!
Mar: The Herbarium has surpassed the entry of its 15,000th specimen into its online database. This and all specimens entered can be explored interactively through The James C. Parks Herbarium Atlas.
Mar: Thursday, March 8: Due to the snow yesterday, Dr. Ken Klemow's medical botany lecture will be presented today (Thursday) instead at a new place and time: 3-3:50 pm in Roddy 261. All are welcome to attend.
Mar: Dr. Ken Klemow (Wilkes University) will be presenting the Harold Weirich Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, Mar 7. His talk, "The Use of Plants in Medicine: Organizing Principles and Examples," will be from 4 - 4:50 pm in Caputo 210.
Mar: Dr. Ken Klemow (Wilkes University) will be presenting the Harold Weirich Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, Mar 7. His talk, "The Use of Plants in Medicine: Organizing Principles and Examples," will be from 4 - 4:50 pm in Caputo 210.
2017
Dec: Stop by the bulletin board outside of the Herbarium to read a timely article from the LNP (Dec 6) about the versatile jackfruit. Plant Systematics (BIOL 325) students learned about breadfruit, jackfruit and the genus Artocarpus in lecture this past week.
Nov:The Herbarium surpassed the entry of its 14,000th specimen into its online database. This and all specimens entered can be explored interactively through The James C. Parks Collections Atlas.
Sep:The Herbarium has released a major upgrade to NatureAtlas, NatureAtlas Version 2 on Sep 15. Use NatureAtlas to map sightings and to log photos of flora & fauna. The new version has 50x faster search speeds and a login funciton. This new version was christened with its use in the Steinman Run Nature Preserve BioBlitz on September 16.
Sep:The Herbarium's Kevin Faccenda and Chris Hardy will be leading the plant survey efforts and leading the efforts to organize the science teams generally at the Steinman Run Nature Preserve BioBlitz on Sep 16. The BioBlitz is a cooperative venture between the Herbarium and the Lancaster County Conservancy.
Sep: An Introductory Botany Lecture, featuring case studies in how and why botany is important, will be presented by Chris Hardy at the Rotary Club of Lancaster - South on Sep 13.
Aug: Cycad Stories: From the Age of Reptiles to the Annals of Organized Crime & ALS-PDC Neurodegenerative Disease will be presented by Chris Hardy at a Union Fire Company No. 1 dinner banquet celebrating their 257th anniversary. The banquet will be held at the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant on August 14 from 5:45 PM onwards. If you are interested in acquiring tickets, contact Dr. Hardy and he will put you into contact with the Fire Company.
Aug: Dr. Hardy's treatment of the Commelinaceae with Robert Faden (Smithsonian) for the New Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada was published online (Aug 7).
May: Ian Fitzhugh ('19) begins his work in the Library Reading Sculpture Garden as the 2017-18 Robertson Library Garden Botany Intern.
Apr: The North Museum Collections Committee convened their April meeting at and then took a tour of the Herbarium (24 Apr).
Apr: Associate John Wallace and Curator Chris Hardy led a campus group of about 25 staff and faculty on a walking tour on April 20 of the MU Biological Preserve in celebration of the upcoming Earth Day.
Apr: Cycad Stories: From the Age of Reptiles to the Annals of Organized Crime & ALS-PDC Neurodegenerative Disease will be presented by Chris Hardy Wednesday, April 19, from 4-5 in Caputo Hall 210. This lecture is open to all.
Apr: Darcey Young ('17) presented her illustrated study of the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, at the Made in Millersville Conference on April 18 in the McNairy Library at Ganser Hall.
Apr: Human Evolutionary History: Progress and Challenges will be presented by paleoanthropologist Dr. Bernard Wood on April 5, 4-5 pm in Caputo 210. All are welcome to attend this 2017 Harold R. Weirich Memorial Lecture. If you would like to meet the speaker after the lecture, please contact Dr. Hardy.
Mar: The Herbarium introduced a new exhibit on Aloe in the Roddy-Caputo stairwell area (Mar 7). It includes ethnobotanical artifacts and color photographs showcasing the Aloe vera of commerce.
Mar: Herbarium Associate Nazli Hardy gave the keynote address at the 2017 WordCampLancaster conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Mar 4). WordCamp Lancaster is a annual regional conference that attracts developers and users employing the WordPress web platform.
Mar: The Herbarium's Coconut Exhibit in the Roddy-Caputo stairwell was updated on March 1 to include new ethnobotanical artifacts and color photographs showcasing the beauty and great versatility of the coconut palm.
Feb: Associate John Ambler recently completed the georeferencing and databasing of the Mary E. Grebinger collection, totally nearly 700 specimens collected from the region. These specimens can be found by searching the Herbarium Collections Atlas.
2016
Nov: Sylvie Rokab, Director and Writer of the film Love Thy Nature, toured the herbarium with Ware Center Director Barry Kornhauser (Nov 21).
Nov: As part of weekend of events associated with the Ware Center's Nov 21 screening of Love Thy Nature, the Herbarium hosted Dr. Carol Welsh and the students of her Nature Journaling workshop (Nov 20).
Apr: The Herbarium was host to the 2016 Rare Plant Forum (RPF) and Vascular Plants Technical Committee (VPTC) on April 29-30. April 29th included a field trip to Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve and Herbarium open house. The formal RPF ran from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm. Following the RPF, the VPTC met to vote on the RPF species proposals and other business. 50 persons were in attendance.
Apr: The Herbarium hosted a workshop entitled NatureAtlas.org and traditional taxonomic field projects in the digital age at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University Biologists (Apr 15).
Mar: Sherrie Moyer (Botany '16) authored a Parksia article on the new Library Reading Sculpture Garden.
Feb: The Herbarium will be hosting the 2016 Rare Plant Forum on April 30. Stay tuned for more information.
Jan: The Herbarium will be helping to host the annual Native Plants in the Landscape Conference at Millersville, June 2016.
2015
Oct: The Herbarium led a tour of the flora at Goat Hill Serpentine Barrens to geologists of the 2015 Geological Society of America meeting on October 31st.
Sep: Dan Yoder (Botany '11) is featured on the front page of the September 16th's Food section of Lancaster Newspapers. Dan is growing exotic vegetables in supply of local exotic eateries and farm stands. The Lancaster Online version of this story features more photographs of Dan with his crops.
Apr: Mark Johnson's ('15) microscopy skills will be on display in an interview by Erica Shych featured on Blue Ridge Cable News 11 this evening (Friday, 10 Apr 2015). Erika Shych was in the Herbarium to interview Dr. Hardy regarding the start of pollen allergy season.
Apr: Concepts of Botany students, under the editorial guidance of Dr. Hardy, prepared 11 x 9 inch interpretive signs for plants in the gardens of the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum in Coatesville, PA. These signs will be featured on the grounds of the Museum at its April 12 “Garden & Tea” event.
Apr: Julia Moses ('15) and Dr. Hardy presented the workshop "Digital Christmas Tree Identification" at the annual Women in Math and Science Conference at Millersville University.
Apr: Congratulations to Nate Hartley ('14) who was accepted by Duke University to pursue a doctorate in Plant Systematics.
Apr: Congratulations to Sherrie Moyer ('16), 2015 recipient of the Robertson Endowed Library Garden Botany Internship. Sherrie will be working on improving the native plants garden at the library.
Mar: Congratulations to Julia Moses ('15) as the 2015 recipient of the Alex Henderson Scholarship for her project on "Botanical Illustration and Interactive Key Construction for Pennsylvanian grapes."
Mar: Associate Julie Ambler is presenting a talk co-authored with Dr. Hardy at the annual conference of the Atlantic Estuarine Research Society in Wanchese, North Carolina. The talk is titled "Reaching out to students of all types: a website for Mid-Atlantic estuarine and coastal zooplankton." (14 Mar 2015)
Mar: The Herbarium, in conjunction with MU Professor Emeritus Julie Ambler & NatureAtlas.org, has released a new informatics website titled Zooplankton of Mid-Atlantic Estuarine & Coastal Waters. (10 Mar 2015)
Feb: The Herbarium is helping the Lancaster County Conservancy organize its Spring 2015 BioBlitz at Climbers Run Nature Preserve from noon to noon on May 16th & 17th. Find out more on NatureAtlas.org.
2014
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec. 11 by The Delaware County Daily Times.
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec. 10 in The Express Times.
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec. 10 in the Penn Manor Advertiser.
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec 7 in the Staten Island Advance in a story by Kathryn Carse.
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec. 6 by DigitalTrends.com in a story by Jenny McGrath.
Dec: Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec 5 in The Daily Item in a story by Marcia Moore.
Dec: The Herbarium’s Doug Fir’s Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Dec 5 as two articles 1) on the front page and 2) on page A5 of Lancaster Newspapers. Read the online version of the front page story here.
Dec: Doug Fir’s Christmas Tree Guide was featured on Blue Ridge Cable News 11 on Dec 5, following an interview earlier in the day with Erika Shych.
Dec: At a ticketed Torch International event and dinner on Dec 1, from 6-8 pm in Gordinier Hall, Associate Howard Miller will be presenting a talk on the grapes of Pennsyvlania.
Nov: Katie Flinn (F & M) visited the Herbarium on Nov 24 to study autumn-olive.
Nov: The Herbarium released its 2014 Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide on Nov. 20, available as a website and Android app. The website, which is new this year, features Doug's Christmas Tree ExplorerTM which allows tree shoppers to sort and choose their Christmas trees based upon their preferred characteristics.
Nov: Herbarium students Nate Hartley ('14), Mark Johnson ('15), Anthony Kessler ('15), Heather Smith ('14), and Tracy Witmer ('15) presented a workshop on Digital Christmas Tree Identification with Dr. Hardy on Nov 20 to over 40 highschool students and teachers at the 2014 Brossman Science Lectureship.
Sep: Join President Anderson, the Herbarium and the University community on Monday, Sep 29, 2:30-3:30 pm for the dedication of the Millersville University Biological Preserve (also known as the Bush).
Sep: Katie Flinn (F & M) and her Plant Ecology classes visited the herbarium on 23 and 25 Sep to study specimens of various angiosperm families.
Sep: The Herbarium, NatureAtlas.org and their participation were featured on the front page of the Lancaster Intel/New Era on 22 Sep 2014. The electronic version of this story can be found here.
Sep: Nate Hartley ('14), Heather Smith ('14), Jordan Card ('16), Chris and Nazli Hardy participated in the Climbers Run BioBlitz on 20-21 Sep. The plant team, which included Drs. John and Julie Ambler and Doug Musselman, found more than 190 species. Jordan presented a workshop on herbarium specimen preparation and Nate led an aquatic plants field excursion. Dr. Hardy led a tree ID excursion, presented a conifer ID workshop, and gave a talk titled Web 2.0, IT and a New Paradigm in Biodiversity Research and Conservation with Nazli Hardy.
Sep: The Herbarium released NatureAtlas.org to coincide with its use to catalog and map the discoveries of flora and fauna at the Climbers Run Nature Preserve on 20-21 Sep. Andrew Bonsall (MU alumnus) was instrumental in helping to construct NatureAtlas.org.
Sep: Katie Flinn visited the herbarium to study specimens from various angiosperm families (16 Sep 2014).
Sep: The Herbarium will be a co-sponsor and participant in the Climbers Run BioBlitz on 20-21 Sep 2014.
Aug: The Herbarium reached a milestone on August 12th with the 10,000th specimen entered and georeferenced into its database quietly and without fanfare by Jordan Card (‘16). This specimen (RJ Hill 1228) was one of the bushy blazingstar (Mentzelia dispersa, family Loasaceae), collected purely by coincidence exactly 41 years earlier on August 12, 1973 in Albany Co., Wyoming. The Herbarium's collections span more than 180 years and, although they are concentrated in Pennsylvania, they cover nearly 40 US states, 6 countries, and both temperate and tropical latitudes. The growing Herbarium atlas is available at http://www.wikiplantatlas.org/mvsc/.
Aug: Chris Hardy led a tree tour to volunteers and boardmembers of the Lancaster County Conservancy (9 Aug 2014).
Aug: See a nice CNN video about the Presidential coconut. Yet more ethnobotanical lure for a great species, Cocos nucifera.
Jul: Kevin Weir ('74) visited the herbarium for WikiPlantAtlas.org custom portal construction. (28 Jul 2014).
Jul: The Herbarium's Trees of Distinction website can now be reached from the MU domain at www.millersville.edu/trees/.
Jul: Version 2.0 of the Trees of Distinction website has been released with the addition of a new tree, the queen sago cycad, estimates on the ages and size of each tree, and photos of each of the plants appearing alongside their descriptions.
Jul: Kevin Weir ('74) visited the herbarium for a WikiPlantAtlas.org tutorial. (14 Jul 2014).
Jul: Kathyrn Finn (F & M) visited the herbarium to study serpentine barren grasses (7 Jul 2014).
Jun: The Herbarium is pleased to welcome photographer & Professor Emeritus Dr. Patrick Cooney as a Herbarium Associate. On Jun 24, Dr. Cooney produced Millersville University's Trees of Distinction: A Photographic Catalogas an invaluable supplement to the recent Parksia article and website on the trees.
Jun: The 3rd MU Trees of Distinction tour was held June 10.
Jun: T. Larry Mellichamp (UNC Charlotte) visited the herbarium to study carnivorous plants (5 Jun 2014).
Jun: The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference at Millersville was held June 5-7 with 325 attendees.
Jun: Scott Martin (ARM Group Inc.) visited the herbarium to study various taxa (2 Jun 2014).
May: Blue Ridge Cable 11's Erika Shych was in the Herbarium on May 19th for an TV interview about this year's allergy season and the purported "Pollen Vortex" that may be exacerbating it.
May: The second installment of the MU Trees of Distinction tour will be on Monday, May 19 at 4:45. The tour will start at the banana tree in the lower Roddy greenhouse on the S side of Roddy Hall.
May: Dr. Hardy led a workshop on tree and shrub identification in partnership with emeritus professors Drs. Dobbins and Zegers at the 2nd Annual Volunteer Land Steward Workshop on May 17 at Climbers Run Nature Preserve, Lancaster County Conservancy.
May: All are invited to see Nate Hartley[MU '14] defend his thesis with his talk "Phytodiversity in Pennsylvanian Wetlands & a Floristic Inventory of Ranatra Pond, Safe Harbor, Pennsylvania, USA" on Thursday, May 8 at 2:45 pm in Roddy 275.
May: Steven Adams[MU '14] has an article on the medicinal valerian plant in Parksia.
May: The Herbarium released its Collections Atlas & Gazetteer on May 5, which on that date provided access to its 9,447 specimens and their localities that have been databased and georeferenced to-date. The Atlas & Gazetteer replaces the old databases which provided access to less than 6,200 and did not provide any gazetteer functionality.
May: The Herbarium will lead a tour of Millersville's Trees of Distinction to the University community on May 5. Dr. Hardy, accompanied by Tracy Witmer[MU '15] , will be leading this tour, which is based on the Herbarium's recently developed website Millersville University's Trees of Distinction. The tour will start at 4:45 pm at the iron bridge over Miller and Seville's pond. It should last about an hour.
Apr: The Herbarium, in concert with the Library and the Center for Academic Excellence, is co-sponsoring a visit and talk on April 15th by Dr. Sayeed Choudhury, Associate Dean for Research Data Management and Hodson Director of the Digital Research & Curation Center at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University. His main talk, titled Data Management - Why it Matters for Millersville!, will be from 2-3 pm in McNairy 118 and is open to all.
Apr: Blue Ridge Cable 11's Erika Shych was in the Herbarium on April 14th for an interview about the pollen and allergy season with Dr. Hardy.
Apr: Laica Ormilz[MU '16] and Nate Hartley[MU '14] assisted Dr. Hardy on a demo called Digital Christmas Tree Identification on April 8 for the 2014 Women in Math & Science Conference. The demo utilized the recently released "Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide", available for free at Google Play.
Apr: The Exchange of April 2, 2014 features an article about the Herbarium's and Botany's new website, Millersville University's Trees of Distinction.
Mar: Dr. Hardy gave a guest lecture titled "Frontiers in Forensic Science: Forensic Botany" to Dr. Wallace's Frontiers in Forensic Science class, March 31, 2014.
Mar: Dr. Hardy will be leading a tour of Goat Hill Serpentine Barrens to members of the Geological Society of America on Saturday, March 21, 2014. This tour requires pre-registration with the GSA.
Mar: Dr. Hardy will give a talk to the Muhlenberg Botanical Society at the North Museum on Thursday, March 20, 2014 at their 7-9 pm meeting. This talk, titled "Use of the Undergraduate Classroom to Advance an Emerging Paradigm in the Study and Conservation of Biodiversity" is open to the public.
Mar: The Herbarium has released its new website, Millersville University's Trees of Distinction (March 17, 2014). Visit it to learn about special trees on campus.
Mar: Jordan Kmetz[MU '15] has an article on invasive plant management in Parksia.
Jan: Scott Martin (ARM Group Inc.) visited the herbarium to study various taxa (14 Jan 2014).
2013
Dec: BRC News-11 will feature the Herbarium's Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide Droid app in a story airing between Dec 5-12 that is based on a Dec 4 interview with Dr. Hardy.
Dec: Pittsburgh Radio WESA 90.5 featured a story about the Herbarium's Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide Droid app.
Nov: WGAL 8 featured the Herbarium's Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide Droid app on its Nov 29 and 30 TV newscasts.
Nov: Dr. Hardy gave a talk to the students of Hobbs Hall entitled "Cycad Stories: Cycads, Neurotoxins, and Flying Foxes" at 8 pm on Nov 13. This evening of botany and food was sponsored by Millersville University and was hosted by Hobbs Hall RA's Don Brown III[MU '13] and William Maximuck[MU '2016].
Nov: The Herbarium has released Doug Fir's Christmas Tree Guide for the 2013 season. This free app for Android phones is a guide to the identification, history, and biology of America's 10 most popular Christmas trees.
Jul: Nathan Hartley[MU '13] and Dr. Hardy will participate in Monocots V, the 5th international conference on comparative biology of monocotyledons in New York, July 7-11.
Jun: Nathan Hartley[MU '13] has started an NSF-sponsored, REU summer internship at the Missouri Botanical Garden working with Dr. Thomas Croat on systematics of Anthurium.
May: At the BioBlitz at Sinnemahoning State Park on May 20-21, a team of botanists and citizen-scientists used WikiPlantAtlas to document the identity and location of nearly 200 plant species in the park. This total includes at least 24 new species records for Cameron and Potter counties. Visit The Plants of Sinnemahoning State Park portal to WikiPlantAtlas see what was discovered.
May: The 4th Annual Herbarium Open House is on Wednesday, May 15, 6-8:30 pm in the Herbarium (Roddy 270). Nanette Raczka[MU '12] will be giving a talk that will include a photographic exhibition of her fieldwork this past summer in Peru to study the ethnobotany of the potato in its native Andes. Nathan Hartley[MU '13] will be presenting his ongoing work to inventory the flora of Ranatra Pond near Safe Harbor dam. Dr. Hardy will be available to answer questions about the herbarium, its uses, and how herbarium specimens are made. The public and University community are invited, and light refreshments will be provided. For visitors who will require parking, please see our parking information website.
Mar: Dr. Hardy and Lieutenant Carl Steinhart of the Northwest Regional Police Department had their Case Report "Forensic botany in the resolution of an agricultural vandalism case" published in the March-April issue of the Journal of Forensic Identification (Volume 63, pages 142-152).
2012
Dec: The Herbarium and WikiPlantAtlas.org published the Doug Fir's Guide to Christmas Trees app on 17 Dec. The app was developed for Android smartphones by Joe Marks[MU '13] and Dr. Hardy.
Dec: MU Biology - Botany Option, Nanette Raczka[MU '12], will graduate with her Bachelors of Science on 16 Dec. She has several applications to graduate programs in botany pending.
Dec: Zel Stoltzfus[MU '07] saw his illustrations of the Mexican spiderwort, Tinantia pringlei, published as Figure 1 in the Botanical Review volume 78 number 4 (DOI 10.1007/s12229-012-9108-1).
Dec: Jason Ryndock[MU '09] saw the results of his research on floral development in the Mexican spiderwort, Tinantia pringlei, published in the Botanical Review volume 78 number 4 (DOI 10.1007/s12229-012-9108-1).
Dec: The Herbarium hosted the Infinity Charter School for a tour of the herbarium and greenhouse, as well as a lesson on how to press plants on 3 Dec.
Sep: Dr. Hardy will speak on forensic botany at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania State Coroner's Association on Sep 19th at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn's Square.
Aug: Naturalist Dick Brown spoke at the Herbarium on creating wildflower meadows on 31 Aug. Members of the faculty, staff, and public were in attendance.
Aug: Dr. Hardy assumes his 4-yr term as Chair of the Vascular Plant Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey.
Jul: Nate Hartley[MU '13] attended the international Botany 2012 conference in Columbus, Ohio, where Dr. Hardy and he presented a talk on July 11th describing their research in testing WikiPlantAtlas (www.wikiplantatlas.org).
Jul: Nanette Raczka[MU '12] presented a talk on July 9th describing her research on the impact of climate change on potentially invasive trees at the international Botany 2012 conference in Columbus, Ohio.
Jul: Dr. Hardy Chaired a biogeography paper session on July 9th at the international Botany 2012 conference in Columbus, Ohio.
Jun: Nate Hartley[MU '13] traveled and botanized in the West Indies, bringing back many pictures and logging many plant occurrence records on WikiPlantAtlas (www.wikiplantatlas.org).
Jun: Now 12° south of the equator, Nanette Raczka[MU '12] is in Lima, Peru studying cultivation and harvest practices for the potato. All of our best to Nanette for continued success in Peru!
Jun: The annual Native Plants in the Landscape conference is June 7-9. More conference details; Restaurant info for visitors.
Jun: Dr. Hardy and Herbarium Associate John Wallace had their chapter "Algae in forensic investigations" published in the book Forensic Botany: A Practical Guide published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Apr: The public and University communities are invited to the 3rd Annual Herbarium Open House, Friday, 27 Apr 2012, 7-9 pm. More details.
Apr: Nanette Raczka[MU '12] and Nate Hartley[MU '13] presented their research posters at the 2012 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania University Biologists (CPUB) conference in Slipperyrock, PA.
Mar: Nanette Raczka[MU '12] has received an Alex Henderson Scholarship to travel to the Peruvian Andes in June to study the ethnobotany and systematics of indigenous potato cultivation.
Mar: Madyson VanHyll[MU '14] has received an Alex Henderson Scholarship to travel to the US National Botanical Garden and illustrate plants of Cinchona officinalis for her malarial medicine research/illustration project.
Mar: Dr. Hardy, Nate Hartley[MU '13]and Brittany Guidos[F&M '13] gave a workshop on Christmas tree identification using the digital tools at www.wikiplantatlas.org, at the 2012 Women in Math & Science Conference at Millersville University.
Jan: Jason Ryndock[MU '08] is now working as an Environmental Review Specialist for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Harrisburg Office. He will be reviewing industry development plans and helping to design strategies to protect plants and plant communities while facilitating development projects.
2011
Dec: Nate Hartley[MU '12] was awarded a Student Research Grant in support of his research on the systematics and cultivation of native water-lilies.
Dec: Dr. Hardy and David Martin[MU '11] had their chapter "Plants and wildlife forensics" published in the book Wildlife Forensics: Methods and Applications, published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Dec: Associate John Wallace had his edited book Wildlife Forensics: Methods and Applications published by Wiley-Blackwell.
Nov: Free copies of the Parksia article on the Panama Disease of banana are available at the Living Banana Exhibit in the Roddy-Caputo stairwell area. Nanette Raczka[MU '12], a Botany Option, authored this article.
Nov: The Herbarium hosted a demonstration of digital tree ID guides at WikiPlantAtlas.org to highschool students as part of the 2011 Brossman Science Lectureship (Nov. 3, Roddy Science Buidling room 275).
Oct: The Herbarium will host the Autumn meeting of the Vascular Plant Technical Committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, Oct 21-22. The VPTC regularly assesses the status of rare, endangered or otherwise threatened plants in PA and makes recommendations regarding their protection to the Bureau of Forestry.
Aug: Dr. Hardy spoke on Aug. 19 about WikiPlantAtlas.org at the Biotechnology Forum at Franklin & Marshall, sponsored by the Innovation Transfer Network.
Jun: The Herbarium has launched its official seal and a new look to the website styled after the seal.
Jun: Dr. Hardy gave a talk on June 2 at the 2011 Native Plants in the Landscape Conference titled The PA Flora from a Macroevolutionary & Physiogeographical Perspective.
Jun: Tim Draude (Muhlenberg Botanical Socity) & Dr. Hardy led a fieldtrip to Lock 12 on the Susquehanna River & a workshop on conducting plant inventories and making herbarium specimens on June 1 at the 2011 Native Plants in the Landscape Conference.
Jun: The Herbarium is helping to sponsor the 21st Annual Native Plants in the Landscape Conference @ Millersville. See website for registration and program details.
Jun: Brittany Guidos (FM '14) is off to East Timor for the summer to intern in the Bairo Pite medical clinic. Have fun, Brittany.
Apr: The works of biological illustrator and artist Zel Stoltzfus (B.Sc. Botany, MU '08) will be on display and the topic of consversation at the 2nd Annual Herbarium Open House, April 28 from 5:30-8:00 pm. Come meet Zel while snacking on light refreshements. This event (see flyer) is open to the University community and the public.
Apr: Dr. Hardy is giving a talk April 18 at the Annual Friends of the Tanger Arboretum Dinner. The talk is titled "They're Related? How Can That Be?!" and will provide an illustrated journey through the flowers, fruits, and taxonomy of our familiar trees and their tropical relatives.
Mar: Dr. Hardy is giving a talk Tuesday, March 1 at the Franklin & Marshall Biology Seminar Series, 11:30-12:30. The talk is titled "Notes on the Natural History & Evolution of the Cape Flora, Southern Africa."
Feb: Zel Stoltzfus (MU 09') submitted an illustration of the Mexican spiderwort, Tinantia pringlei, in the 2011 international Mary Flockton botanical illustration competition. The first prize is $5,000 and plenty of recognition, and awards should be announced by June. Good luck, Zel!
Jan: Dr. Hardy is giving a talk at the ISA 2011 Shade Tree Symposium on Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at the Lancaster Convention Center. The talk is titled "They're Related?! How Can That Be?!" and will provide an illustrated survey of the flowers, fruits, and taxonomy of trees.
2010
Jul: Successful Defense! Mr. Jason Ryndock (B.Sc. from MU in 2008) now holds a M.Sc. in Forest Restoration. As a Graduate Research Fellow at the USDA Forest Restoration Training Program, Univ. of Mississippi, Jason studied spider community composition during the early stages of oak woodland restoration. He currently has a manuscript in review with the journal Restoration Ecology to go with his manuscript now in review with Botanical Review on floral development in-- get this-- "spiderworts" from his time here in the herbarium.
Jul: Successful Defense! Ms. Claire Larkin (B.Sc. from MU in 2008) successfully defended her M.Sc.in Botany from Miami University on July 1. One of her M.Sc. chapters is now in review for publication in Biotropica and another, from her undergraduate thesis in the Herbarium, is in review with the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. Good luck, Claire!
Jun: New Names and New Taxa for the Fynbos of Southern Africa. The Herbarium, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, have published a new classification for the 292 species of the African Restionaceae tribe Restioneae (a grass-family relative and important element of the species-rich Cape Flora of southern Africa). Appearing in the South African journal Bothalia, volume 41, pages 1-35, Drs. Peter Linder (Zurich) and Hardy describe a new genus, Soroveta, describe 9 new subgenera, and name 53 species.
Jun: Successful Conference. The Herbarium was co-sponsor of a successful 2010 Native Plants in the Landscape Conference here at MU. Some 350 participants from the region were in attendance for this, the 20th anniversary of this yearly event.
Apr: Grape Research Funded. Mr. Dan Yoder (B.Sc. Botany - 2011) has been awarded a Gerhart Scholarship in support of his research on the systematics and cultivation of native American Vitis (grapes).
Apr: Herbarium Open House. Scheduled for Monday, 19 Apr 2010, 5:30-8 pm, in the Herbarium (Roddy Hall 270). Dr. Hardy will be giving a seminar at 6 pm on the Importance of Herbarium Collections in Biodiversity Research & Conservation. This Open House is open to the public and light refreshments will be served.
2009
Nov: Dr. Hardy gave a demonstration of Wiki-Plant-Atlas to the Muhlenberg Botanical Society at the North Museum (19 Nov 2009; 7:30 pm).
Oct: Dr. Jorge Mena-Alí (Visiting Assistant Professor at nearby Franklin & Marshall and Parks Herbarium Associate) was recently awarded a NSF grant to study the ecology and evolution of host-pathogen interactions using the Portulacaceae as the host-model system. Dr. Mena-Alí will be conducting much of his research at the Herbarium. Learn more...
Oct: The Herbarium/Botany Program's Coconut Exhibit is on display in the Roddy-Caputo stairwell area. The living coconut palm is 2 years old.
Aug: Mr. Dan Yoder, Dr. Hardy, and Herbarium Associate Howard Miller erected the demonstration grape trellis. The grape trellis currently has vines of the muscadine grape and frost grape growing on it. Spring 2010 will see the planting of several additional native Pennsylvanian species, as well as several varieties of wine, juice, and table grapes.
Jul: Ms. Lindsey Sloat (Biology '06) has had an article based on her Departmental Honors Thesis published in the July issue of American Journal of Botany. See an abstract of the article about dayflower development and ecology here, at the journal's Advance Access site.
Jun: The Herbarium is helping to sponsor the 2009 Native Plants in the Landscape Conference @ Millersville (brouchure, website).
May: Mr. Dan Yoder (B.Sc. candidate) has started his fieldwork for his project on the systematics and cultivation of wild grapes. In support of this work he has received grants from the Office of Graduate & Professional Studies as well as Howard Miller & Associates. Highlights of his fieldwork include a trip to the Carolinas and Georgia to collected wild grapes.
Apr: Mr. Jason Ryndock (Biology '08) has submitted a manuscript with Dr. Hardy for review for publication with the journal Botanical Review. The manuscript is titled Morphology and Organogenesis of the Flowers in Tinantia pringlei, a Mexican spiderwort.
Apr: Ms. Sara Helm (former Biology B.Sc) has accepted a job with Longwood Gardens to identify and inventory their native plants collection. She will be using her plant identification skills obtained in Plant Systematics (BIOL 325).
Apr: Dr. Hardy presented the newly released Wiki-Plant-Atlas to botanists at the 2009 Rare Plant Forum held Apr 4 at Bald Eagle State Park, Pennsylvania.
Mar: Dr. Hardy presented a lecture on Forensic Botany to the 2009 Forensic Chemistry class (CHEM 486) at Millersville.
Mar: Dr. Hardy presented a lecture on the systematics and ethnobotany of coffee to Dr. Wallace's General Biology class (BIOL 100) at Millersville.
Feb: Dr. Hardy gave an invited seminar entitled Notes on the Natural History and Evolution of the Cape Flora, Southern Africa. (26 Feb 2009, Philadelphia Botanical Club, Philadelphia.)
Jan: Dr. Hardy presented Some Aspects of Ancestor Reconstruction for the Study of Floral Assembly to the Floral Assembly Group at the National Evolutioanry Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina (7 Jan 2009). A printable copy of the presentation is here: Hardy-presentation.
2008
May: Mr. Jason Ryndock (Biology '08) recently graduated. He is off to graduate school at Univ. of Mississippi in Fall 2008.
Apr: Ms. Sara Helm (Biology B.Sc. candidate) was awarded the 2008-09 Flora of Pennsylvania Internship. Sara's one-year internship will be at the Morris Arboretum and the University of Pennsylvania, where she will earn a stipend and graduate course credit at the University of Pennsylvania.
Apr: Mr. Alex Swavely (Biology '08) accepted a one-year arborist internship (paid with benefits) at Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jul: Mr. John Brakeall (Biology '08) traveled to present a poster at the international Botany 2008 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia (26-31 July 2008). Poster title: Climatic Envelope Modeling of Invasive Dayflowers: A State-Based Impact Assessment of Near-Future Climate Change. About 1,000 botanists from around the world were in attendance.
Jun: Dr. Hardy and Herbarium Associate Dr. Nazli Hardy had their article on biodiversity mashups published in the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society - North America's oldest botanical journal. The article is titled "Simple biodiversity mashups for non-tech-savvy biologists: a demonstration using the liana flora of Pennsylvania, USA." in appeared in the journal's volume 135, pages 585-594. (Please contact Keeper for pdf of article.)
May: Ms. Claire Larkin (Biology '08) successfully defended her Departmental Honors Undergraduate Thesis. She is off to work the summer 2008 with the USDA and is off to start graduate school at Miami Univ, in Fall 2008.
Feb: Dr. Hardy & the Herbarium hosted a workshop on GIS (28 Feb 2008).
Jan: Ms. Meredith Biedrzycki* (Biology '05) is studying roots and their secretions with Dr. Harsh Bais at the University of Delaware and will be taking her candidacy exams soon. She was a TA for the Botany lab last year and is now a research assistant. Her lab has been doing some really interesting work; their papers can be looked up on Pubmed. She is willing to give a tour of the lab at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, about one hour from Lancaster.