The document outlines the digitization project led by Chris Freeland at the Missouri Botanical Garden, aimed at selecting, databasing, and imaging 8,000 herbarium specimens from the Great American Frontier and integrating geospatial analysis tools into the Tropicos database. It emphasizes the significance of these specimens in documenting plant species' occurrences and their importance to American scientific and cultural heritage. The project aims to make all data openly accessible to enhance research and analysis related to biodiversity.

1. Digitizing Engelmann’s Legacy: Chris Freeland Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics Missouri Botanical Garden Mapping Plant Specimens that Document the Great American Frontier ESRI Education User Conference – July 13, 2010 – San Diego, CA http://www.tropicos.org/Project/Engelmann

2. Project objectives Select, database & image 8,000 herbarium specimens from pioneering expeditions into the American frontier Digitize 100 volumes of field literature Integrate geospatial analysis tools into Tropicos ( http://www.tropicos.org ) Make all data openly available at http://www.tropicos.org/project/engelmann Agave wislizenii Engelm.

3. http://www.mobot.org MOBOT: Now

4. Founded by Henry Shaw Opened to the public in 1859 Public display + education + science MOBOT: Then

5. MOBOT Science: Now

6. MOBOT Science: Then George Engelmann Asa Gray Wm. Jackson Hooker

7. George Engelmann (1809 – 1884) Physician & amateur botanist Founder of St. Louis Academy of Sciences Founding member of National Academy of Sciences Thanks, Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Engelmann

8. US botanical exploration post-Lewis & Clark St. Louis: Gateway to the West ? X Engelmann more … Josiah Gregg Freidrich Wislizenus Ferdinand Lindheimer

9. Heuchera sanguinea Engelm. Plant specimens document occurrence Collection Information Collectors: Wislizenus Collection Number: 210 Collection Date: 06 October 1846 Location: Mexico, Chihuahua Elevation: 7,000 ft Description: Crimson flower Locality: Mountains, rocks, at Llanos near Cosiquiriachi.

10. Data origin & annotation over time ^ 2.Herbarium label: synthesized data < 1.Field label: origin of data ^ 3.Annotation: locality 4.Annotation: revision >

11. Data Storage: Tropicos.org http://www.tropicos.org/Specimen/1700971

12. Tropicos : http://www.tropicos.org MOBOT’s botanical information system 3.8 million specimen records 1.2 million plant names 98,000 collectors / authors 140,000 images Maps via ESRI tools & other technologies… ArcIMS in 2000, just recently taken offline ArcGIS Server 9.3 & JavaScript API in 2009-2010

13. http://www.tropicos.org/project/engelmann

14. http://www.tropicos.org/project/engelmann

16. http://www.tropicos.org/project/engelmann

18. Geocoding legacy collections = hard, skilled work < Geocode? Read??

19. Field notebooks & historic printed literature can help http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/91553

20. Neat-o! But…why is this important?? First documented occurrence of plant species in the American frontier Westward expansion brought invasive plants, habitat loss, other pressures on native plants Base data for secondary analyses Can do things with the data after “unlocking” them from physical storage American scientific & cultural heritage These specimens represent:

21. Heuchera sanguinea = Coral bells Common Name: coral bells Zone: 3 to 9 Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial Family: Saxifragaceae Native Range: Western United States Height: 1 to 1.5 feet

22. Acknowledgements ESRI Institute of Museum & Library Services Tropicos Development team: Jay Paige, Heather Stimmel, Craig Geil MOBOT Herbarium staff MOBOT Library & Archives staff Botanists, scientists, students, explorers And of course, George Engelmann!

23. Links & Resources Engelmann Project: http://www.tropicos.org/project/engelmann Tropicos: http://www.tropicos.org Biodiversity Heritage Library: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Missouri Botanical Garden: http://www.mobot.org MOBOT Images: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/archives http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbgarchives

24. Thanks! Questions? Chris Freeland Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics Missouri Botanical Garden Email: [email_address] Twitter: @chrisfreeland Blog / info: chrisfreeland.com Flickr: http://flickr.com/photos/chrisfreeland/ http://www.tropicos.org/Project/Engelmann