WIS funded to digitize GLOBAL lichens and bryophytes
NSF recently funded a large collaborative effort among 25 major institutions named “GLOBAL: Building a Global Consortium of Bryophytes and Lichens: Keystones of Cryptobiotic Communities”, that will digitize 1.2 million specimens, integrating information about bryophytes …
October 5, 2021US Potato Genebank Vouchers Transferred to WIS
November 16, 2017Smart Phone Plant ID App Being Developed for Wisconsin Flora
October 31, 2017Federal ‘Museums for America’ Grant Awarded to WIS
WIS has been awarded a highly competitive ‘Museums for America’ grant through the federal Institute of Museum & Library Services. The two-year $365,000 project “Completing Digital Catalogs of Bryophytes, Fungi, and Lichens from the Collections of …
October 12, 2017WIS joins with other UW-Madison Museums to Integrate Collections
September 1, 2017‘Common Lichens of Wisconsin’ Color Booklet Published
Just released! “Common Lichens of Wisconsin” by staff lichenologist Dr. Jim Bennett. This is the first in a series of outreach booklets that WIS plans to publish in the coming year. The full-color 18 page …
May 27, 2017In Memory of Dr. Hugh H. Iltis, 1925-2016
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Emeritus Professor of Botany and long-time Director of the Herbarium, Dr. Hugh H. Iltis, who died on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016.
December 19, 2016Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries Generously Support WIS
Friends of the UW-Madison Library have generously provided a $1,000 grant to the WI State Herbarium for the acquisition of several regional floras to be added to our in-house reference book collection.
December 8, 2016George Washington Carver’s Fungi Specimens Rediscovered
At least 25 specimens of fungi that infect plants, collected by George Washington Carver more than a century ago, were re-discovered Feb. 8 in the Wisconsin State Herbarium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The herbarium …
February 25, 2016$355,000 Grant Awarded by NSF’s Collections in Support of Biological Research
With a collection of >1.2 million preserved plant specimens, The Wisconsin State Herbarium (WIS) at the UW-Madison ranks among the top 1% of the world’s largest and most active herbaria.
August 12, 2015UW-Platteville transfers its herbarium of >7000 sheets to WIS
The Department of Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has asked the Wisconsin State Herbarium to take ownership of its collection of >7000 vascular plants.
July 21, 2015Three-year NSF Grant Targets WIS’ Worldclass Collection of Parasitic Fungi
Microscopic fungi (microfungi) represent a diverse assemblage that is distributed worldwide and includes bread molds, plant pathogens, powdery mildews, rusts, slime molds, and water molds.
June 1, 2015Historical 1864 Civil War Specimen Discovered at WIS
Herbarium curators have discovered a remarkable 150 year old plant specimen while preparing for a public open house to celebrate the life of our founder, Increase Lapham.
November 11, 2014WIS Acquires World Class Lichen Collection
Using the collections endowment fund established by Ethel and Oscar Allen, WIS has acquired a rare and valuable collection of ca. 60,000 lichen specimens from German lichenologist, Klaus Kalb.
October 3, 2014WIS Leads New $2.5M NSF Great Lakes Invasives Network
One of the greatest threats to the health of North America's Great Lakes is invasion by exotic species, several of which already have had catastrophic impacts on property values, the fisheries, shipping, and tourism industries, and continue to threaten the survival of native species and wetland ecosystems.
September 17, 2014Herbarium To Host Event Launching New Book on the Life of Increase Lapham
The Wisconsin State Herbarium will be open to the public from 6-8pm on October 23, 2014 for tours of its collection and to host Martha Bergland and Paul G. Hayes, who will share stories and insights from their new book about Wisconsin’s pioneer citizen scientist: Studying Wisconsin: The Life of Increase Lapham.
September 3, 2014Ken Cameron Receives 2014 Peter Raven Award
The American Society of Plant Taxonomists awarded Dr. Ken Cameron, Professor of Botany and Director of the Wisconsin State Herbarium at University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Society’s 2014 Peter Raven Award.
August 25, 2014Welcome Mary Ann!
Dr. Mary Ann Feist has joined the staff of the Wisconsin State Herbarium as a new Senior Academic Curator.
October 16, 2013Herbarium Doubles its Footprint within Historic Birge Hall
The Wisconsin State Herbarium has taken possession of >4,000 sq ft formerly occupied by the UW Biology Library, and located directly below the existing herbarium in historic Birge Hall.
September 12, 2013Historic 1930s Collection of Ribes Tranferred to WIS
An important collection of several hundred native Ribes specimens collected in the 1930s by former Herbarium Director Norman C. Fassett was recently transferred to WIS.
June 12, 2013Tiny Violet is a Big Discovery!
The International Institute for Species Exploration at AZ State University included Viola liliputana as one of the top 10 new species of 2013. The tiny Peruvian violet was collected by WIS Emeritus Director, Dr. Hugh H. Iltis, and published along with UWMadison Botany alumnus Dr. Harvey Ballard.
May 10, 2013Hugh H. Iltis Biodiversity Fund Established
A marvelous gift to the Botany Department recently came from Professor Emeritus Hugh H. Iltis and his wife Sharyn Wisniewski.
January 22, 2013Herbarium Curator Ted Cochrane Retires after 42 Years of Service
Today marked a milestone in the history of the Wisconsin State Herbarium as Mr. Theodore S. Cochrane, Senior Academic Curator, retired after more than 42 years of service.
December 3, 2012Toward Documenting Biodiversity Change in Arctic Lichens: Databasing the Principal Collections, Establishing a Baseline, & Developing a Virtual Flora
NSF’s Division of Arctic Programs has awarded a collaborative grant to the Wisconsin State Herbarium (WIS) and the University of Alaska’s Museum (ALA) in Fairbanks to provide baseline biodiversity inventory data for one of the most important elements of the Arctic biota – lichens.
January 29, 2012WIS Participates in NSF’s National Wasp-Plant-Bug Digitization Effort
All the nearly 20,000 plant species in North America are attacked by insect pests, including those in the group Hemiptera (known as the "true bugs"), which are in turn attacked by parasitoid insects in the Hymenoptera (sawflies, wasps, ants), widely used for biological control of agricultural pests.
July 15, 2011WIS Leads NSF-funded Effort to Digitize Lichens & Bryophytes
Lichens and bryophytes (mosses and their relatives) are sensitive indicators of environmental change, and are dominant organisms in arctic-alpine and desert habitats, where the effects of climate change are well-documented.
July 5, 2011WIS Adopts Collection of Historic Specimens from Carthage College
Nearly 15,000 vascular plant specimens were accessioned into our collection this year as a gift from the Department of Biology at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.
July 12, 2010- More News