Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2019 - 5

President Report - Barbara M. Thiers
Looking ahead to the fall, we are planning to begin work on a
new strategic plan for SPNHC, under the leadership of President-Elect and Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee, Deb Trock. Look for a survey in September that will ask
for your thoughts on what SPNHC's focus should be for the
next five years. It is very important that you take the time to
fill it out, and later in the year, to read and comment on drafts
of the plan. Our hope is to have the plan completed for next
year's meeting in Edinburgh. Also this fall, keep an eye out
for two major reports on collections, one from the National
Academy of Sciences Biological Collections Committee, and
the other from the Interagency Working Group on Scientific
Collections. Ideas presented in these reports may influence
our long-term strategic goals.
Speaking of Edinburgh, be sure that you have the dates
marked on your calendar, June 7-13, 2020, for our joint
meeting with the International Council of Museums Committee for Museums and Collections of Natural History (ICOM
NATHIST), hosted by the National Museums Scotland and
the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. I can't wait to return to
one of my favorite cities in the world!

Calling All Bloggers
Cracking the Collections, the EPG's blog
designed to discuss
natural history collections topics relevant
to both emerging and
experienced professionals, is seeking new blog post
submissions. Take a
look at the submission categories here.
We need the EPG
community and the overall SPNHC community to
contribute to make this blog a success! Contact the
Blog Team with a short (2-3 sentences) proposal on
the Guest Post Submissions page.

Profile
After receiving my Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts
in Botany in the early 1980s, I joined the staff of the New
York Botanical Garden and have stayed there ever since. I
loved all aspects of work in a large collection institution, but
the volume of specimens to be managed led me to become
interested in the application of computer technology both
for more efficient collections management and to maximize
the research impact of herbarium collections. It is extremely
gratifying to me to have seen our digitization program at
NYBG grow to the robust program it is today with approximately half of our nearly eight million specimens digitized.
I didn't attend my first SPNHC conference until San Francisco in 2011-but it was love at first meeting! SPNHC instantly
became my favorite professional society. I am honored to be
leading this organization for two years, and hope to help the
Society continue all of its fine programs.
----------------Barbara M. Thiers is the Patricia K. Holmgren Director,
and Curator of Bryophytes, at the William and Lynda Steere
Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden.

September 2019 * 5

http://crackingthecollections.wordpress.com/blog-series/ https://icomnathist.wordpress.com/ https://icomnathist.wordpress.com/ https://www.nms.ac.uk/ http://crackingthecollections.wordpress.com/guest-post-submissions/ https://www.rbge.org.uk/ https://www.nybg.org/plant-research-and-conservation/tour/herbarium/ https://www.nybg.org/plant-research-and-conservation/tour/herbarium/

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections September 2019