University officials say they cannot afford to maintain one of the largest herbariums in the United States. Researchers are urging Duke to reconsider.
Duke University has decided to close its herbarium, a collection of 825,000 specimens of plants, fungi and algae that was established more than a century ago. The collection, one of the largest and most diverse in the country, has helped scientists map the diversity of plant life and chronicle the impact of humans on the environment.
The university’s decision has left researchers reeling. “This is such a devastating blow for biodiversity science,” said Erika Edwards, the curator of the Yale Herbarium. “The entire community is simultaneously shocked and outraged.”
Scientific societies have also protested the move. “Duke’s decision to forgo responsibility of their herbarium specimens sets a terrible precedent,” the Natural Science Collections Alliance wrote in a letter to the university last Friday.
The alliance, along with six other scientific societies, endorsed a petition asking Duke to reconsider closing the herbarium. As of Wednesday, it had gained over 11,000 signatures.
I bet their football team doesn’t have any budget issues…
Their basketball coach that retired was the highest paid basketball coach in history. I am not 100% certain due to new contracts but I believe that includes NBA coaches. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
*basketball
Or their rape defense team
Cannot afford, after the regents voted to give themselves $300k pay raises
This is capitalism end-game.
Dear everyone,
It’s not sports, so fuck it!
Sincerely,
99% of US universities
Well if they’re that upset about it, maybe they could help maintain it as well financially. Still sucks that it’s happening, these institutions usually have more than enough money to throw around for something they deem this significant.
I didn’t read the article.
There, I fixed that comment for you.
I was on break at work, was going to check it out later, relax guy lol.
You commented before you read, that’s a paddlin’ my friend!
Nope
According to other sources, people tried to donate and were ignored. Duke doesn’t seem to prioritize working with potential donors to maintain the program.
Unfortunate that’s the case, seems to be a severe lack of care and concern on the institutions end. Hopefully another would have the capacity to take it over at some point instead of losing everything thats been accomplished.
