Log Entry 9/30/2013

Members of the Sandy Hook Interactive Herbarium
are all required to collect and press the plants

Collected plants on Horseshoe Cove (north side)
Wind SSE 5-7 kt
Mostly sunny
62 Degrees Fahrenheit
Collected and pressed samples of Cocklebur, Sea Rocket (flowering), Early Goldren Rod (one specimen flowering and another with buds), Pickleweed (beginning to change colors with the changing seasons), Russian thistle and an unknown marsh grass.
I have contacted Nick Heins from the MAST Class of 2012 about riker box labels. He agreed to be my mentor and we will be in contact in upcoming days.

Log Entry 9/26/2013

The Herbarium had a meeting to discuss our group specs and limits. My individual and group design brief, specifications and limits have been finished, edited and published. My blog has been edited to reflect the Sandy Hook beach. In the next few weeks, I will be evaluating the specimen collected this summer and during this week. We will assess the quality of the pressed specimen and determine which ones need to be redone. We will then identify and research the plants and put them in the riker boxes to add to our collection.

Limitations

Group Limitations

• Time deadline: NJEA Convention
• Display limited to 100 sq. feet
• Sustained losses during Hurricane Sandy
• Limited to flora of Sandy Hook
• Limited expertise in website design, plant pressing, scientific drawings, GPS collection, and design of convention pieces

Individual Limitations

• Collection of seasonal plants
• Plants take weeks to press
• Must be finished before NJEA Convention
• All information must fit on a small label
• Limited skill and knowledge so far
• Riker boxes have limited space

Specifications

Group Specifications

• Must be an interactive herbarium 
• Must improve the website (sandyhookherbarium.org)
• Must incorporate GPS coordinates into interactive maps 
• Must finish plant collection 
• Must recollect specimens lost in Hurricane Sandy
• Must have accurate, scientific drawings of all specimens displayed in riker boxes 
• Must incorporate QR codes 
• Must present the herbarium at the NJEA Convention 
• Must have a portable display Must be 10' x 10' 
• Must create professional, informative labels for the riker box displays

Individual Specifications

Plant Pressing

• Must accurately display each plant
• Specimen must be completed for NJEA Convention
• Specimen must showcase each part of the plant including berries, leaves and roots
• Must follow plant pressing procedure 

Identification

• Plants must be identified using field guide, dichotomous key or mentor
• Must be accurate and specific

Labels

• Labels are color coded by vegetative zone
• Labels must include all information about plant
• Common Name
• Scientific Name
• Location (Zone)
• Collection Date
• Collector
• Size
• General Characteristics
• Interesting Facts
• Image
• QR Code

Design Brief

Project Design Brief

Design, create and maintain an interactive Herbarium to include a website component, GPS/GIS coordinate integration, pressed/preserved plant specimens, an interactive display, and artistic renderings for display in the Sandy Hook Visitor's Center to educate or inform viewers on the seven vegetative zones of Sandy Hook as well as to function as a way to preserve Sandy Hook plant life.

Plant Pressing Design Brief

Design and create Riker boxes with the collected and pressed plants for use as visual aids for the visitors of Sandy Hook.

Riker Box Label Design Brief

Design the labels for the Riker Boxes to display the information about each plant including scientific name, common name, location found and other facts.

Log Entry 9/24/2013

I have completed the background information, and additional changes to my blog have been made including a map. The map will be updated with collection locations every time we go in the field. My individual and group design briefs are being edited and finalized and will be published at the end of this week along with specs and limits. I am preparing to meet with my group to discuss specifications and limitations.

Log Entry 9/20/2013

Taking GPS Coordinates in the field

Collected plants along the multipurpose trail, behind Mortar Battery in the thicket zone at 1105-1205.
73 degrees F with a south wind 5 to 8kt with mostly clear skies. Collected Phragmites, Early Golden Rod, Choke Cherry, Juniper, and Johnny Jumpup. Plants are pressing in the plant press and have been identified in the field guide. Map of locations is available at the bottom of my blog.

Log Entry 9/19/2013

The Interactive Herbarium project team has met every day for two weeks to address the tasks that need to be completed in the coming weeks. The Herbarium is now beginning to prepare for the NJEA Convention in Atlantic City this November. New specimen were collected earlier this summer. On July 25 and August 41 of this year, other members of this project and I collected plants in multiple areas of Sandy Hook and pressed them in the plant press. These new plants have not yet been identified. When completed in the Riker boxes, they will be added to the remaining boxes from last year. This will help complete our collection.

Background Information

Sandy Hook, New Jersey

The Sandy Hook Herbarium is located on the barrier island of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. It features a variety of pressed plants from the area. The Herbarium's collected plants are on display at sandyhookherbarium.org. Our missions is to educate the public about plants they would otherwise not have known. The information available to everyone is ideal for botanists, students, and all Sandy Hook visitors. The riker boxes and labels provide a hands-on experience, so anyone can hold the                                                                    actual specimen.

Scientific Drawing of a plant used
to identify plants in the field

Plant pressing is the process by which plant specimen are dried and preserved for display or transportation. The Sandy Hook Interactive Herbarium displays pressed plants in riker boxes with factual labels for identification for the nation park's visitors. Plants are collected along Sandy Hook trails various vegetative zones of the barrier island. zones such as thicket and tidal flats. After collection in the field, plants are identified using dichotomous keys, or illustrations and photographic references.

Wooden Plant Pressing

After identification, The specimens are flattened in a wooden plant press and left to dry for several weeks. All parts of the plants are involved in the press, including leaves flowers and roots. Silica gel packets are added to keep the plants dry. This results in the plants lasting indefinitely.

GPS device similar to the one used by our team. 

The coordinates are collected using Global Positioning Satellites in the field. The information is then included to a google map on the Herbarium website. Our website is the focal point of most of the information included in this project This enables each visitor to locate and visit each plant on their own.

Completed Riker Box

The label is added to each individual riker box. Each mounted specimen includes information such as scientific name, common name, location, and size. The labels may include pictures of the plant in the wild for identification for visitors. A QR code is featured on each box. The QR codes can be scanned by smartphones for additional information available on the Sandy Hook Herbarium's website.  

The Sandy Hook Herbarium group is looking forward to providing the public with informative and accessible botanical facts. This will be a valuable source for Sandy Hook visitors and botanists worldwide for years to come.

http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/plant_info/identifying_plants/processing_plant_specimens/Preserving_plant_specimens

            This is the website from The Royal Botanical Gardens & Domain Trust in Sydney, Australia. The botanists there dry their specimens with microwave ovens. They also use our method of pressing a drying using wooden pressers and silica gel. The botanists offer advice about long term storage and preservation.

http://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT198359AG.pdf

            This is a webpage form the Montana State University about how to collect, press and mount plants. They feature the same plant pressed we use, along with guidelines. They include details about label construction and what information to include.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening/uploads/documents/Making%20a%20herbarium%20specimen%20leaflet_1638.pdf

            This is the PDF guide from the Redwood Health Services about how to mount and press plants specifically for display in a professional Herbarium. This source includes pictures of scientists working in the field and detailed lists of what to include in each label.

http://www.brit.org/herbarium/plantcollecting/press

            This is the plant pressing guide from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. They have advice about how to effectively dry your specimens after pressing them in the press. They describe the mounting process.

http://herbarium.usu.edu/k-12/collecting/specimens.htm

            This is the website from the Utah State University with specific information about creating labels for the boxes after plants are mounted. They offer advice on how to avoid insects ruining your specimens.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herbarium/voucher.htm

            This is a website from the Florida State Herbarium on how to create a professional voucher plant specimen. They provide information on plant identification and where to display your plants. They give a lot of information about what information to include in labels.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pic/preserving_plants.htm

            This is a website from the Plant Information Center focusing specifically how to create Labels for specimens. They give examples and pictures of real pressed plant labels.  

http://www.botany.unimelb.edu.au/herbarium/files/MakeHerbSpec.pdf

            This is the website from the University of Melbourne about how to press plants and what to include in each label. They offer information about where to place labels on the boxes and how to position them with the dried specimens.

http://www.nps.gov/Plants/sos/training/How%20to%20Create%20a%20Herbarium%20Label.pdf

            The US National Park Service offers information about how to press and label Herbarium specimen. It is simpler than other University-based Herbarium websites but is still gives general information about the importance of pressing plants properly.

http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu/makingherbspecimen.html

      This is the website from the Louisiana State University. They detail how to create professional labels concerning what to include and what to omit for each specimen, depending on the type.