Notes from Nature - CAS Plants to Pixels

Our collection of California plants dates back to 1853, which means that it holds an extensive record of where plants have lived across California through time. Understanding where plants live now and in the past is key to understanding so much about their biology, their evolution, and (importantly) how best to protect them in the face of rapidly changing environments. Digitizing our California specimens is an important piece of that work because it allows us to summarize all of the plant data held in each individual specimen, but we can’t do it alone. Here’s where you come in: We’ve scanned high-quality images of our specimens, and we need help transcribing the information on those images into digital text. Every specimen you transcribe is a huge help, bringing us closer to fully digitizing our vast collection of California plants so that it’s accessible anywhere, by anyone.