A Cornell collection of tiny fungi – with specimens dating to the 1800s – will enter the modern age and go digital, thanks to a National Science Foundation (NSF) program to digitize biological collections across the country. …
“The beauty of this project is we are unlocking big data of where fungi occur in the world, and when,” said Kathie Hodge, director of the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium and associate professor of mycology. “All of this information locked up in cabinets will now be searchable across a database. If we are looking for what mushrooms grow in Ithaca in June, we can search that,” Hodge said.
For the first time, users will be able to synthesize information to gain insight on global biodiversity, climate change, ecology, invasive organisms and plant disease, she added.
This is terrific! What a tremendous grant for Cornell to have gotten. Congratulations, Kathie!