Committee Chair

Shaw, Joey

Committee Member

Chatzimanolis, Stylianos; Qin, Hong

Department

Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Much of the primary biodiversity data supporting biology and environmental science are preserved in natural history collections (NHCs). Recently, these collections began to make those data digitally available through online portals thereby improving their accessibility and usability. The processes involved in creating digital representations of these physical objects are, as of now mostly manual and labor intensive. The goal of this work is to assist NHCs in making these data available. Pursuant to this goal, three assistive tools were produced based on experiences digitizing herbaria (i.e., NHCs focusing on the kingdom Plantae). The tools produced through this effort are: (1) a labor estimation model, (2) a program to assist in the capture and refinement of herbarium specimen images, and (3) a pair of programs which when used while collecting new specimens circumvents the most labor intensive step in the process of digitization.

Acknowledgments

I am eternally grateful to my advisor, mentor, and friend Dr. Joey Shaw for challenging me to enter the graduate program and encouraging me to pursue research with creativity. I would like to thank my committee members Dr. Chatzimanolis for his thoughtful instruction and straightforward approach and Dr. Qin for his persistent support and interdisciplinary perspective. I am grateful to Dr. Craddock for advocating my research and fostering a love of mycology. I would also like to acknowledge my peers in the graduate program who have continuously impressed and inspired me. I am especially thankful to my mother and father for their love and support along my circuitous route through academia.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2020

Subject

Biodiversity; Natural history--Catalogs and collections; Herbaria -- Catalogs and collections

Keyword

biodiversity data; born digital; digitization; image processing; natural history; software

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 74 leaves.

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Date Available

9-1-2020

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