Committee Chair

Shaw, Joey

Committee Member

Budke, Jessica; Craddock, J. Hill; Gaudin, Timothy J.; Krosnick, Shawn

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

The herbaria of Tennessee were the focus of substantial efforts to digitize southeastern plant specimens in the United States between 2014-2019. Because of that work, 13 of the 14 herbaria were digitized to varying degrees, producing approximately 894,000 digital vascular plant records. For the first time, the content of these collections could be elucidated and analyzed for bias. Defining their content demonstrates their disposition as a resource for Southeastern botany, and understanding biases can aid in intentionally allocating resources for future work regarding deeper digitization or on-the-ground documentation. However, in order to confidently prescribe work aimed at addressing bias, the level of complete digitization needs to be understood in order to recognize potential sources of any observed bias. This work elucidates the holdings of the Tennessee herbaria, identifies biases within the data, and prescribes intentional future work by accounting for the current state of the collections.

Acknowledgments

I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a self-made person. Every life and accomplishment that happens along the way is a culmination of all the experiences and people who lend you a little bit more of your current self. With that being said, I would like to first thank Joey Shaw for taking me on as a student when I was but a lost little non-thesis track student who was interested in herbaria. Because of your own passion for these collections, I was able to foster mine, and I am grateful for the path that was made available to me through your acceptance. Chloe Smotherman deserves special recognition for the enthusiasm she ignites in me for learning more, loving life, and appreciating friends who become family very easily. Julia Prins, while I do love your baking, I hope you do less of it. Thank you for always being a safe space for grumpiness and being the kind of person I can simply make eye contact with to convey so many feelings. Quinn Towery, thank you Mr. Tuckey, for being an incredible source of passion and knowledge for the field of botany and for also being the person who once said, “I wish I could be more like you and not care about what I say in conversation”. I love you for that. Lynne Welden, I hope you know you always look great, and that you have insighted a deep love for humanity within me by showing me just how pure and beautiful humans can be. May your fire for not only insisting that love is present but also that it is abundant in great quantities never be extinguished. Andy Wall, you better miss me while you go off and explore the world with your little adventure cat. I hope you never lose your whimsy though I don’t think I want to wake up to it at 2 am again. Sevyn Brothers, thank you for all the “everything is fine” encouragements. It turns out everything would be fine, even though I hate to say that you were not very convincing. Tim Gaudin, thank you for allowing me to sigh loudly in your office with the inconvenience of a dog that doesn’t pay rent. You are the kind of person I would never be afraid to ask a question of because you have an unending enthusiasm to share information. I have only ever felt encouraged to learn more from you, and I hope I wander off and find something I could teach you some day. Jessica Budke, Hill Craddock, and Shawn Krosnick, thank you so sincerely for agreeing to being on my committee. The fact that each of you lent me your knowledge and experience will forever be appreciated. Finally, thank you to my partner Cole Mayer and our little cat Beans. I love you endlessly.

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

5-2025

Subject

Botanical specimens—Drying--Tennessee; Herbaria--Collection and preservation--Tennessee; Plants--Tennessee--Identification

Keyword

Herbaria; Digitization; Natural History; Tennessee; Botany; Levels of Completeness

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xxi, 131 leaves

Language

English

Rights

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

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Date Available

5-31-2026

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Available for download on Sunday, May 31, 2026

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