Pressed for Impact: Unleashing the Potential of South African National Parks Plant Records
Nikisha Singh presented at SPNHC 2026 on how SANParks’ four herbaria, holding over 35,000 specimens across nine biomes, are being digitised and opened to the world. A century of plant records, hidden in our national parks Most visitors to South Africa’s...
Saving Orphan Collections: Lessons from the Bews Herbarium
Christina Potgieter Curry presented at SPNHC 2026 on how the Bews Herbarium incorporated five neglected plant collections — and what other institutions can learn from the experience. What happens to collections that lose their home? Across South Africa, natural...
Her name on the label, today: the women building South Africa’s collections
The names on today’s labels are being written by a new generation of women; in digitisation suites, herbarium labs, and the field. When we talk about the women behind South Africa’s natural science collections, it is tempting to look only at the past. But...
Her Name on the Label: Nosiphiwo Goci
Every museum label tells a story. Most visitors read the species name, the collector, the date. They rarely see the names of the people who made the science possible; the hands that sorted, the eyes that separated, the patience that turned chaotic field samples into...