The Duke Herbarium is a valuable scientific resource that adds stature to Duke University. It was with disbelief that I learned that Duke had decided to no longer support the Herbarium.
Herbaria are key resources and repositories of biological information that are constantly mined in new and previously unforeseen ways to address key scientific questions regarding biodiversity and its loss and the impacts of climate change. They represent a valuable, irreplaceable asset. The Duke Herbarium is such an asset, and its loss would be to the detriment of Duke’s reputation as a leading scientific research university.
I spent 10 years volunteering in Biology at Duke — including supporting the Herbarium. Never did I imagine Duke would make the short-sighted decision to drop the Herbarium.
Imagine Duke deciding to close the libraries — this decision to no longer support the Herbarium is of the same magnitude.
My hope is that Duke will reconsider this decision in the interest of both science and Duke itself and most importantly to future Duke students.
Dr. Henry Van T. Cotter is a former visiting scholar at Duke University.
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