ASPT Herbarium Emergency Fund Request

ASPT maintains a modest fund to assist herbaria with recovery efforts in the aftermath of some emergency. To apply for support under this fund, please prepare a brief proposal addressing the following points.  Proposals can be submitted as a single packet (pdf) and emailed to businessoffice@aspt.net or through the form at the bottom of the page.  Please direct any questions to businessoffice@aspt.net.

Guidelines for Requests

1. Describe the collection in need.

Briefly describe the impacted herbarium collection, which may include importance from various perspectives, such as taxonomic, historic, geographic, ethnobotanic, etc.

2. State the nature of the emergency.

In general, an “emergency” is some unforeseen event that threatens the very existence of the collection. Examples include severe damage due to fire, hurricane, earthquake, etc. If the emergency is due to some other set of factors (loss of staff, etc.), then the request should include a justification of why the collection should remain at the current institution, and an indication of the institution’s intent to restore staffing/funding in the immediate future.

3. State the nature of the need.

Indicate what the problem is, and what needs to be done to solve the problem. Consider submitting photographs that illustrate the emergency.

4. Indicate institutional support and co-funding.

Provide a letter from the institutional administrator with oversight for the threatened collection (on official letterhead) describing how the collection remains an important and valued facility to the institution, and indicate what co-funding the institution can provide to deal with the emergency, or why the institution is not in a position to provide such funds.

5. Provide a detailed budget.

Assemble a table or spreadsheet with costs, together with a justification for each item. For equipment, materials and supplies, provide quotes of costs, if at all possible.

6. Provide a report.

Prepare a report on how the funds were spent, and include descriptions and photographs before and after the emergency. Filing a report is required not only as a condition of funding, but it also provides a mechanism to help with fundraising efforts to restore the fund in the future. Reports are due within six months of receipt of financial support from the ASPT Herbarium Emergency Fund. Any filing extension must be approved in writing by the ASPT Systematics Collections Committee.