Natural History Collection

RU8905

Click on the tabs to the left, and you'll see:

  • A showcase of our collection of over 30,000 specimens -- of which 16,000 are fully digitized. Our vertebrate collection is fully digitized, and we work with local organizations and agencies to continue to build it. Our herbarium collection is nearing complete digitization, with about 400 specimens left to enter into our database. Our invertebrate collections in ethanol are fully digitized, and our pinned insect collection is ca. 50% complete.

  • Student projects and class-related reports related to the collection.

  • Historical information about our collections and our collectors.

Why are small collections like ours so important?

  • A recent student essay explains it all.
  • We also published new country records from our herbarium. This was a student-led project, and emphasized the value of our regional collections!      

    Allen, E.T., K.E. Powers, C.J. Small, and T.F. Wielboldt. 2020. County additions to the Virginia flora vouchered at the Radford University Herbarium. Castanea 85(1): 14-22. 
RU8905label

The label from the herbarium specimen above, collected in 1935 by Bob Platt III. Platt contributed a substantial number of our specimens from the 1930s. Locations include Radford and its environs - in many habitats that no longer exist! Specimens like this give us a snapshot of the past - a view of this region over 8 decades ago.