A special theme-issue of Philosophical Transactions B, Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene, compiled and edited by Emily K. Meineke, Barnabas H. Daru, T. Jonathan Davies and Charles C. Davis to highlight the importance of preserving biological specimens, was published on 19 November 2018. Meineke, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Davis Lab, and her colleagues, argue collections such as those held at the Harvard University Herbaria, are invaluable and may hold the answers to questions we haven’t yet thought of.

“In 200 years, we have no idea what technology will be available and what people will be able to use these specimens for. They contain a wealth of hidden data that we might not even understand exists in our lifetime, so there’s a practical element to keeping and preserving them.” - Dr. Emily K. Meineke

Read more in the Harvard Gazette.