Texas-Oklahoma herbarium meeting (TORCH)

[Tom Wendt]

The Texas Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH) is being
developed to advocate for and to organize herbaria in Texas and
Oklahoma.  Four primary goals of TORCH are proposed:

Provide a mechanism for communication and collaboration among
regional herbaria of all types and sizes
Promote regional data sharing and plant taxonomic and
collections-based research
Function as a regional consortium in the developing national network
of herbaria
Assist herbaria with infrastructural and management guidelines and
problem solving
The inaugural meeting of TORCH will be held Saturday May 6, 2006 at
the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) and the Fort Worth
Botanic Garden, in Fort Worth, Texas.  All herbarium representatives
and those who work with plant collections in Texas and Oklahoma are
invited to attend.

The meeting program will have three primary components:  1)
presentations by representatives from regional herbaria; 2) invited
presentations on collections-based activities and initiatives
impacting herbaria in Texas and Oklahoma; and 3) a group discussion
focused on herbarium issues and the organization of TORCH.
Additionally, there will be a Saturday evening mixer, dinner, and
presentation.  The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) is
sponsoring the meeting.

More information on TORCH and the upcoming meeting is available at
the Herbarium Collaborative site at
<http://herbaria.science.oregonstate.edu/> under "Regional Networks."

--
Tom Wendt, Curator                      twendt at mail.utexas.edu
Plant Resources Center          tel. 512-471-5904
The University of Texas at Austin       fax 512-232-3402
1 University Station F0404
Austin, Texas 78712-0471  USA