UBC Undergraduate Research

Five early contributors to the UBC Herbarium van der Pouw Kraan, Ashley

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to delve into the histories of five of the early contributors to The UBC Herbarium. This research will fill some of the gaps the UBC Herbarium currently has in its history, and allow for a deeper understanding of the people who contributed to the Herbarium’s collections. The primary argument my paper focuses on is the reason these five contributors partook in the collecting of botanical samples, and what drove them along in their studies. My research methods consisted mostly of analyzing primary and secondary sources, either written by the collectors themselves, or by people who were interested in their work. For supplementary information, secondary sources focused on the subjects of botany, natural history, and the history of British Columbia were also analyzed. These methods opened up the histories of most of the collectors for scrutiny. It was found that the five contributors collected for the joy of being in nature, and to preserve knowledge of nature for future generations. [Note: Title taken from UBC Geography's end of term conference program of March 25, 2014]

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada