
Schrödinger’s Phenotypes: How Good is Morphological Data Harvest From Herbarium Specimen Images
Friday, July 30, 2021
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Digitization of natural history specimens held in museum collections has greatly expanded scientists’ access to information about plants and other organisms. However, researchers are still determining the extent to which morphological observations based on images can serve as a substitute for studying the physical specimens themselves. Based on an analysis of plant specimens, Dr. Borges will discuss advantages and pitfalls of using 2D images to acquire morphological data. Overall, 2D images are shown to be a useful data-source that may support large-scale studies on the morphology and evolution of different organisms.
About the Speaker
Leonardo Borges is a professor of botany and taxonomy at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil. His research focuses on the classification, morphology, and evolution of the sensitive plants and related genera in the legume family. He has also conducted his research at the NYBG multiple times during his Ph.D. and also as a postdoctoral fellow. In his spare time, he makes drawings and ramen.
