The Rocky Mountains are home to a diverse and unique plant ecosystem. At the University of Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Herbarium, rests the largest collection of Rocky Mountain plantlife in the country. Its collections and online resources are utilized by experts and researchers across the world. And now Wyoming students can now explore the Herbarium's collection of knowledge too.

The institute announced on May 10, 2022, that the Herbarium has launched a program to bring its resources to educators and students that can't travel to Laramie. The initiative provides phenomenon-based lessons that teach students about Wyoming's ecosystem in accordance with Wyoming's science education standards. Students can learn how to build their own herbarium, identify plant life, and understand how plants grow in the Cowboy State.

What the University of Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Herbarium Offers

UW's Herbarium is a free resource for educators and students that provides experiments and lessons about various aspects of Wyoming's biodiversity. The program also can provide a Classroom Kit to instructors, which includes books, identification keys, seeds, and other supplies from the Herbarium.

The goal of the Rocky Mountain Herbarium's new initiative is to grow and share botanical information from the University with Wyoming students. David Tank, botany professor and director of the herbarium, said in a statement that “Today’s students will be tomorrow’s stewards of our biodiversity, and knowledge of the state’s flora will make them better stewards. I can’t think of many more important uses of the Rocky Mountain Herbarium’s collections.”

Educators looking to find resources and lesson plans from the University of Wyoming's Rocky Mountain Herbarium can find out more about the program here.

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