{"id":821,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:18","latitude":41.31422640000000257032297668047249317169189453125,"longitude":-105.564323202144663582657813094556331634521484375,"title":"Rocky Mountain Herbarium","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/a9b0acfa38d3d30d1c75600955782178.jpg","address":"1000 E University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071","all_locations":[],"zoom":8,"creator":["Cristal A. DeSantiago, Northern Arizona University"],"description":"The Rocky Mountain Herbarium is at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. Aven Nelson, one of the original faculty members,  established the herbarium in 1893. The university initially hired Nelson as an English professor, but the board of directors made him the biology professor when the school mistakenly employed two English professors. This position led to Nelson discovering his passion for botany. His interest in botany grew as he assisted the university's resident plant expert, Burt Buffum, in identifying plant samples for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Nelson's journey in botany continued with his exploration into the Yellowstone National Park in 1899. His journey gained him respect within the botany field, leading to the official establishment of the herbarium as part of the University of Wyoming, with Nelson as its curator. He named it The Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Nelson later became the president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and Botanical Society of America and the president of the University of Wyoming from 1918 to 1922.
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       Following Nelson's resignation in 1930, the herbarium experienced additional growth with the installation of the W. G. Solheim Mycological Herbarium. Added to the herbarium by the head of the university botany department, Dr. Wilhelm G. Solheim, it was Solheim's personal collection of fungi. With 48,000 fungi specimens, it is the largest collection of fungi globally. In 1960, the herbarium collection, comprising around 265,000 samples, moved to the Aven Nelson Memorial Building. Initially constructed as the university's first library in 1923, the building provided a new home for the expanding herbarium. The herbarium collection further grew in 1982 when the US Forest Service National Herbarium (USFS), founded in Washington, D.C., granted an indefinite loan of 120,000 plant specimens. Between the Rocky Mountain Herbarium's personal collection, W. G. Solheim Mycological Herbarium, and the collaboration with the USFS, the herbarium archives now contain over 1.3 million plant samples. This collection has earned the reputation of being one of the largest herbariums between St. Louis and the West Coast.

","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"Aven Nelson was originally an English professor but was unexpectedly thrust into the world of botany after being hired at the University of Wyoming in 1893. He discovered a passion for the subject, eventually leading to the creation of the Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Over the years, the herbarium has assembled a collection of 1.3 million specimens through extensive collection efforts and collaborations.","website":"","related_resources":["Baxter, John W., and Martha Christensen. “Wilhelm Gerhard Solheim (1898-         1978).”  Mycologia 71, no. 1 (1979): 45–46. Accessed November 3, 2023. Wilhelm      Gerhard Solheim      1898-1978) on JSTOR","

“Collections.” Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Rocky Mountain Herbarium and the      University of Wyoming Department of Botany. Accessed November 3, 2023. Collections: Rocky Mountain Herbarium.

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“Collection Overview.” Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Rocky Mountain Herbarium and the University of Wyoming Department of Botany. Accessed November 4, 2023. Rocky Mountain Herbarium : Natural Science Collections.

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Hutchens, Chad. “A Look into the Rocky Mountain Herbarium Library Collection and Digital Project.” Serials Review (February 2011). Accessed November 2, 2023. A Look into the Rocky Mountain Herbarium Library Collection and Digital Pro...: EBSCOhost.

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Pelt Van, Lori. “Aven Nelson, Botanist and President of the University of Wyoming.” Wyohistory. Wyoming Historical Society, October 2018. Accessed on November 21, 2023. Aven Nelson, Botanist and President of the University of Wyoming | WyoHistory.org

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“Rocky Mountain Herbarium.” Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Rocky Mountain Herbarium and the University of Wyoming Department of Botany. Accessed November 21, 2023. Rocky Mountain Herbarium :Rocky Mountain Herbarium.

","“Rocky Mountain Herbarium.” University of Wyoming. Rocky Mountain Herbarium and the University of Wyoming Department of Botany. Accessed November 23, 2023.PowerPoint Presentation (uwyo.edu).","“Rocky Mountain Herbarium Strategic Plan 2019-2022”  Rocky Mountain Herbarium. Rocky Mountain Herbarium and the University of Wyoming Department of Botany, July 16, 2019. Accessed November 5, 2023. Microsoft Word - RM Strategic Plan.docx (rockymountainherbarium.org).","

Urbigkit, Cat. “A library of books for a “library” of plants.” Wyoming Library Round up, 2007. Accessed November 5, 2023. awarchive (wyo.gov).

"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/a9b0acfa38d3d30d1c75600955782178.jpg":{"id":3625,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Rocky Mountain Herbarium collection sites","description":"Each dot represents where the Rocky Mountain Herbarium established a collection site that analyzed and documented over 150 specimens for their collections in the Rocky Mountains. | University of Wyoming, Rocky Mountain. Available at 2022 RM annual report final (rockymountainherbarium.org). This image was used with the permission of Rocky Mountain Herbarium.","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/a9b0acfa38d3d30d1c75600955782178.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/edbf4bc97e0241f007cabe269ef7b6ef.jpg":{"id":3626,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"The original pressed samples of the Rocky Mountain Fringed Gentian","description":"The original pressed samples of the Rocky Mountain Fringed Gentian, also known as Blue Gentian, founded by Aven Nelson in 1900. |

University of Wyoming, Rocky Mountain. Available at Rocky Mountain Herbarium : Rocky Mountain Herbarium

","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/edbf4bc97e0241f007cabe269ef7b6ef.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/d56a1f4434cf6123dc9ab121638651c4.jpg":{"id":3627,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Aven Nelson at the end of his collection trip to Yellowstone Park in September 1899","description":"Aven Nelson at the end of his collection trip to Yellowstone Park in September 1899. Sitting in his tent, he was surrounded by the specimen samples collected and pressed, ready to be taken back to the Rocky Mountain Herbarium. |

American Heritage Center: Digital Collections, Aven Nelson with a beard sitting on the ground in 1899. Available at Aven Nelson with beard sitting on the ground - Miscellaneous AHC Collections (uwyo.edu)

","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/d56a1f4434cf6123dc9ab121638651c4.jpg"},"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/fullsize/63036ac9ba88a5d9618faa31fc7530f7.jpg":{"id":3628,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Inside the Rocky Mountain Herbarium archives","description":"Inside the Rocky Mountain Herbarium archives located on the fourth floor of the Aven Nelson Building. In the fall of 2011, the yellow cabinets replaced the old storage units as the herbarium needed an expansion for their collection. |

University of Wyoming: Department of Botany, Rocky Mountain Herbarium and Solheim Mycological Herbarium grow, the herbarium archives in 2011. Available at Botany @ UW: Rocky Mountain Herbarium and Solheim Mycological Herbarium Grow (uwbotany.blogspot.com)

","thumbnail":"https://www.intermountainhistories.org/files/square_thumbnails/63036ac9ba88a5d9618faa31fc7530f7.jpg"}}}