The Sharsmith Herbarium (SJSU)
The Sharsmith Herbarium houses approximately 15,000 vascular plant specimens. These are primarily vascular plants from the Bay Area and reflect the collecting efforts of our namesake, Carl W. Sharsmith. Data from the majority of our specimens can be accessed through the Consortium of California Herbaria. Most of our collections have digitized collections data and we have an ongoing project georeferencing those that have not already been completed. Learn more at the herbarium's website Here. As the director of the herbarium, I supervise growth of the collections and use of our collections by classes and researchers . The specimens in our collections are actively used by researchers, by local botanists and by students in our courses in the department of biological sciences.
The herbarium also includes approximately 7000 bryophyte collections (searchable here), which include strong representation from California, the mid-Atlantic region of the eastern US, and east Africa.
The herbarium also includes approximately 7000 bryophyte collections (searchable here), which include strong representation from California, the mid-Atlantic region of the eastern US, and east Africa.
Animal museums
San Jose State has natural history collections of birds (~5000 specimens), mammals (~3000 specimens) and arthropods (~1,000,000 specimens). Digitization and cataloging of these collections is ongoing, and preliminary information on the collections can be found here.
Digitization projects & Volunteering
SJSU students volunteer and/or work in exchange for University credit in all three of the Natural History Museums. Interested students should contact me- there is much work to do!