UEC Herbarium: dedicating more time to community outreach Lívia Cordi, Kamila Pinheiro de Lima, Washington Marcondes Ferreira Neto, André Olmos Simões, Maria Fernanda Calió, Ingrid Koch

Abstract

The UEC Herbarium, founded in 1974 in the Botany Department of the Unicamp Biology Institute and, since 2008, elevated to a complementary body of that Institute. It has been registered as a Faithful Depositary since 2004, being a reference collection for research and teaching. Currently, the UEC collection has around 190,000 exsiccates, most of which come from the cerrados and forests of the Southeast, Center-West and South regions of Brazil. Among these, 727 nomenclatural types, all digitized. The collection is being computerized and has reached 90% of data available online through INCT - Virtual Herbarium of Flora and Fungi, through Specieslink and through Virtual Herbarium – Reflora. Aiming to expand the dissemination of scientific knowledge, the UEC herbarium has been gradually increasing its involvement in extension activities, through educational visits and workshops on various topics linked to research and teaching plant biology, as well as through the establishment of partnerships with botanical gardens regional.