Mission & Institutional Role
The mission of the Hollister Herbarium is to acquire, preserve, document, study, interpret, and provide public access to botanical specimens that advance education, research, biodiversity conservation, and understanding of Tennessee’s natural heritage.
Core Commitments
- » Permanent Collections Stewardship
Maintain botanical specimens and their associated records according to accepted professional practices so that they remain available to future generations.
- » Public Access and Interpretation
Provide meaningful opportunities for the public to encounter, explore, and learn from the collection through visits, exhibitions, programs, digital resources, and community partnerships.
- » Research and Conservation
Make specimens and data available to researchers, government agencies, conservation organizations, environmental professionals, and other users.
- » Education and Workforce Development
Provide collections-based learning, research, curation, digitization, and professional training for students.
- » Regional Collaboration
Work with herbaria, schools, public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community groups to improve botanical knowledge and stewardship.
Institutional Alignment
The Hollister Herbarium advances Tennessee Tech’s Tech Tomorrow strategic plan through education, innovation, responsible stewardship, and community engagement. The herbarium provides students with hands-on learning and professional experience, preserves an irreplaceable record of regional plant diversity, expands public access to specimen information through digitization, and works with researchers, educators, public agencies, and community organizations to increase understanding and conservation of Tennessee’s natural heritage.