Herbarium Research Associate

About Us:

At The Huntington, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to support and promote the appreciation of the humanities, the arts, and botanical science. The Huntington is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.

Founded in 1919, The Huntington is a collections‑based research and educational institution open to the public, housing world‑class library, art, and botanical collections. Its mission is to support research and promote education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science and to display and interpret its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences.

Here we are committed to the highest of standards in all that we do – from preserving and protecting the collections, to exhibitions, educational and scholarly programming, visitor and reader services, and beyond. Achieving excellence across these pursuits requires a diversity of perspectives, expertise, experience, and methodologies.

At The Huntington, our organizational culture is shaped by the following core values:
Intellectual curiosity, Collaboration, Stewardship, Belonging, and Integrity.

• Intellectual Curiosity:
  Knowledge, lifelong learning, and a spirit of inquiry are at the core of our mission and organizational culture.
• Collaboration:
  
  Teamwork and a collaborative attitude are important at all levels of The Huntington. We foster relationships internally among our departments and externally with organizations throughout the community.
• Stewardship:
  We are committed to the care and development of our collections, our financial and physical resources, our staff, and our community.
• Belonging:
  We strive to attract and maintain a workforce of individuals with diverse talents, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our organizational culture promotes a sense of welcome, inclusion, and connection.
• Integrity:
  We value respect and honesty, working to fulfill our mission with honor and ethical principles.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Botanical Collections, Conservation and Research, the Herbarium Research Associate will focus on activating an ethnobotanical collection focused on Chinese Medicinal Plants, through making vouchers, compiling information, digitizing specimens and label data, and assisting with making the entire herbarium collection more accessible to wider audiences. This position collaborates with other staff and volunteers within the Botanical Division.

This is a limited‑term, part‑time position, budgeted for six months.

• Prepare specimen vouchers from living plant material
• Curate existing specimens and improve the quality of data captured in database for select taxonomic and geographic plant groups
• Create synoptic collection of Chinese Medicinal Plants within larger herbarium with traditional plant uses documented in database
• Work with botanical staff to develop a database that houses the ethnobotanical information associated with each plant specimen
• Work with botanical staff and volunteers to develop digital resources that document the Chinese Medicinal Plant collection
• Support and initiate further research that maximizes the potential of the herbarium
• Participate in long term planning of the herbarium, positioning its usefulness within the institution

• Assists with interpretation labelling in Chinese Medicinal Plant display
• Assists with data entry or adding metadata to the images of herbarium specimens
• Support the gathering and archiving of useful information on natural history, cultivated history, conservation status, and economic value of specimens in the herbarium
• Other duties as assigned

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in Horticulture, Botany, Plant Science, or related field
• Demonstrated research experience in botany
• Knowledge and experience in plant identification
• Demonstrated…