The Paleoethnobotany Laboratory Arabian Herbarium is receiving a facelift after new samples arrived from the Oman Botanic Garden this past spring. The Arabian Herbarium has been one of Dr. Joy McCorriston’s many projects. This extensive collection of plants from the Mediterranean to the southern coasts of Yemen have proven to be indispensable as it assists many researchers with plant identification of macro, photolith, pollen, and charcoaled remains.
Ohio State Senior, Jackie Stewart, has been leading the crusade to update the collection to include the new samples from the recent 2018 Autumn Field Season. Stewart is a Biology major minoring in Physical Anthropology and History. She will be graduating in December 2019. Her and Annalee Sekulic’s work mainly focuses on the data organization of the diverse range of plants being entered and mounted in the herbarium. Stewart is passionate about the breadth and immense diversity of knowledge which is found in Arabia.