Preserving herbarium specimens for research

Hi I'm Jasmine Lai and I'm the technician at the UBC herbarium and the Martone lab at the Biodiversity Research Centre.

At the herbarium I mainly work on the loans, and processing specimens so that they can be preserved for the years to come. At the Martone lab I mainly work on the wet bench, concentrating on their molecular work, focusing on identifying species by DNA barcoding.

My favourite research memory would be when we went, as a lab, to Quadra Island, to do a mini bio blitz. We were looking for all the species that we could find on the beach. It was an amazing experience to be with such knowledgeable people, who knew their seaweeds so well, and who helped to identify so many of the species. I've learned so much from them.

I have different favourite organisms from different groups. But I think I really like—from the plant side—orchids. And—from the more animal side—nudibranchs. They're so cute.

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