Barbara M. Thiers

Teaches at New York Botanical Garden

As Patricia K. Holmgren Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, Dr. Thiers is responsible for overseeing the Garden's 7.3 million collections of algae, bryophytes, fungi and vascular plants and the approximately 30 staff members who manage these collections. The Steere Herbarium is the largest in the Western Hemisphere, and among the four largest in the world. She has been involved in the development of the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance, a nationwide initiative to digitize all biodiversity collections housed in U.S. institutions. Her studies studies have taken her to Australia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.