Die Herbonauten
The Citizen Science project “die Herbonauts” has been a joint project of the Botanical Garden and the Botanical Museum since 2016 in Berlin. The aim of the project is to form a scientific database of around 4 million “herb specimens” (i.e. glued-on plants or parts thereof) to create a “herbal archive”. They have the aim that researchers can access this database digitally from all over the world to research the development of biodiversity. For the findability of the appropriate herbal specimens it is therefore essential to digitally store the data written on the labels, some of which are centuries old. Because the often handwritten labels that cannot be reliably read by machines, citizens, the “herbonauts”, enter this information. This time-consuming work would be done by the researchers alone cannot be afforded. The citizens create the basis for the research work. In addition to help with creating the archive in return, the committed citizens learn a lot about working with herbal documents. The project is divided into various “missions” that relate to focus on certain topics, such as aquatic plants or manuscripts. Depending on their skills, the herbonauts can then choose missions. They can also work their way up to higher levels, by passing rounds of quizzes. The higher you climbed, the more information fields will be released for entry. Since the beginning of the project, several missions have already been completed.
