The University of Connecticut maintains the Biodiversity Research Collections, including the George Safford Torrey Herbarium (CONN), for the benefit of a global community of scientists, students, and citizens. We welcome and encourage scientific inquiry using our herbarium specimens; in turn, we request that you actively contribute to our mission by a) annotating specimens that you borrow with species determinations; b) acknowledging CONN in your publications that result from this loan and sending us citation information and/or pdfs; and c) sending us Genbank numbers, TreeBase records, etc. to associate with specimens.

From the BRC Policies, Section VII: The combined systematic research Collections welcome and promote research on their holdings, consistent with the preservation and protection of their material for the use and enjoyment of future generations. Requests for destructive sampling will be considered when the potential contribution to science outweighs the defacement or loss of a specimen, such that for example, under no circumstance should the only flower, fruit or seed, or sporangium be sampled destructively, or a significant portion of the vegetative body be sampled for DNA extraction. Requests for destructive sampling must be made in writing, and will be evaluated against the following criteria: the purpose and merit of the study; the appropriateness of the proposed analytical technique(s); the demonstrated competence of the researcher; the potential to compromise future study; the availability, or rarity, of equivalent material; and the proposed dissemination of results. Special consideration pertains to type specimens, or other items of significant scientific or cultural value. Proper association of the sampled specimen and its parts is essential (collection-specific guidelines apply). Please check the box below to indicate you have read and understood this policy and the criteria by which we will permit or prohibit destructive sampling.