Two of SUNY Oswego’s plant-focused facilities will open their doors to visitors during a joint Fall Open House on Friday, Oct 20, 2023, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
This free event offers the chance to step behind the scenes and learn about SUNY Oswego’s large living and non-living collections of plants, which support teaching and research. Both facilities are located in the Shineman Center.
SUNY Oswego’s greenhouse, located on the roof of the Shineman Center, houses SUNY Oswego’s living plant collection, featuring over 200 species of plants. The collection focuses on noteworthy species of ecological, evolutionary, economic and historical significance.
The collection includes plants from diverse biomes, including arid, tropical, subtropical and temperate habitats. Visitors will have the chance to discover orchids, carnivorous plants, aquatic plants and cacti as well as edible plants including pineapple, cacao (chocolate), vanilla, coffee and cinnamon.
The greenhouse is accessible from the northwest side of the Shineman Center via stairs or elevator to the 4th floor/roof. For easiest elevator access, take the elevator located across from Room 174 to the “R” level.
SUNY Oswego’s plant museum, the Oswego Herbarium, houses roughly 40,000 preserved plant specimens collected from around the world and dating back to the early 1800s. Visitors will have the chance to view diverse specimens from around the world, observe historic collection notebooks, and learn about a new NSF-funded effort to “digitize” the collection through high-resolution photography, making these specimens publicly available to researchers and interested people around the world.
Those interested can even try their hand at digitizing a specimen. Additional highlights include learning about the significant contributions of women to the Oswego Herbarium and meeting current undergraduate herbarium interns.
The Oswego Herbarium is located in room 306, on floor 3U (the “upper” third floor) in Shineman.
The open house coincides with the university's Family and Friends Weekend. Visitors who do not have a parking pass can obtain one online at oswego.edu/parking or in person at the Parking Services Office at the corner of Route 104 and New Street.
Isabelle Keefe, a spring 2023 undergraduate intern, digitizes samples of plants at the Oswego Herbarium in Shineman Center.