Plant Recorder

Huntsville Botanical Garden•Huntsville, AL

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

Manage and maintain the Huntsville Botanical Garden’s authoritative living collections records and collections information within IrisBG (collection management database), in collaboration with the Geospatial Conservation Analyst and Curator of Living Collections. Responsible for the accurate documentation, inventory, accessioning, and labeling of the Garden’s living collections while ensuring that plant records meet established data-quality standards. Serve as a technical resource for plant records and collections information, coordinating with horticulture, conservation, research, greenhouse, advancement, marketing, education, and other Garden staff to ensure that information about collections are accurate, current, accessible, and useful for collections management, research, interpretation, planning, and organizational decision-making. Conduct regular inventories and audits, maintain collections documentation and metrics, and contribute to the continued development of plant-records systems, workflows, standards, procedures, and reporting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture, Botany, Plant Science, Biology, Natural Resources, Environmental Science, or a related field, and at least two years of relevant professional experience in horticulture, plant collections, botanical garden or arboretum operations, plant records, or a related field or an equivalent combination thereof.
Demonstrated knowledge of plant identification, taxonomy, nomenclature, accessioning, and basic principles of living-collections management.
Experience using databases or other structured data-management systems and maintaining accurate, complete, and well-organized records.
Working proficiency with GIS or spatial data-management tools, including the ability to collect, edit, query, and interpret mapped plant or asset data and work effectively across integrated database and GIS workflows.
Strong organizational, analytical, and data-management skills, with demonstrated attention to detail and the ability to apply standardized documentation and data-quality procedures.
Ability to work independently, investigate and resolve data discrepancies, and collaborate effectively across interdisciplinary teams.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Horticulture, Plant Science, Botany, Biology, Ecology, Conservation, Natural Resources, or a related field.
Professional experience with botanical collections records, accessioning, inventory, nomenclature, or collections management in a botanical garden, arboretum, zoo, university, museum, research institution, or comparable living-collections environment.
Experience using IrisBG, BG-BASE, or another botanical collections-management system.
Experience using ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Field Maps, Survey123, or comparable GIS applications to manage plant-collections data and support integrated collections/GIS workflows.
Experience developing or improving collections-data standards, QA/QC processes, database workflows, metrics, inventories, or standard operating procedures.
Experience supporting Plant Collections Network accreditation, collection assessments, botanical research, conservation programs, grants, or other living-collections initiatives.

Responsibilities

Manage and maintain authoritative living-collections records, including accessioning and documenting new acquisitions, plantings, removals, transfers, distributions, losses, and other collection changes; coordinate accessioning with Plant Production, Horticulture, the Curator, and other appropriate staff.
Conduct systematic inventories and audits of living collections to verify plant identification, nomenclature, accession information, location, status, quantity, and other required data; investigate and resolve discrepancies, duplicate or missing records, taxonomic inconsistencies, and other data-quality issues.
Establish and maintain plant-records standards, workflows, and procedures for accessioning, inventory, documentation, labeling, and QA/QC to ensure the accuracy, consistency, completeness, and long-term integrity of collections information; develop associated SOPs and reference materials.
Coordinate plant labeling and dedication records, including the creation, formatting, installation, replacement, and maintenance of accession tags and display labels; collaborate with Advancement to document dedications and support appropriate specimen selection and dedication-label placement.
Collaborate with the Geospatial Conservation Analyst and other staff to integrate collections information with spatial data and related systems, maintaining alignment between authoritative plant records, mapped locations, and GIS layers and supporting improvements to collections-data workflows.
Develop and provide collections information, reports, inventories, metrics, and technical assistance to support collections planning and assessment, Plant Collections Network accreditation, conservation and safeguarding, research, grants, fundraising, education, exhibitions, and organizational decision-making; support documentation of nursery inventory, propagation material, and conservation collections in collaboration with appropriate staff.
Build organizational capability in plant records and collections management by training and guiding staff, interns, and volunteers in accessioning, inventory, labeling, data collection, documentation standards, and related practices; provide collections expertise to staff, researchers, students, members, and visitors and participate in tours, classes, presentations, and professional activities as appropriate.
Contribute plant-records and collections-management expertise to departmental and organizational priorities and perform other duties as assigned.