You can help California Academy of Sciences digitize 2.3M plant samples

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- In a backroom at the California Academy of Sciences, Charlotte Peng and her colleagues are making millions of plants, immortal. Or as close as they can be, for researchers.

They're using a sophisticated imaging system to photograph and digitally archive the Academy's entire Botany collection - 2.3 million samples gathered from around the world and placed in order with incredible precision.

"It checks the quality of the image by itself. And it when creating the metadata, we have different barcodes that know to tie different specimens to different folders; so all of the metadata is automatically created through that software as well, which is a lot more convenient than if you were taking a bunch of pictures with your phone," says Peng.

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And a lot more powerful. Assistant curator Sarah Jacobs says the samples help tie to together the earth's genetic tree, if you will. Researchers from across the globe will be able to access images of the samples and the multilevel data that's attached to them. Offering a unique look into the plants that have evolved around us.

"Yeah, it's a really wonderful feeling. It's like you have a small window into this point of time in this location that you've never been before and probably could never go. I mean, sometimes we open up folders and look at specimens that were collected in places that are urban now in, you know, hundreds of years ago by people that are long gone," says Jacobs.

And now, it turns out that understanding those collectors from centuries past is key to finishing the project. As sophisticated as technology is, it sometimes takes a keen "human" eye to accurately decode the elegant handwriting and sometimes cryptic markings originally placed on the collection card.

So, this is a mix of cursive and basic script and this is very difficult for computers to read. And really humans do the best job of reading this information," Jacobs believes.

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And she says you can help by joining an online army of citizens scientists. The project is called "Plants to Pixels" and runs through the end of the month. Volunteers go online to help read and transcribe data from the digital images - translating them for the record.

"And the beauty of that is that anybody anywhere, anytime, can help us to move through these hundreds of thousands of specimens that we need help transcribing," she adds.

Volunteers can also register to win original posters created by the Academy, along with the satisfaction of knowing you've helped describe the beauty and diversity of life around us.

The project is all being made possible thanks to a $3.5 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. If you're interested in helping, click here.