U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2002





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 Pollen Collection Helps Plot the Past By Alfredo FloresOctober 8, 2002 Archaeologists seeking clues about the life of settlers in early America are the latest experts to make use of an Agricultural Research Service special collection of more than 8,000 types of pollen. ARS scientist Gretchen D. Jones's collection of glass slides and light and scanning electron micrographs (SEMs)--a type of highly detailed photograph-- of various pollen species will be featured tonight on a Public Broadcasting Service science special. The study of pollen is called palynology. Previously, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, Calif., have utilized Jones' collection of pollen, the dusty mass of tiny, yellow microspores produced by seed plants. The collection is maintained at the ARS Areawide Pest Management Research Unit (APMRU) in College Station, Texas. The collection, started in 1988, now contains more than 8,200 types, or taxa, of pollen from the United States, Canada, Brazil, Belize and Mexico. The main emphasis of the collection is pollen taxa from Texas. Jones' collection stands out because it includes all three types of sample records--glass slides, as well as two types of micrographs. Other collections generally contain only one or two of these forms. It's the SEMs that make Jones' collection so sought after. These photographs provide an x-ray type of image that can show minute details of something as small as a pollen grain. Pollen grain SEMs can be analyzed by archaeologists who want to learn which plants would have produced the pollen found on ancient fossils. Today, the PBS Scientific American Frontiers program premiers its "Unearthing Secret America" episode. It focuses on archeological finds in Jamestown, and Williamsburg, Va.; and at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Charlottesville, Va. They shed light on life in early America--particularly on the origins and growth of slavery. Portions of Jones' pollen collection will be shown in this episode to illustrate how archaeologists analyzed pollen to determine what settlers ate, what medicinal plants they used, and whether they were hunters or gatherers. More information on the collection can be found on the Internet at: http://pollen.usda.gov ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov