Building up Kentucky's GIS database is going to be a big use of the IK in the future. To make Kentucky's collections more accessible and useful to researchers, Jones has submitted a statewide grant proposal for the purchase of computer equipment and hiring of staff to aid in the data-entry process. Each herbarium has its own unique focus, reflecting the interests of the curators, faculty and students. At EKU's Herbarium, located in 170 Memorial Science Building, the main geographic emphasis is on specimens found in central and eastern Kentucky. Its primary biological focus is on woody plants, the aster family, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges.
Researchers can sample and analyze the plants down to the molecular level.
The DNA can still be resurrected from leaf tissue hundreds of years old. Or they can be analyzed chemically. Some of the more important specimens housed at EKU include sets from Lilley Cornett Woods, Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory in Garrard County, Brodhead Swamp, the headwater regions of the Green River, collections from the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, major collections from Madison, Estill and Jackson counties, and a portion of the collection of Kentucky botanist Mary Wharton. But the Herbarium also includes a strong representation of plants from western Kentucky and the southeastern United States, as well as a good general collection from throughout the United States. And there are many rare plants, including ginseng, which is becoming increasingly rare, although not yet on the list of endangered species.