Before digital databases and photography, how did we learn about the natural world?

This Biodiversity Week, discover the BMI’s rare set of Ferdinand von Mueller’s Educational Collections of Victorian Plants (1874–1876).

Designed to “diffuse information on the native vegetation” across Victoria, this historic herbarium and book collection reveals how early scientific communication cultivated local observers—and how it can inspire us to protect our regional ecosystems today.

Tickets can also be purchased from the BMI Library

There is no allocated seating for this event.

This event takes place on Wadawurrung Country. The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute acknowledges the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work, learn and create. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.

Contact the host of 150 Years of Botanical Communication: Von Mueller's Herbarium at the BMI