Collections Mergers, Computer Vision, and Capacity at Fort Worth Botanic Garden and the Botanical Research Institute of Texas

In 2020, two organizations with similar plant-based missions—the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden (FWBG)—combined to become a single nonprofit focused on plant conservation and public education. Since the merger, FWBG has worked to align the historical legacy of 110 acres of living collections with the nationally and internationally renowned research collections, including a herbarium of 1.4 million specimens. We present program alignment wins and losses, and highlight exciting opportunities to leverage our Biodiversity Informatics program and its involvement with computer vision advancements in collections science.