University of Minnesota, Duluth
Olga Lakela Herbarium
207 SSB
1035 Kirby Drive
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
United States
Fax: (218) 726-8142
Web: http://www.d.umn.edu/biology/affiliatedResources/herbarium/index.html
David J. Schimpf
Tel: (218) 726-7265
Fax: (218) 726-8142
Email: dschimpf@d.umn.edu
The Olga Lakela Herbarium at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is an expanding collection of more than 44,000 dried botanical specimens. Most of the specimens were collected in northeastern Minnesota, including Voyageurs National Park, Grand Portage National Monument, and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The collection is notable for its holdings of Canadian - northern USA plant species near the southern margin of their geographic range. The oldest specimen in the collection dates from 1846, but most are from the 1940s through the present.
The herbarium was founded by and is named for Dr. Olga Lakela (1890-1980), a native of Finland who emigrated to northeastern Minnesota as a child. She earned a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Minnesota and was the first Biology Department Head on the Duluth campus. Olga Lakela founded this herbarium in 1935, and the University named it after her in 1960.