Summary: The Living Collections Data Specialist is responsible for maintaining all data associated with MBG’s living collections and conservation horticulture program. This position manages complex, interconnected datasets that document the complete life cycle of each accession, from wild collection coordinates and provenance data through propagation protocols, cultivation histories, and distribution records, ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and compliance with international botanical data standards. Responsibilities include verifying and updating taxonomic nomenclature, managing detailed source documentation that establishes legal and scientific provenance, recording material transfers, and integrating field collection data, seed bank records, propagation outcomes, and horticultural observations. The Specialist develops and implements data quality protocols, standardizes data entry procedures across divisions, and trains staff, researchers, and volunteers in LCMS workflows to ensure consistent documentation practices. This position creates custom data visualizations, reports, and analytics that inform collection development strategies, identify gaps in taxonomic or geographic representation, track conservation priorities, and support grant applications and peer-reviewed publications. The Specialist facilitates scholarly use of living collections by preparing data exports, responding to inquiries about specimen availability and documentation, and collaborating with scientists to ensure collections meet research standards. This position maintains compliance with national and international regulations governing plant material exchange, including CITES, phytosanitary requirements, and institutional policies, while developing technical resources and decision-support tools that enhance the strategic development and scientific value of Missouri Botanical Garden's living collections.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Research, enter, and maintain plant collections data in the Living Collections Management System (LCMS) database; train staff, students, and volunteers on the use of LCMS.
Ensure correct use of botanical nomenclature and taxonomy in the LCMS, labels, on websites, and in publications by applying published nomenclatural rules and referencing taxonomic resources.
Track and maintain detailed records of conservation-sensitive accessions in the LCMS, including maternal lines, provenance, pedigrees, cross-pollinations, common garden experiments, and related work; ensure that genetic and reproductive history is captured at the individual plant level to support ex situ collection integrity and downstream research use.
Coordinate data management for plant propagation and tissue culture workflows, including micropropagation protocols, germplasm storage inventories, and vegetative increase records; collaborate with conservation horticulture staff to ensure that p