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Well Said: George Washington Carver’s fungal specimens

In this week's podcast, experts discuss a shocking discovery in the fungal specimens stored at Carolina's Herbarium.

When Carol Ann McCormick began sorting through the thousands of fungal specimens stored at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Herbarium, she was shocked by what she found.

Included in the collection, which had fallen into disarray throughout the years, were fungal specimens collected by the renowned botanist George Washington Carver. Born into slavery, Carver developed techniques to help repair soil damaged by cotton plantings, and taught at the Tuskegee Institute for nearly 50 years.

In this week’s episode, we talk about Carver’s fungal specimens with McCormick, the herbarium’s curator, and Van Cotter, a retired industrial mycologist who volunteers at the herbarium.

Join us every Wednesday for the University’s podcast as we talk with Carolina’s newsmakers and experts. Each episode, students, faculty, staff and alumni will discuss what’s going on in classrooms, labs and around campus, and how it pertains to the local, national and international headlines.