The Utah Valley University Herbarium (UVSC) was established in 1987 as a research and teaching facility. The initial herbarium collection consisted of botanical specimens collected by Dr. James G. Harris, Professor of Biology, whose research focuses on a wide range of habitats including the deserts of the San Rafael Swell, high elevation mountain peaks (i.e. Mt. Timpanogos, Mt. Nebo, and the Deep Creek Range), as well as arctic regions of North America and Greenland. Currently the herbarium houses over 17,000 accessioned herbarium sheets, with an average of 1,500 specimens being added to the collection each year.