Journeys
The expeditions, reassembled
Every dated label is a diary entry. Read a collector’s labels in order and the voyage comes back: the islands in sequence, the days at each, the specimens from every stop. 55 journeys so far, 1922 to 2009, 20,132 specimens between them.
44 collectors and expeditions1,717 days in the field660,137 km between stops14,275 photographed specimens
55 journeys match
D.J. Russell Jr.
Fanning (=Tabuaeran) · Jul – Aug 1972
D.J. Russell Jr. in Fanning (=Tabuaeran), July – August 1972142 specimens · 16 stops · 47 days
W. Law
4 islands · Feb – Apr 2009
W. Law across 4 islands, February – April 2009112 specimens · 14 stops · 44 days · 9,392 km
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr.
14 islands · Jul – Sep 1938
Edwin Horace Bryan Jr. across 14 islands, July – September 1938131 specimens · 17 stops · 49 days · 11,700 km
Roy Tsuda
Fanning (=Tabuaeran) · Jul – Aug 1972
Roy Tsuda in Fanning (=Tabuaeran), July – August 1972131 specimens · 14 stops · 42 days
L. Wester
4 islands of Kiribati · 1–29 Aug 1982
L. Wester across 4 islands of Kiribati, 1–29 August 1982118 specimens · 14 stops · 29 days
C.T. Imada
4 islands of Kiribati · Aug – Sep 2003
C.T. Imada across 4 islands of Kiribati, August – September 2003170 specimens · 8 stops · 20 days · 789 km
M. Bates
4 islands · Jul – Sep 1953
M. Bates across 4 islands, July – September 1953114 specimens · 13 stops · 64 days

Erling Christophersen
8 islands · Jun – Sep 1924
Erling Christophersen across 8 islands, June – September 192481 specimens · 18 stops · 111 days · 15,205 km
Jim Space
4 islands of Kiribati · Aug – Sep 2003
Jim Space across 4 islands of Kiribati, August – September 2003157 specimens · 8 stops · 20 days · 790 km
W.J. Gilbert
6 islands · Jun – Aug 1963
W.J. Gilbert across 6 islands, June – August 196369 specimens · 15 stops · 62 days · 5,418 km
H.F. Bergman
5 islands · Jul – Aug 1924
H.F. Bergman across 5 islands, July – August 1924110 specimens · 11 stops · 39 days · 1,637 km
F. Adair
Tarawa Atoll · Aug – Nov 1967
F. Adair in Tarawa Atoll, August – November 196776 specimens · 19 stops · 93 days
Johnson Randall
5 islands · Feb – May 1956
Johnson Randall across 5 islands, February – May 1956111 specimens · 14 stops · 108 days · 128 km
E.H. Walker
4 islands · Jan – Apr 1949
E.H. Walker across 4 islands, January – April 194952 specimens · 22 stops · 69 days · 29,915 km
Edward Leonard Caum
7 islands · 1–28 Apr 1923
Edward Leonard Caum across 7 islands, 1–28 April 192378 specimens · 10 stops · 28 days · 2,863 km
station
17 islands · Aug – Dec 1956
station, August – December 195676 specimens · 33 stops · 130 days · 25,742 km
Otto Degener
4 islands · Jan – Feb 1958
Otto Degener across 4 islands, January – February 195884 specimens · 20 stops · 41 days · 13,268 km
Angela Kay Kepler
Caroline Atoll · Mar – Apr 1990
Angela Kay Kepler in Caroline Atoll, March – April 1990106 specimens · 3 stops · 28 days
Isa Degener
4 islands · Jan – Feb 1958
Isa Degener across 4 islands, January – February 195879 specimens · 20 stops · 41 days · 13,268 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
10 islands · May – Jul 1973
F. Raymond Fosberg across 10 islands, May – July 197356 specimens · 17 stops · 45 days
Brian D. Greene
Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island) · 19–29 Jul 2005
Brian D. Greene in Kiritimati Atoll and Kiritimati Atoll (Christmas Island), 19–29 July 2005131 specimens · 7 stops · 11 days · 193 km
Katherine Luomala
Tabiteuea and Onotoa · Oct – Dec 1948
Katherine Luomala in Tabiteuea and Onotoa, October – December 194862 specimens · 10 stops · 58 days
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35
12 islands · Aug – Sep 1956
V Hugh M. Smith cruise 35, August – September 195650 specimens · 25 stops · 60 days · 13,190 km
F. Raymond Fosberg
8 islands · 14–31 Mar 1975
F. Raymond Fosberg across 8 islands, 14–31 March 197544 specimens · 8 stops · 18 days · 136 km
How a journey is found
Every specimen with a full date and a known collector is a diary entry. The days are read in order; a gap of more than three weeks ends one journey and starts the next. Days spent where a collector lived most of their life are home, not travel, and are left out.
A journey needs at least five days, forty specimens and two places. Within it, a run of days spent within about ten kilometres is one stop; the stop’s point is the middle of the labels that carry coordinates, or the island’s centre when none do.
Companions are the people whose own labels put them in the same place on the same days. Staff can name a journey, write about it and feature it; everything else here is read straight off the specimens, and is rebuilt as the records improve.
