This resource is curated by Dr Anthony J. Hayes.

Welcome to the 3D pollen library, the largest collection of 3D models of pollen grains and spores worldwide. The 3D models were all created from confocal microscopy datasets at the Bioimaging Research Hub at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK using methodology developed in-house as described in Hayes, A.J. (2017) Production of 3D Printed Scale Models from Microscope Volume Datasets for use in STEM Education. EMS Eng Sci J. 2017, 1(1):002. Copyright Hayes, A.J. 2017. The 3D models and accompanying source data files are available for palynological research, science education and outreach and engagement purposes under a creative commons CC-BY-NC licence – please refer to attribution information for further details. The included formats support 3D printing and both augmented reality and virtual reality visualisation. For each entry, links are provided to the PalDat palynological database, Global pollen project, Pollen Wiki and also Wikipedia.

You can read about the development of this resource in the UK Royal Microscopy Society’s In Focus magazine #76 December 2024 The 3D Pollen Library Collection at NIH3D: From Humble beginnings to the Largest Open-Source Collection of Online 3D Pollen Models Worldwide. DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.277.

Please support this resource by providing constructive feedback via our LinkedIn page.