Natural Science Collections Alliance

For fiscal year (FY) 2011, the President has requested a $36 million budget increase for the Smithsonian Institution (SI).  If provided by Congress, SI would operate with approximately $797.6 million of federal funds.  Within this amount, roughly $661 million (an increase of $27 million) would be allocated to Salaries and Expenses with the balance of $136.8 million allocated to the Facilities Capital budget.

The Salary and Expenses budget line reflects Smithsonian’s new strategic plan.  According to SI budget documents, increases are allocated according to the “following categories, or four grand challenges, of the plan: $8 million for Biodiversity, which includes funds for biodiversity and climate change research, DNA barcoding and the Encyclopedia of Life Web site; $1 million for Understanding the American Experience; $500,000 for Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe; and $500,000 for World Cultures.”

The budget request also proposes to invest an additional “$2.4 million to improve the preservation, storage, documentation and accessibility to the Institution’s collections and for the care of the animals at the National Zoo.  The term ‘broadening access’ in the strategic plan refers to making the collections accessible to researchers and people who cannot visit the museums by using the Internet and other technologies.  A total of $1.5 million will be dedicated to staff and computer equipment to continue the process of digitizing the Smithsonian collections.”

Funding for collections would grow to $73 million, up from roughly $69 million for FY 2010 and the $64 million appropriated for FY 2009.  The President has also requested important new funding for SI research.  If the requested $86 million is appropriated, the federal investment in SI research would be roughly $15 million higher than the FY 2009 appropriation and nearly $12 million above the estimated funding for FY 2010.

The President’s budget also includes funding to provide for an increase of nearly 70 civilian full time equivalent (FTE) positions across SI.

From the approximately $137 million proposed for Facilities Capital, the President would  “provide funds for critical infrastructure improvements at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; research facilities at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; and to continue the design of the National Museum.”

The SI conducts research in the natural and physical sciences and in the history of cultures, technology, and the arts.  The Institution acquires and preserves for reference and study purposes over one hundred and thirty-six million items of scientific, cultural, and historic importance.  It maintains public exhibits in a variety of fields.  The Institution operates and maintains 19 museums and galleries; a zoological park and animal conservation and research center; research facilities; and supporting facilities. Included in the presentation of the Salaries and Expenses account are data for the Canal Zone biological area fund.

A new online group has formed to encourage networking among natural science collections leaders.  This group offers an opportunity for leaders from collections across the nation to identify and discuss common public policy issues, and other common challenges facing natural science collections professionals.

To join this group you must first join LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com).  There is no cost for creating a profile on this site.  Once you have registered, simply search the Groups function for “Natural Science Collections Leadership.”  Membership in this group is limited to natural science collections professionals, but there is no cost to join or participate in this group.

Join the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) and the Canadian Botanical Association (CBA/ABC) for their joint annual conference to be held May 31 to June 5, 2010 in Ottawa, Canada.

With 2010 declared “The International Year of Biodiversity” by the United Nations, this gathering of natural history collection professionals and botany specialists will offer many exciting opportunities for “cross-fertilization” of ideas and transfer of knowledge between participants.

Fully synchronized programs will allow participants from both organizations to attend any of the concurrent sessions and participate in many joint conference activities.

‘Early-bird’ registration is available through March 31, 2010.  For more information, please visit http://www.spnhc-cba2010.org/home.html.

Abstracts for presentations and posters are also being solicited.  The deadline to apply is March 31, 2010.  Please visit http://www.spnhc-cba2010.org/abstract.html for more information.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award (EPPLA).  This award recognizes current graduate students in the biological sciences and/or science education who have demonstrated initiative and leadership in science and science policy.

Award recipients receive first-hand experience at the interface of science and public policy, including an expense-paid trip to Washington, DC to meet with their members of Congress.

Applications are due by 5 pm EST on 5 February 2010.

To learn more about the application process and the Award, please visit http://www.aibs.org/public-policy/resources/EPPLAapplication-2010-announcement.pdf

The Inspector General (IG) for the Department of the Interior (DOI) has “found that DOI is failing to fulfill its stewardship responsibilities over museum collections.”  In a December 2009 report, the IG found that DOI has failed to properly accession, catalogue, or inventory museum collections, leaving artifacts “unavailable for research, education, or display and … subject to theft, deterioration, and damage.”

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In 2008, the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) conducted an online survey to assess how scientific collections were responding to worsening economic conditions.  The complete findings of this survey have now been published in the online publication, CLS Journal of Museum Studies.  The publication includes the survey results and some possible actions for scientific collections and policymakers.

Click here to read the complete report.

A recent article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian, highlights the importance of botanic garden plant collections to science  and conservation.  The report describes how a botanist at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in West London discovered a new plant species during a lunchtime stroll through the Princess of Wales Conservatory.  The new plant, now named Isoglossa variegata, was donated to Kew by Swedish botanists following an expedition to the Eastern Arc mountains of Tanzania in the 1990s.  Kew gardeners had been using the plants as tropical bedding for over a decade, unaware that this was an undescribed species. The plant is among more than 250 new species discovered by the gardens’ botanists in the past year.

To read the article, please go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/dec/22/kew-gardens-new-plant-species

On 10 December 2009, the U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council, a division of the federal government, will host a webcast for stakeholders regarding reporting requirements for grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The live webcast will be held from 2-3:30 pm. The event will provide a general overview of Recovery Act reporting as well as information to help grantees report accurately. There will also be time for questions and answers. To learn more or to view the webcast, please visit http://www.GPC.gov.

A group of scientists recently published in the Journal of Heredity a proposal to sequence the genome of over 10,000 vertebrate species. The project, Genome 10K, supporters argue, should be possible to complete in five years at a cost of $50 million. The Genome 10K project would provide comparative information on molecular, developmental, and evolutionary biological processes across all vertebrate species. Because the study would include endangered species and species in threatened habitats, this initiative could provide valuable insights into climate change, emerging diseases, population structure, and conservation tactics. Thus far, the project has identified 16,203 species for sequencing, with nearly 60 of those species already completed.

According to the project website (http://genome10k.soe.ucsc.edu/home), “The Genome 10K project aims to assemble a genomic zoo–a collection of DNA sequences representing the genomes of 10,000 vertebrate species, approximately one for every vertebrate genus. The growing Genome 10K Community of Scientists (G10KCOS), made up of leading scientists representing major zoos, museums, research centers, and universities around the world, is dedicated to coordinating efforts in tissue specimen collection that will lay the groundwork for a large-scale sequencing and analysis project.”

The National Park Service (NPS) plans to require researchers using specimens collected from national parks to enter into a benefits-sharing agreement with NPS if their research produces discoveries or inventions with some valuable commercial application.  Discoveries would not be permitted to be used for commercial applications without the benefits-sharing agreement.  Under the new rules, researchers with commercially successful discoveries would provide monetary or non-monetary compensation to the NPS on an annual basis, subject to the terms of their benefit-sharing agreement.

The decision was issued in a final Environmental Impact Statement published in the Federal Register (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-28039.htm).  The decision is an outgrowth of several commercial applications of scientific discoveries made in national parks, the most notable being the invention of PCR from the study of a microorganism discovered in Yellowstone National Park.

The NPS will implement the requirement for a benefits-sharing agreement no sooner than 30 days from 23 November 2009.  This requirement will not affect current requirements or the application process for obtaining a permit to conduct research in a national park, as the benefits-sharing agreement would be initiated after permitted research was conducted.

More information is available at http://parkplanning.nps.gov (select “Washington Office” from the park menu and then follow the link for benefits-sharing).