Natural Science Collections Alliance

The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations recently initiated a mid-term evaluation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

GEOSS was initiated in 2005 with a vision to realize a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information.  GEOSS implementation is half-way through the first 10-year plan and an Evaluation Team has undertaken the task of developing the first progress assessment.

Direct feedback from the diverse and widely dispersed communities of stakeholders, users, and intended beneficiaries of GEOSS is vital to the evaluation.  To that end, we have opened an electronic survey and are working to distribute it as widely as possible via the GEOSS community.  However, we recognize the potentially limited reach of distribution solely through GEOSS, which is why we would like your assistance in inviting and encouraging broad participation from the relevant portions of your membership at the Natural Science Collections Alliance.   Any assistance your organization could provide such as an announcement, link on your website or a notice in a regular communication to your membership would be greatly appreciated.

The GEOSS Evaluation Survey (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22A7JHFECU4/?source=society) is currently available and will remain and will remain open through the end of March.  The survey is designed for all potential and actual stakeholders, contributors and beneficiaries of GEOSS; prior experience with the Group on Earth Observations and Global Earth Observation System of Systems is not a requirement.  We anticipate the survey should take an average of 20 minutes, but may last longer depending on your previous involvement with GEO/GEOSS and the depth of your responses.

Thank you,
The GEOSS Evaluation Team

A strategic plan is being developed for a 10-year, national effort to digitize and mobilize images and data associated with biological research collections.  The plan aims to create a publicly available, comprehensive collections resource that will increase access to biological collections across the country.  The plan was drafted by workshop participants at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in February 2010.

The strategic plan is seen as “a grand challenge” and will be undertaken “as a unified mission involving a coordinated funding program and well designed strategy for execution.”  The plan calls for the development of cyberinfrastructure “to promote efficient and standard capture and mobilization of these data to make the national biological collections resource publicly available for analysis.”

The plan has several goals for the digitization effort:

• Making images and data from all U.S. biological collections available in an integrated, web accessible interface using shared standards and formats.
• Developing and launching new web interfaces, visualization and analysis tools, data mining, image analysis, and georeferencing processes.
• Digitizing and web mobilizing the existing backlog of non-digitized collections, and developing tools, training, and infrastructure to prevent the reoccurrence of such a backlog.

These goals would be accomplished by a three tiered approach.

1. Develop a coordinated effort to provide technological support for the nationwide collections digitization effort, to organize new efforts with existing collections-based projects and international efforts, and to disseminate standards, techniques and best practices.
2. Develop a network of regional collaborations for collection digitization across the U.S.
3. Develop investigator-driven and cross-regional collaborations driven by the specific needs of collections of a particular clade or preservation type, or motivated by a particular scientific question to be addressed by the use of collections images and data.

Feedback on the strategic plan from the collections community is sought and can be made on the plan’s website (http://digbiocol.wordpress.com/) or by sending an email to wg-digitization@nescent.org.  Group feedback based on institutional priorities or taxon-based needs is welcomed.  Specific feedback is needed in areas such as support for the proposed model, suggestions for revision, ideas regarding the three-tiered approach, priorities for collection digitization, and ways to maximize collaboration across institutions and federal agencies, and at the international level.  This feedback will be aggregated and provided to participants in future planning sessions that will develop a final strategic plan.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee will be holding three meetings to discuss matters relating to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Included on the agenda for the May 14, 2010 meeting are presentations to the Review
Committee by Indian tribes, museums, and federal agencies on both the positive experiences and the barriers encountered with NAGPRA compliance.  The June 11th meeting will focus on discussion of the committee’s draft report to Congress for 2010.  Both of these meetings are open to the public and will be teleconferenced.  A third meeting will be held from November 17-19, 2010 in Washington, DC.

For the May 14 meeting, the Review Committee is soliciting presentations by Indian tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, museums, and federal agencies on both the positive experiences and the barriers encountered with NAGPRA compliance.  The deadline for submitting presentations on this topic is April 9, 2010.  Electronic submissions are preferred, and are to be sent to: David_Tarler@nps.gov.

For more information, please visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3763.htm.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requests public comments regarding the agency’s application and reporting requirements for the importation and exportation of fish and wildlife products.

Two permits issued by the FWS that regulate the international trade of wildlife, FWS Form 3-200-2 and Form 3-200-3, are scheduled for government review this year.  Of potential interest to natural history collection caretakers is FWS Form 3-200-2, which allows permit holders to import or export wildlife or wildlife products at a nondesignated port if the wildlife or wildlife products will be used as scientific specimens.  Form 3-200-3 regulates the commercial trade of wildlife and wildlife products.

The FWS seeks comments about the necessity of the collection of information, ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected, and ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents.

Comments must be submitted by 26 April 2010.  For more information, please visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3888.htm.

Registration is now open for the inaugural conference on Informatics for Phylogenetics, Evolution, and Biodiversity (iEvoBio).

iEvoBio aims to bring together biologists working in evolution, systematics, and biodiversity, with software developers, and mathematicians, both to develop new tools, and to increase awareness of existing technologies (ranging from standards and reusable toolkits to mega-scale data analysis to rich visualization).

The 2-day meeting will take place June 29-30, 2010, in Portland, Oregon.  The event will feature traditional elements, including a keynote presentation at the beginning of each day and contributed talks, as well as more dynamic and interactive elements, including a challenge, lightning talk-style sessions, a software bazaar, and Birds-of-a-Feather gatherings.

More details about the program and guidelines for contributing content are available at http://ievobio.org.  To register, please visit http://www.evolutionsociety.org/SSE2010/.

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for the George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship.  This student fellowship program aims to support new and innovative research on climate change impacts to protected areas and to increase science-based management of natural resources.

Award recipients receive a grant in the range of $5,000 to $20,000 for research, which must be conducted on or around National Park lands during the 2010 calendar year.  Applications are welcomed for pro¬posed research in any area relevant to the natural and cultural resourc¬es of units of the National Park System.  Examples include projects addressing vulnerability and risk assessment; adaptation strategies; public perceptions and values; and impacts to cultural landscapes and ethnographic resources.

The fellowship is open to graduate students or superior upper-level undergraduate students (3.5 GPA or above) currently enrolled in a U.S. accredited college or university.

Research proposals must be received by March 15, 2010.

Download the fellowship application (190 KB PDF)

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