Natural Science Collections Alliance

Our members are part of an international community of museums, botanical gardens, herbariums, universities and other institutions that house natural science collections and utilize them in research, exhibitions, academic and informal science education, and outreach activities.

Month: October 2015

Notice of Availability of Request for Information – Bioarchive Services

On October 28, 2015, NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network will be issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to determine the interest of organizations, institutions, collaborations and consortia in providing museum services in support of the NEON mission. NEON is a large facility project funded by the National Science Foundation. Throughout the 30 year life […]

Digitization Efforts Highlighted in the News

A recent article in the New York Times highlights the efforts of natural history collections to make their specimens and associated data available online. “Everybody knows there’s a tremendous amount of information in natural history collections,” Larry Page told the newspaper. Page is the president of NSC Alliance, the director of iDigBio, and a curator […]

DNA Analysis Reveals Origins of Birds

A new technique for analyzing DNA has resulted in the construction of the first complete family tree for birds. Researchers discovered that all birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs and that more than 10,000 bird species evolved within a few million years after the extinction of dinosaurs. A study describing the discovery was published […]

IMLS Announces Funding Opportunities

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has published a guide to fiscal year 2016 funding. Grants are available to museums through several programs: Museums for America: $5,000 to $150,000 per grant for activities that strengthen museums as active resources for lifelong learning, vital components of livable communities, and good stewards of the nation’s collections. […]

LA Times Spotlights UC Berkeley’s Campanile Fossil Collection

On 9 September, the Los Angeles Times’ Amina Khan wrote a feature highlighting the rediscovery and revitalization of the Campanile fossil collection at University of California Berkeley. Tucked away in one of the oldest buildings on campus, the collection of fossils from the McKittrick and La Brea tar pits was half-forgotten for many years. The […]

GBIF Task Force on Accelerating the Discovery of Biocollections Data Survey

The GBIF Task Force on Accelerating the Discovery of Biocollections Data is conducting a survey on digitization of biocollections. The purpose of the survey is to collect data to enable the task force determine and demonstrate (1) the digital readiness of the world’s biocollections and their institutions; (2) the benefits to the collection/institution that digitization […]

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