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.
iDigBio’s Outlier Detection and Documentation by Collectors (ODD Collectors) Working Group is conducting a survey related to your experience with outliers (or “anomalies” or “oddities”) in biodiversity collections. For this survey, outliers are defined as individual specimens that differ from a previously documented or perceived general norm within a taxon in any biological characteristic such […]
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) has announced a plan to reopen the state museum system, which was shuttered in September 2015 due to a budget impasse with the state legislature. The governor proposes to reopen four of the six museum sites and to start charging admission for the previously free museum. The Illinois Department of […]
Google’s Cultural Institute is partnering with the National Park Service to showcase culturally significant artifacts. The website provides high-resolution images of artifacts, documents, and photos. More than 3,800 federal objects are on display on the site. The website also features art and objects from museum collections around the world. Learn more at https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home.
The “Stressors and Drivers of Food Security: Evidence from Scientific Collections” symposium will be held on 18-20 May 2016. This will be the first-ever symposium that brings together food security researchers and experts on scientific collections in diverse research disciplines. The symposium will be an ambitious look forward into food security research that relies on […]
The University of Minnesota seeks an Executive Director who will oversee the Bell Museum of Natural History and Planetarium’s mission through its personnel, research/programs and facilities. The museum’s mission is to ignite curiosity and wonder, explore our connections to nature and the universe, and create a better future for our evolving world. For more information, […]
Institutions that house biodiversity collections are encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections Event. The event encourages citizen scientists and the public to assist in the digitization of natural history collections. Organizations can post images of specimens with their labels on a partner transcription platforms for transcription or host an on-site transcription […]
Learn more about the Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on February 24 at 3 pm EDT. The program supports small natural history collections with awards ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 to help with collections management, conservation surveys, treatments, environmental improvements, rehousing, professional development/training, digitization, and collections information […]
In his fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request to Congress, President Obama is seeking $152 billion for research and development, a four percent increase from the current funding level. The budget request includes a $900 million increase for basic research. Highlights of proposed FY 2017 include: Doubling federal investments in clean energy research and development […]
A recent article in The Atlantic highlights the important role of natural history collections as a place of discovery. “Natural History Museums Are Teeming With Undiscovered Species” features the tales of researchers who have identified new species using specimens that were previously collected. Dr. Evon Hekkala collected DNA from museum specimens of Nile crocodiles to […]