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.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released its plan for agency operations in the case of a government shutdown. Of the approximately 2,000 NSF employees, 30 or less are expected to be retained to “protect life and property and for excepted activities,” according to the plan. If the government shuts down, NSF awardees “may continue […]
In recent months, it has become clear that the nation is divided about how to allocate a limited federal discretionary budget. Part of this debate has been spurred by growing concern over the long-term fiscal health of the nation. However, controlling discretionary spending will not fix the economic and budget problems facing the nation.  Earlier […]
The fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) was released on February 14, 2011. The President’s budget would fund IMLS at $242.6 million in FY 2012, $39.6 million less than the FY 2010 enacted level. Museum services would receive $30.8 million, a $2.9 million decrease. Funding for […]
On 16 March, eight international research funders jointly announced their participation in round two of the Digging into Data Challenge, a grant competition designed to spur cutting edge research in the humanities and social sciences. The first round of the Digging into Data Challenge sparked enormous interest from the international research community and led to […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking proposals for taxonomic work that will describe new species while training new taxonomists and taking advantage of new technologies. A recent “dear colleague” letter from NSF highlights the call for proposals. Dear Colleague Letter: Advancing Revisionary Taxonomy and Systematics (ARTS) March 8, 2011 The Cluster for Systematics and […]
Join the NSC Alliance and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections for their fourth annual joint meeting, to be held May 23-28 2011 in San Francisco, California. This year, the meeting will focus on “Sustainable Museums–Sustaining Collections,†and will be hosted by the California Academy of Sciences in their Platinum LEED certified […]
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee plans to meet on November 8-9, 2011 at the University of Nevada-Reno. The agenda for this meeting will include the presentation, discussion, and adoption of the draft Review Committee Report to the Congress for 2011; appointment of the subcommittee to draft the Review Committee’s report to […]
President Obama released a $3.7 trillion budget plan for fiscal year (FY) 2012 on 14 February 2010. The budget proposal would trim deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next decade. To help accomplish this goal, non-security discretionary spending would be held steady for five years. Additionally, civilian government workers would be subject to a two […]
A new series of special reports by NSC Alliance takes an in depth look at scientists and institutions who are using scientific collections. The first two reports in the series were created in partnership with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). One report, “Museum Specimens in the Service of Science: USGS and Smithsonian Partner to […]
Two articles published this month highlight the lack of taxonomists worldwide. The January 2011 issue of the journal BioScience includes an article entitled “Recovery Plan for the Endangered Taxonomy Profession.” The article, which appears in the journal’s Professional Biologist column, proposes emphasizing the training of non-professional taxonomists, including parataxonomists, amateurs, and youths, to reverse the […]