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.

Author : NSCA

BCoN Survey: Operational Status, Economic Impacts, and Plans for Re-Opening Natural History Collections

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, News & Updates

The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) is working to help the scientific and natural history collections/museum community understand how COVID-19 related economic disruptions are affecting research, education, specimen and data management and care, institutional administration, and other factors.  Results of a community survey of collections professionals were shared recently. BCoN continues to track impacts to natural […]

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NSC Alliance Endorses Call for Clarity on COVID-19 Business Loan Program

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

The NSC Alliance has joined with other organizations representing museums, zoos, and aquaria to endorse comments from the National Council of Nonprofits to the Small Business Administration. The comments were in response to the SBA’s Interim Final Rules on Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Program. The museum groups wrote: As you implement the […]

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Collections in the News

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

The coronavirus pandemic has shown that biology and the economy are tightly linked. A new Washington Watch column in BioScience, Policy for Bioeconomic Growth, discusses the policy implications of growing and safeguarding the bioeconomy. Below is an excerpt. “Policymakers around the world increasingly look to biology to strengthen economies and promote national security and well-being. […]

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Survey Data Highlight Community Concerns About COVID Closures, Disruptions

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance), and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) surveyed individuals affiliated with US biodiversity science collections to better understand the effects of COVID-19 related disruptions and closures on biodiversity research and education collections, and the people […]

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NSC Alliance Calls for $1 Billion to Support Collections-enabled Research and Education

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

On March 31, 2020, the NSC Alliance joined with the American Institute of Biological Sciences and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections to remind federal science policy officials that biological collections can be used to better understand important societal problems, such as zoonoses like SARS-CoV-2. The groups highlighted the Extended Specimen Network (ESN) […]

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NSC Alliance Provides Testimony in Support of FY 2021 Funding for NSF

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

The Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) has submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Committee, requesting Congress to provide the National Science Foundation with at least $9 billion in FY 2021 and highlighting the importance and role of natural history collections. “Natural science collections advance scientific research and education, and that informs actions to improve […]

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NSCA Letter to Congress on Economic Recovery and COVID-19

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

On March 12, 2020, the NSC Alliance sent letters to key House and Senate leaders requesting that any economic measures crafted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic address the financial harm being felt by natural history museums, botanical gardens, and other scientific societies and research organizations, which are an integral part of the nation’s bioeconomy. […]

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NSC Alliance Submits Testimony in Support of Federal Funding for Collections

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

The NSC Alliance provided testimony to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees regarding fiscal year (FY) 2021 funding for certain programs that curate natural history collections within the Department of the Interior and Smithsonian Institution. Scientific collections, and the collections professionals and scientists who make, care for, and study these resources, are a vital component […]

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President Proposes Cuts to Science

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

The White House released the President’s Budget Request for fiscal year (FY) 2021 on February 10, 2020. The budget once again proposes deep cuts to science programs. The $4.8 trillion budget framework calls for cuts to most federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Geological Survey […]

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Registration Open: 4th Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, News & Updates

Indiana University (IU), iDigBio, and the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA) will hold the 4th annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference on June 1-3, 2020 at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. The theme for the conference is “Harnessing the Data Revolution and Amplifying Collections with Biodiversity Information Science.” Registration is now open and costs […]

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