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.
In 2020, an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) released its report, Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century. Recommendation 8-1 of the report called for the establishment of a national Action Center for Biological Collections, which was codified into law by the U.S. Congress […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a request for public comments on the draft National One Health Framework to Address Zoonotic Diseases and Advance Public Health Preparedness in the United States: A Framework for One Health Coordination and Collaboration across Federal Agencies. Input is invited from interested parties in the public […]
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSPT) has issued a request for information to help improve the effectiveness of federal scientific integrity policies. Specifically, the OSTP seeks stakeholder input on the effectiveness of current federal scientific integrity policies and needed areas of improvement, practices agencies could adopt to improve scientific integrity, and […]
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is soliciting stakeholder feedback on how it can carry out its statutory responsibility to ensure the availability of museum, library, and information services adequate to meet the essential information, education, research, economic, cultural, and civic needs of the people of the United States. IMLS is developing a five-year […]
A new article published in PLoS Pathogens argues for leveraging natural history biorepositories for the proactive detection and mitigation of emerging infectious diseases. Natural history museum biorepositories form the backbone of a critically needed, decentralized, global network for zoonotic pathogen surveillance, yet this infrastructure remains marginally developed, underutilized, underfunded, and disconnected from public health initiatives, […]
In April, the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) conducted a survey of the natural history collections/museum community to understand how COVID-19 related economic disruptions are affecting the work of professionals associated with such collections. The results were shared with the scientific community, including federal program managers and policymakers, in May 2020. This second survey follows up […]
The National Park Service is soliciting nominations for two members of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation (NAGPRA) Review Committee. The Secretary of the Interior will appoint two members from nominations submitted by national museum organizations or national scientific organizations. The committee was established by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of […]
On July 29, 2019, the NSC Alliance urged the regents of the University of Alaska to find alternatives to devastating and irrevocable budget cuts to the Museum of the North. The letter from NSC Alliance is below. Please consider contacting the the regents, university officials, and state legislators today to help them understand the importance […]
The Natural Science Collections Alliance was honored to receive a Special Service Award from the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) for its advocacy and lobbying on behalf of museums. The NSC Alliance President Dr. John Bates accepted the award during the annual SPNHC business meeting which was held at The Field […]
Last month, members of the NSC Alliance Board of Directors participated in a National Press Club event on April 4, 2019, to celebrate the public release of the Biodiversity Collection Network’s (BCoN) community-informed vision document: Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to Promote Research and Education. If you have not yet reviewed the document, we invite you […]