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.
This August, the NSC Alliance is sponsoring the 4th Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event.  This national initiative encourages members of the science community to meet with their elected officials.  Unlike other efforts to educate members of Congress about the importance of scientific research and education programs, this event occurs across the country – […]
On 5 June 2012, the Natural Science Collections Alliance will host a science briefing for policymakers in Washington, DC. Natural science collections are research facilities and infrastructure that house irreplaceable specimens and data. This program, “Digitizing Science Collections: Unlocking Data for Research and Innovation,†will explore how new technologies and techniques make it possible to […]
On Tuesday, 5 June 2012, the Natural Science Collections Alliance will sponsor a science briefing for congressional lawmakers in Washington, DC. The briefing, which will take place in room 2325 of the Rayburn House Office Building from 2:00-3:00 p.m., will provide policymakers with information about how digitization of specimens and associated data are increasing access […]
Representatives Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) are the recipients of the 2012 Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) Award. The honor is given to congressional leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing science policy and research. “Our community of biological scientists greatly appreciates the years of leadership by Representatives Wolf and Fattah […]
Today, the NSC Alliance submitted testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. The testimony supported $3.5 million in new funding for the Department of the Interior’s Cultural and Scientific Collections program. The FY 2013 budget request would implement a multi-year action plan to address recommendations made by the Department’s Inspector […]
Periodically, Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) member institutions request information about what the NSC Alliance has recently accomplished. The following provides a summary of some of the key activities and accomplishments of the NSC Alliance for the period of January 2011 to April 2012. Worked with other scientific organizations to demonstrate grassroots support for […]
Today, NSC Alliance submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. The testimony was in support of $3.5 million in new funding for the Department of the Interior’s Cultural and Scientific Collections program. The FY 2013 budget request would implement a multi-year action plan to address recommendations made by the […]
On 5 March 2012, Dr. John Wingfield, head of the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation, responded to concerns raised by the collections community about the Collections in Support of Biological Research (CSBR) program. NSC Alliance and several other scientific organizations wrote to Wingfield in late February regarding NSF’s proposal to change the […]
In a feature article in the September 2011 issue of the journal BioScience, freelance journalist Beth Baker chronicles recent efforts to digitize scientific collections in the United States. The article includes an interesting sidebar describing the recently announced National Science Foundation effort, Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections. The report concludes with a section describing how […]
On 19 August, the NSC Alliance wrote to Ms. Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), about the strategic planning efforts her agency is currently undergoing. The letter highlighted the important role that collections play in our nation’s research enterprise, and called for increased IMLS involvement in several areas. “As […]