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 Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) has released its new report, Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to Promote Research and Education. You are invited to download and share the summary brochure and to review the longer report that provides additional detail about this vision for the future.. An excerpt from the report: “There is an urgent need […]
The White House released the President’s Budget Request for fiscal year (FY) 2020 on March 11, 2019, proposing deep cuts to science funding for the third consecutive year. The proposal calls for significant cuts to many federal science agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Geological Survey […]
The NSC Alliance provided testimony to the House Appropriations Committee regarding fiscal year (FY) 2020 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 of our […]
The NSC Alliance has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Florida (iDigBio) to promote the sustainable implementation of a national digital data meeting. In response to a request from iDigBio in 2018, the NSC Alliance Board of Directors has entered into an agreement that will result in the NSC Alliance becoming […]
Registration is now open for the NSC Alliance 2019 membership meeting, Collections Policy and Advocacy. The meeting will be held in Washington, DC, on April 2-3, 2019. Learn more about the meeting, including a draft agenda, and register at https://nscalliance.org/?page_id=1084. All NSC Alliance member institutions are encouraged to participate. In addition to being an opportunity […]
As government offices and research facilities across the country remain shuttered and services delayed or interrupted, the partial government shutdown that has resulted in 800,000 federal workers being furloughed or forced to work without pay has accomplished one thing it has set a new record for how long the President and Congress have failed to […]
In August 2018, Arizona State University’s (ASU) Biocollections and Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center was selected by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) leadership to be the NEON Biorepository, potentially for the full 30-year duration of the project. More information about the rolling launch of the NEON Biorepository is now available online. The NEON Biorepository represents […]
NSC Alliance members are invited to participate in the 2019 Congressional Visits Day organized by the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS). The event will be held on March 27, with supplemental training available on March 25-26. The event allows you to meet with your members of Congress to help them understand the important role […]
The Department of the Interior (DOI) has adopted a new policy it contends will improve transparency and public access to scientific research. The open science order was signed by Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on September 28, 2018. Similar to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rule Increasing Transparency in Regulatory Science, DOI’s order requires […]
Congress has approved and the President has signed a $853 billion spending package, which includes a stop-gap spending measure to avert a partial government shutdown. The short-term funding measure provides level funding for the government programs for which an appropriations bill had not been passed and signed into law prior to October 1. The House […]