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.
A Brazilian museum is facing major budget cuts. The Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi has closed its Amazon biodiversity research unit and zoological park. Its scientific collections are also threatened. The museum’s director sent out an open letter to the world. A translation of part of the letter follows. “[I]n view of the situation as it […]
The National Science Foundation is currently accepting grant proposals for the Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program. This program seeks to enhance and expand the national resource of digital data documenting existing vouchered biological and paleontological collections and to advance scientific knowledge by improving access to digitized information (including images) residing in vouchered scientific […]
The National Park Service is planning for the annual celebration of National Fossil Day, which will take place on October 11, 2017. National Fossil Day is a nationwide celebration that will include paleontology activities planned by partner organizations across the United States. NSC Alliance has once again partnered with the National Park Service to promote […]
Nearly 950 museum organizations signed a letter to Congress about the need for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The agency was proposed for elimination in President Trump’s 2018 budget request. NSC Alliance was among the signatories, as were several NSC Alliance member organizations. “While we acknowledge the many pressing priorities in the […]
A fire at a historic building at the University of Vermont threatened the natural history collections in the Pringle Herbarium. Initial assessments, however, indicate that the collection was not harmed. The herbarium holds the state’s largest flora collection–more than 300,000 specimens. The specimens date back to 1810. The building also houses the university’s insect and […]
iDigBio is now the largest virtual collection of natural history specimens in the world. The National Science Foundation-sponsored initiative surged past 100 million digitized records in July 2017. “What’s exciting about being at more than 100 million specimen records is you can ask larger questions over space, time and biodiversity. Big data sheds light not […]
Four universities in the southeastern U.S. have stepped forward to house natural history collections from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The university had previously threatened to destroy more than 80,000 jars of scientific specimens and 450,000 plant specimens if new homes could not be located. “[T]he specimens will remain available to researchers nationwide as […]
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) has reintroduced legislation to prohibit the export of cultural objects and human remains obtained in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The “Safeguarding Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act,” or “STOP Act,” would also increase the criminal penalties for violations of NAGPRA. “We all recognize the incredible […]
More than 200 advisory panels for the Department of the Interior have been temporarily suspended, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Review Committee. Committee meetings previously scheduled for July and August have been postponed. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke put all outside committees on hiatus as he reviews their charters […]
A letter to Congress calls for lawmakers to reject the deep cuts to research and science education proposed in President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget request. “The budget cuts outlined by the Administration for 2018 would set back American innovation for years. Funding rates for programs that support foundational biological research are already extremely low, […]