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 new opinion piece published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences urges the creation of an IsoBank, a central repository for isotopic data. The article is an outcome a workshop sponsored by the Biodiversity Collections Network, which NSC Alliance co-founded. An excerpt of the article follows: Stable isotopes encode and integrate the […]
The Missouri Botanical Garden has announced a call for applications for the 2017 Al Gentry and Shirley Graham Fellowships. The Gentry Fellowship supports Latin American botanists. The Graham Fellowship supports scientists from Latin America, Madagascar, Vietnam, and Tanzania who work in the field of botany/plant sciences. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2017. Learn […]
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to support the botanical research capacity of the federal government. H.R. 1054 is sponsored by Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). The bill emphasizes the importance of protecting native plants and addresses botanical workforce issues. It would create a new program of botanical […]
A recent article published by the Washington Post on “This is how you photograph a million dead plants without losing your mind” explores the mechanics of herbaria specimen digitization. Three Smithsonian employees use a conveyor belt to photograph the museum’s botany collection, which encompasses 5 million specimens. Read the article at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/02/08/this-is-how-you-photograph-a-million-dead-plants-without-losing-your-mind/?utm_term=.14ddf80d18d3.
The Natural Science Collections Alliance signed a letter, along with 150 other scientific organizations, to express concern over a recent Executive Order issued by President Trump. The executive order, signed on 27 January 2017, prevents citizens of seven countries from traveling into the U.S. Federal courts subsequently suspended the travel ban while the case is […]
In official comments to the Department of the Interior, the Natural Science Collections Alliance recommended several revisions to the draft rule on paleontological resources preservation. The proposed rule is intended to address the management, collection, and curation of paleontological resources from federal lands using scientific principles and expertise, including collection in accordance with permits; curation […]
In comments provided to the federal government’s National Science and Technology Council, NSC Alliance called for efforts to build on existing research programs on soil biodiversity. The letter was submitted in response to a request for information on the “Framework for a Federal Strategic Plan for Soil Science.” The letter also highlights the limited number […]
In 2016, the NSC Alliance engaged in a number of notable activities to raise the profile of natural history collections with policymakers, researchers, and the general public. A few highlights are presented below: NSC Alliance led the effort to reverse the suspension of the Collections in Support of Biological Research program by the National Science […]
Registration and abstract submission for the Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference will open on January 15, 2017. The conference is presented by iDigBio, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, and the University of Michigan Herbarium and will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan on June 5-6, 2017. The rapid mobilization of digitized biodiversity […]
The Department of the Interior has proposed a new rule to “preserve, manage, and protect paleontological resources” on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The proposed rule would address the management, collection, and curation of paleontological resources from […]