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.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (R) has announced a plan to reopen the state museum system, which was shuttered in September 2015 due to a budget impasse with the state legislature. The governor proposes to reopen four of the six museum sites and to start charging admission for the previously free museum. The Illinois Department of […]
Google’s Cultural Institute is partnering with the National Park Service to showcase culturally significant artifacts. The website provides high-resolution images of artifacts, documents, and photos. More than 3,800 federal objects are on display on the site. The website also features art and objects from museum collections around the world. Learn more at https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home.
The University of Minnesota seeks an Executive Director who will oversee the Bell Museum of Natural History and Planetarium’s mission through its personnel, research/programs and facilities. The museum’s mission is to ignite curiosity and wonder, explore our connections to nature and the universe, and create a better future for our evolving world. For more information, […]
Institutions that house biodiversity collections are encouraged to participate in the Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections Event. The event encourages citizen scientists and the public to assist in the digitization of natural history collections. Organizations can post images of specimens with their labels on a partner transcription platforms for transcription or host an on-site transcription […]
Learn more about the Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) on February 24 at 3 pm EDT. The program supports small natural history collections with awards ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 to help with collections management, conservation surveys, treatments, environmental improvements, rehousing, professional development/training, digitization, and collections information […]
In his fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request to Congress, President Obama is seeking $152 billion for research and development, a four percent increase from the current funding level. The budget request includes a $900 million increase for basic research. Highlights of proposed FY 2017 include: Doubling federal investments in clean energy research and development […]
A recent article in The Atlantic highlights the important role of natural history collections as a place of discovery. “Natural History Museums Are Teeming With Undiscovered Species” features the tales of researchers who have identified new species using specimens that were previously collected. Dr. Evon Hekkala collected DNA from museum specimens of Nile crocodiles to […]
The Building with Biology Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is organizing an event this summer to engage the public and scientists in a dialogue about synthetic biology. Two hundred kits are available for free for host sites. The kits include six hands-on activities designed to promote conversations between the public and scientists about […]
The National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program is accepting fiscal year 2016 grant applications for repatriation and consultation/documentation projects. The application materials and guidelines are available on Grants.gov. Competitive consultation/documentation applications are due by March 11 by 11:59 p.m. (EST). To apply, visit Grants.gov and search for Funding Opportunity Numbers: P16AS00001 for […]
iDigBio and the Small Collections Network are hosting the Small Collections Symposium at the SPNHC 2016 meeting in Berlin in June 2016. Presentations are invited on current museum-based educational and workforce training initiatives, the development and sharing of novel educational or training modules and resources, the involvement of graduate and undergraduate students and early career […]