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 American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) has written to government agricultural leaders regarding the state of the U.S. National Parasite Collection. The letter calls for action “to avoid further erosion of the museum’s collections, to modernize the holdings and make them more accessible to users through appropriate modern interfaces, to deal with a backlog of […]
NSC Alliance President Larry Page participated in a panel discussion on biodiversity collections at the CODATA meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, on 30 October 2012. Discussion centered on the value of collections data to understanding and solving current and emerging policy problems, including natural resource management and loss of biodiversity. The discussion was organized by Melissa […]
The Museum Assessment Program is seeking applications for its 2013 program. The program helps small and mid-sized museums strengthen operations, plan for the future, and meet national standards through self-study and a site visit from a peer reviewer. The program is funded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and throughout its […]
The September 2012 issue of the journal BioScience includes an article entitled “Doing Natural History.â€Â The article, which appears in the journal’s Biology in History column, explores how natural history research changed during the twentieth century. The article is available with a subscription at http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/bio.2012.62.9.8.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $26.4 million for 14 research grants that will expand our understanding of biodiversity. “This year’s awardees will study subjects as diverse as the biota of the Amazon and its environment, how nutrient input drives biodiversity in China’s extremely oxygen-deprived–or eutrophic–Lake Taihu, the components of tree biodiversity, and the […]
The American Institute of Biological Sciences has produced a report that explains the fiscal cliff, budget sequestration, and other forthcoming fiscal problems that have the potential to negatively impact federal investments in research and science education. Under current law, $6.8 trillion in deficit reduction will occur over the next decade through increased taxes and spending […]
The Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) program announced today that it has selected 40 Vision and Change Leadership Fellows. The fellows will identify and consider how to eliminate barriers to the systemic changes that are needed to improve undergraduate life sciences education. The PULSE program is a joint initiative of the National Science […]
The National Park Service is currently accepting public input on reporting requirements for museums under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The law requires museums to compile certain information regarding Native American cultural items in their possession. The government is interested in comments regarding ways to minimize the burden of the information collection […]
With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, in September 2012 the American Institute of Biological Sciences will convene a two-day workshop in Reston, Virginia, to develop an implementation plan for the Strategic Plan for a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA). The outcome of the workshop will be a detailed report that will be published […]
This November, voters will head to the polls to elect all members of the United States House of Representatives, 33 Senate seats, and various state government offices. Â To find out more about elections in your district, visit the AIBS Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/aibs/election/home/. Â If you have recently moved, you will need to re-register to […]