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.
Determining Cultural Affiliation Review the tools and best practices for determining cultural affiliation as part of the requirements of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Each Federal agency and museum with control over Native American human remains must identify cultural affiliation if it can do so on the basis of reasonable belief. […]
On Friday, 24 February 2012, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) Research Board announced the selection of Dr. Charles “Chuck” A. Wilson to serve as the GoMRI Chief Science Officer. The Chief Science Officer is a new position created by the Research Board to provide scientific and research advice and leadership to the GoMRI. […]
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is offering a $50,000 prize for the winner of the EOL Education Innovation Challenge. This international competition aims to foster development of educational software tools, services, or games using EOL content. The competition will award funding to the most scalable and innovative applications. Target audiences can include the general public, […]
On 13 February 2012, President Obama released his official budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2013. According to the White House, the spending plan would cut the nation’s deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade and would avoid the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts mandated by the debt limit deal reached last August. […]
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee will meet on 28-29 November 2012 in Washington, DC. The agenda for the meeting will include finalization of the Review Committee Report to Congress for 2012, the appointment of the subcommittee to draft the Review Committee’s Report to the Congress for 2013, and discussion of the […]
The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections will hold its annual meeting at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut from June 11-16, 2012. The meeting theme is: Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management. Additional information is available at: http://peabody.yale.edu/collections/spnhc2012/home.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has released a new five year strategic plan. The plan identifies the mission of IMLS to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, learning, and cultural and civic engagement by providing leadership through research, policy development, and grant-making. According to a press release by IMLS: “The strategic […]
A British paleontologist has found a lost set of specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The fossils were found in a box in the British Geological Survey. The collection contains 314 slides of fossils prepared by Darwin, John Hooker, and others. Some of the slides were collected by Darwin on his expedition on the HMS Beagle. […]
Legislation is pending in the House of Representatives that would require the public release of sensitive information regarding peer review of federal grants. As it is currently drafted, the Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act, HR 3433, would require that the government publish online grant proposals funded by federal agencies. Unlike the current government […]
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is offering two research awards to current graduate students pursuing research involving biodiversity data. The 2012 Young Researchers Award is intended to foster innovative research and discovery in biodiversity informatics. Two awards of €4,000 will be available to graduate students in a master’s or doctoral program at a university […]