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.

News & Updates

NSF Announces New Grant Support for Digitization of Biological Collections

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, News & Updates

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a new grant program, “Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections,” for scientific collections.  According to NSF documents, the program seeks to “create a national resource of digital data documenting existing biological collections and to advance scientific knowledge by improving access to digitized information (including images) residing in vouchered scientific […]

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NSC Alliance Survey Looks at Impact of Economy on Natural Science Collections – Complete the Survey Online Today

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, Correspondence, News & Updates

Two years ago as the economy was entering recession, the Natural Science Collections Alliance launched a survey to gather data on the effects of the economic downturn on natural science collections.  To further increase our understanding of how natural science collections are being impacted by and responding to current economic conditions, the NSC Alliance is […]

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NIH Updates Its Best Practices for Cancer Biospecimens

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has updated its Best Practices for Biospecimen Resources.  Major revisions include the addition of new sections on biospecimen resource management and operations and conflict of interest, expansion of recommendations related to custodianship and informed consent, and harmonization with current federal guidance documents and recommendations […]

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NSC Alliance Calls for Collections to be Included in NOAA Strategic Plan

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Correspondence, News & Updates, Position Statements

On August 2, 2010, NSC Alliance submitted comments on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) draft Next Generation Strategic Plan.  The comments identify the importance of NOAA’s scientific collections to the agency’s mission and call for the strategic plan to “address the curation of, and access to, the 40 scientific collections held by the […]

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White House Directs Agencies to Consider Collections in FY 2012 Budget

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

On 21 July, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a joint memorandum providing guidance to federal agencies on the formulation of science and technology priorities in the fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget. The four-page document includes a provision on federal science collections: “Agencies […]

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Collection Managers Asked to Participate in Survey on Best Practices

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, News & Updates

The Documentation Committee of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) requests your participation in a survey involving best practice topics pertinent to natural history museums.  The survey seeks to better understand the information and resource needs of the natural history collections community, including museums, parks, university collections, and other organizations caring […]

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Reminder: North American Living Plant Collection Survey Closes August 1, 2010

By NSCAPosted on Posted in Activities & Events, News & Updates

Botanic Gardens Conservation International — US, United States Botanic Garden, and Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum are conducting an important survey to document all living plant collections in North America as part of a regional and global assessment.  Survey organizers thank those who have already contributed their collection’s taxa list to the PlantSearch database, and encourage […]

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Study of Pollution in National Parks Draws Upon Collections

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates

Two recent publications on pollution in National Parks utilized natural history collections to establish baselines of environmental contamination.  Published in the June 15 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, the studies found that pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were prevalent throughout National Parks in the western United States. “I think what continues to surprise […]

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NSC Alliance Asks Senate to Expand Collections Provision in America COMPETES Act Reauthorization

By NSCAPosted on Posted in News & Updates, Position Statements

On June 23, 2010, the NSC Alliance sent a letter to Senate committee staff working to develop the chamber’s version of the reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act.  In short, the NSC Alliance requested that the Senate clarify and expand the provisions of Section 121 in the House-passed version of the legislation.  The letter references […]

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