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.
On 19 August, the NSC Alliance wrote to Ms. Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), about the strategic planning efforts her agency is currently undergoing. The letter highlighted the important role that collections play in our nation’s research enterprise, and called for increased IMLS involvement in several areas. “As […]
On 7 July 2011, the NSC Alliance wrote to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state education officials about the recent announcement of staff reductions at the New York State Museum. “The loss of five professional-level Museum Scientist positions, including the State Archaeologist and four Curators (one of which serves as State Paleontologist), will devastate […]
On 29 June, NSC Alliance provided comments in response to the request for public input on the discretionary review of current Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulations. Click here to download the letter.
On 15 April, NSC Alliance submitted testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. The testimony was in support of funding the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $7.767 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2012. This funding level would represent a 13 percent increase for the agency over the FY 2010 […]
On 17 November 2010, the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) joined with nine other scientific societies and organizations to request that Congress pass an FY 2011 appropriations bill that would provide the National Science Foundation with $7.424 billion. The text of the letter follows (the same letter was sent to Representatives Obey and Lewis, […]
On September 15, 2010, the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) joined 13 other scientific organizations to express concern “with the issue of intellectual property rights and ownership of research results that arise in the aftermath of incidents caused by industry, most recently, the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.†In a letter […]
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 […]
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 […]
On June 18, 2010, the NSC Alliance wrote to Representative Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam) to thank her for recognizing the importance of scientific collections to our capacity to understand how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will influence the biological systems of the Gulf of Mexico. Bordallo is Chair of the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans […]
On 25 May 2010, the NSC Alliance submitted comments on the “Final Draft Strategic Plan for Establishing a National Digital Biological Collections Resource”. The strategic plan is a 10 year, national effort to digitize and mobilize images and data associated with biological research collections. It was drafted by workshop participants at the National Evolutionary Synthesis […]