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.
Periodically, Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) member institutions request information about what the NSC Alliance has recently accomplished. The following provides a summary of some of the key activities and accomplishments of the NSC Alliance for the period of January 2011 to April 2012. Worked with other scientific organizations to demonstrate grassroots support for […]
Today, NSC Alliance submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. The testimony was in support of $3.5 million in new funding for the Department of the Interior’s Cultural and Scientific Collections program. The FY 2013 budget request would implement a multi-year action plan to address recommendations made by the […]
On 5 March 2012, Dr. John Wingfield, head of the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation, responded to concerns raised by the collections community about the Collections in Support of Biological Research (CSBR) program. NSC Alliance and several other scientific organizations wrote to Wingfield in late February regarding NSF’s proposal to change the […]
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 […]