Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY), David McKinley (R-WV), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Andy Barr (R-KY), and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are now circulating letters in their respective chambers calling for robust fiscal year (FY) 2022 funding for the Office of Museum Services (OMS) at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). […]
Action Alert: Ask Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the RISE Act
On March 11, 2021, Congress enacted the latest COVID-19 relief package—the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319). The package includes $600 million for the National Science Foundation and $150 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, but it does not include research relief provisions at the levels requested by the scientific […]
USFWS Requests Recommendations for Amending CITES Appendices
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES is an international treaty aimed at ensuring that international trade in listed animal and plant species does not threaten their survival. Currently there are 183 Parties to CITES, 182 countries, including the United States, and one regional economic integration organization, […]
Global Consultation on Converging Digital and Extended Specimens Begins
Over the past year there have been several exciting conversations about the possibilities of digital representations of the billions of specimens currently held in the world’s natural history collections. Two concepts—the Digital Specimen proposed by the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) in Europe and the Extended Specimen emerging from the Biological Collections Network (BCoN) […]
Registration Open: 2021 Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference
The Florida Museum of Natural History in collaboration with iDigBio and the Natural Science Collections Alliance are hosting the fifth annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference virtually on June 7-9, 2021. The conference, Digital Data’s Grand Challenge: Expanding Discovery Across Multiple Domains, will provide an important opportunity to explore digital data tools, techniques, research […]
Consultation on Converging Digital and Extended Specimens
Over the past year there have been several exciting conversations about the possibilities of digital representations of the billions of specimens currently held in the world’s natural history collections. Two concepts—the Digital Specimen proposed by the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) in Europe and the Extended Specimen emerging from the Biological Collections Network (BCoN) […]
Recording Available: Forward-Thinking Discussion on Biological Collections
On January 14, 2021, the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA), in partnership with the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), organized a joint discussion between the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on the future of […]
Invitation: Global Consultation on Converging Digital and Extended Specimens
Over the past year several exciting conversations about the possibilities of digital representations of the billions of specimens currently held in the world’s natural history collections. Two concepts—the Digital Specimen proposed by the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo) in Europe and the Extended Specimen emerging from the Biological Collections Network (BCoN) in the United […]
Webinar: Forward-Thinking Discussion on Biological Collections
Date: January 14, 2021 Time: 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern Time (includes a 15 minute break) Location: Online via Zoom We invite the Biological Collections community at-large to join the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA), and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) for a joint discussion with the […]
2nd BCoN COVID-19 Survey: Operational Status, Economic Impacts and Plans for Reopening
In April, the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) conducted a survey of the natural history collections/museum community to understand how COVID-19 related economic disruptions are affecting the work of professionals associated with such collections. The results were shared with the scientific community, including federal program managers and policymakers, in May 2020. This second survey follows up […]