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.
A new initiative by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) offers 100 million mapped records of nearly every living species in the U.S. Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) provides specific locations for the vast majority of records, not just county or state records. “The USGS is proud to announce this monumental resource,” said Kevin […]
The National Science Foundation has issued a new solicitation for proposals for the Collections in Support of Biological Research program. The full proposal deadline is 16 July 2013. The Collections in Support of Biological Research program provides funds: 1) for improvements to secure, improve, and organize collections that are significant to the NSF BIO-funded research […]
The NSC Alliance submitted testimony to the House of Representatives in favor of sustained funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in fiscal year 2014. “The progress of basic scientific research requires a steady federal investment,” stated the testimony authored by NSC Alliance President Larry Page. “Unpredictable swings in federal funding can disrupt research programs, […]
On Thursday, 20 June 2013, NSC Alliance and iDigBio will sponsor a symposium on digitization and dissemination of natural history data. The symposium is broken out into two sessions. The morning program will be an introduction to digitization and dissemination of data and will focus on iDigBio and other initiatives. The afternoon session will focus […]
The potential of reviving extinct species and re-introducing them into the wild may seem like something out of the movie “Jurassic Park,” but some scientists and environmentalists are engaged in an effort to do just that. The topic of ‘de-extinction’ will be considered in a daylong public forum to be held on 15 March 2013 […]
The National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Program will hold a webinar on 2 April 2013 on identification of aboriginal lands. Under federal law, museums and federal agency officials must consult with Indian tribes from whose aboriginal land human remains and other cultural items were removed. Register for the event at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000963084/Registration.aspx?pageName=7111x2nwqg6m8c0w. The […]
On 1 March 2013, federal budget cuts that — according to the White House and members of Congress — were not meant to happen, began. Sequestration — $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts to nearly all federal agencies — was meant as a threat to force congressional action to reduce the federal budget deficit. For […]
The next meeting of the NSC Alliance Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 from 10 a.m. to noon (Mountain Time) in Rapid City, South Dakota at the 2013 annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). Â The board meeting is the day before the NSC […]
A new report calls for the creation of a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance to increase research productivity, solve societal problems, and drive innovation. The report was the outcome of a workshop of experts that was convened last fall to outline the steps needed to build a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA) in the next ten […]
A number of federal departments and independent agencies released revised information on the likely impacts of budget sequestration at the request of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski. Many agencies face cuts that would be especially damaging for research and development (R&D), as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Sequestration would have […]