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.
Comments are now being accepted on a draft Implementation Plan for a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance. The Implementation Plan builds upon the work of an earlier report: A Strategic Plan for Establishing a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance. The Strategic Plan issues a strong and urgent call for an aggressive, sustained, coordinated, and large-scale effort to […]
The European Union has funded a new two year project to lay the groundwork for a biodiversity knowledge management system. Pro-iBiosphere will address interoperability issues, identify data gaps, and plan an efficient system to manage biodiversity information. The pilot project will focus on data at partner institutions. The initiative will consider how to make the […]
Applications are now being accepted for the 2013 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award. This award recognizes graduate students in the biological sciences who have demonstrated initiative and leadership in science policy. Recipients receive first-hand experience at the interface of science and public policy. Winners receive: A trip to Washington, DC, to participate in the […]
NSC Alliance President Larry Page participated in a panel discussion on biodiversity collections at the CODATA meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, on 30 October 2012. Discussion centered on the value of collections data to understanding and solving current and emerging policy problems, including natural resource management and loss of biodiversity. The discussion was organized by Melissa […]
After weeks of negotiations, the United Nations 11th meeting of the conference of parties (COP 11) to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to increase funding to halt global loss of biodiversity. This pledge will help nations to meet internationally agreed upon biodiversity targets set by the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 that was developed […]
Election day is rapidly approaching. Participate in democracy by voting on Tuesday, November 6th. The next Congress and President must address many significant issues. Â Many of these will affect every American and, potentially, the level of support for scientific research for years to come. Make your voice heard, vote on November 6th. Contact your state […]
The National Science Foundation is accepting proposals for the Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections program. This initiative seeks to enhance and expand the national resource of digital data documenting existing vouchered biological and paleontological collections and to advance scientific knowledge by improving access to digitized information residing in vouchered scientific collections across the United States. […]
On Wednesday, 12 September 2012, the USGS Coalition honored Representatives Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Betty McCollum (D-MN) with the Coalition’s 2012 Leadership Award. The awards were presented during the USGS Coalition’s annual reception on Capitol Hill. The NSC Alliance is a member of the USGS Coalition. In addition to remarks by both Representatives, two senior […]
With support from the U.S. National Science Foundation, in September 2012 the American Institute of Biological Sciences will convene a two-day workshop in Reston, Virginia, to develop an implementation plan for the Strategic Plan for a Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA). The outcome of the workshop will be a detailed report that will be published […]
Under current law, federal programs face devastating across-the-board budget cuts this January. Unless Congress and the President act now, non-defense discretionary programs, such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of the Interior, and face mandatory 7.8 percent budget cuts in January 2013. Defense and security programs would be cut by 10 […]