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.
The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations recently initiated a mid-term evaluation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). GEOSS was initiated in 2005 with a vision to realize a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information. GEOSS implementation is […]
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee will be holding three meetings to discuss matters relating to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Included on the agenda for the May 14, 2010 meeting are presentations to the Review Committee by Indian tribes, museums, and federal agencies on both the positive […]
Registration is now open for the inaugural conference on Informatics for Phylogenetics, Evolution, and Biodiversity (iEvoBio). iEvoBio aims to bring together biologists working in evolution, systematics, and biodiversity, with software developers, and mathematicians, both to develop new tools, and to increase awareness of existing technologies (ranging from standards and reusable toolkits to mega-scale data analysis […]
Join the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) and the Canadian Botanical Association (CBA/ABC) for their joint annual conference to be held May 31 to June 5, 2010 in Ottawa, Canada. With 2010 declared “The International Year of Biodiversity” by the United Nations, this gathering of natural history collection professionals and botany […]
Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award (EPPLA). This award recognizes current graduate students in the biological sciences and/or science education who have demonstrated initiative and leadership in science and science policy. Award recipients receive first-hand experience at the interface of science and public policy, including an expense-paid trip […]
A recent article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian, highlights the importance of botanic garden plant collections to science and conservation. The report describes how a botanist at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens in West London discovered a new plant species during a lunchtime stroll through the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The new plant, now named […]
On December 10, 2009, the U.S. Chief Financial Officers Council, a division of the federal government, will host a webcast for stakeholders regarding reporting requirements for grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The live webcast will be held from 2-3:30 pm. The event will provide a general overview of Recovery […]
A group of scientists recently published in the Journal of Heredity a proposal to sequence the genome of over 10,000 vertebrate species. The project, Genome 10K, supporters argue, should be possible to complete in five years at a cost of $50 million. The Genome 10K project would provide comparative information on molecular, developmental, and evolutionary […]
The National Park Service (NPS) plans to require researchers using specimens collected from national parks to enter into a benefits-sharing agreement with NPS if their research produces discoveries or inventions with some valuable commercial application. Discoveries would not be permitted to be used for commercial applications without the benefits-sharing agreement. Under the new rules, researchers […]
An international group of researchers have extracted DNA from two birds collected by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the HMS Beagle in the hopes of reintroducing the now extinct sub-population to the Galapagos Islands. A study published by the Royal Society journal Biology Letters documents the scientists’ efforts to determine genetic differences among three […]