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.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
National Fossil Day, an annual celebration organized by the National Park Service (NPS), will take place on October 14, 2020. The event highlights the scientific and educational value of paleontology and the importance of preserving fossils for future generations. The annual celebration will include paleontology activities planned by partner organizations across the United States. NSC […]
Recognizing the rapid changes happening within museum communities and the efforts being made throughout the community to adapt to these changes, iDigBio is organizing a new webinar series, entitled, Adapting to COVID-19: Resources for Natural History Collections in a New Virtual World. The webinar series aims to help provide insight into how different groups and […]
The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) is working to help the scientific and natural history collections/museum community understand how COVID-19 related economic disruptions are affecting research, education, specimen and data management and care, institutional administration, and other factors. Results of a community survey of collections professionals were shared recently. BCoN continues to track impacts to natural […]
Indiana University (IU), iDigBio, and the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA) will hold the 4th annual Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference on June 1-3, 2020 at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. The theme for the conference is “Harnessing the Data Revolution and Amplifying Collections with Biodiversity Information Science.” Registration is now open and costs […]
On January 16, 2020, Robert Gropp briefed the members of the Federal Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections about the Extended Specimen Network report and other recent Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) activities and accomplishments. The NSC Alliance is an active leader of the BCoN effort and played an important role in shaping the Extended Specimen […]
Congress has yet to pass legislation providing fiscal year (FY) 2020 funding for science. Government agencies, including the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, have been operating under FY 2019 funding levels since FY 2020 began on October 1, 2019. More than two months into FY 2020, Congress has passed two continuing resolutions […]
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is soliciting public input on a Museums for America grant program, entitled Museums Empowered: Professional Development and Capacity Building Opportunities for Museums–A Museums for America Special Initiative. Museums for America (MFA) grants support efforts that strengthen the ability of museums to serve the public. This is a […]