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.
In testimony to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the NSC Alliance highlighted the important role that natural history collections play. “Natural science collections play an integral role in advancing research that improves public health, agriculture, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and American innovation,” states the testimony. “Current research involving natural science collections is also […]
The Natural Science Collections Alliance wrote to the president of the University of Louisiana Monroe about the university’s plans to rapidly dismantle its natural history collections. “Natural history museums nationwide are experiencing renewed interest and vitality, so it is disturbing to learn that an emerging university is electing to jettison important research infrastructure and the […]
On March 28, the Committee on House Administration held an oversight hearing on the Smithsonian Institution. The brief, 40 minute long hearing focused mainly on Smithsonian’s strategic planning and the institution’s maintenance backlog. Committee Chairman Gregg Harper (R-MS) spoke to the value of the museums. “The Smithsonian Institution plays a critical role in collecting and […]
A new opinion piece published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences urges the creation of an IsoBank, a central repository for isotopic data. The article is an outcome a workshop sponsored by the Biodiversity Collections Network, which NSC Alliance co-founded. An excerpt of the article follows: Stable isotopes encode and integrate the […]
The Missouri Botanical Garden has announced a call for applications for the 2017 Al Gentry and Shirley Graham Fellowships. The Gentry Fellowship supports Latin American botanists. The Graham Fellowship supports scientists from Latin America, Madagascar, Vietnam, and Tanzania who work in the field of botany/plant sciences. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2017. Learn […]
Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives to support the botanical research capacity of the federal government. H.R. 1054 is sponsored by Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). The bill emphasizes the importance of protecting native plants and addresses botanical workforce issues. It would create a new program of botanical […]
A recent article published by the Washington Post on “This is how you photograph a million dead plants without losing your mind” explores the mechanics of herbaria specimen digitization. Three Smithsonian employees use a conveyor belt to photograph the museum’s botany collection, which encompasses 5 million specimens. Read the article at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/02/08/this-is-how-you-photograph-a-million-dead-plants-without-losing-your-mind/?utm_term=.14ddf80d18d3.
The Natural Science Collections Alliance signed a letter, along with 150 other scientific organizations, to express concern over a recent Executive Order issued by President Trump. The executive order, signed on 27 January 2017, prevents citizens of seven countries from traveling into the U.S. Federal courts subsequently suspended the travel ban while the case is […]
In official comments to the Department of the Interior, the Natural Science Collections Alliance recommended several revisions to the draft rule on paleontological resources preservation. The proposed rule is intended to address the management, collection, and curation of paleontological resources from federal lands using scientific principles and expertise, including collection in accordance with permits; curation […]
Are you interested in incorporating more real data into your undergraduate courses? Natural history collections have been digitizing (the process of converting information into a digital format) their holdings and making them available online, creating a vast resource for biodiversity data that educators can access! Apply now to join the 2017 Resources for Collections-Based Undergraduate […]