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 American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is conducting a survey of individuals who are leading large-scale educational change efforts at the undergraduate level. Â If you play a leadership role in undergraduate biology education reform, you are invited and encouraged to participate in the online Faculty Leadership Development Survey: http://surveys.aibs.org/index.php?sid=51136&lang=en The survey will be open […]
Most government offices have been closed for more than a week as the result of a congressional impasse over funding the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare). Conservative Republicans have sought to defund the law by adding riders to legislation that would provide fiscal year 2014 funding to keep the government open.  Thus far, both chambers […]
The Encyclopedia of Life has created a new game for mobile phone users that mimics global exploration and the discovery of new species. Users explore species classification and develop an understanding of each species through descriptions, images, and the IUCN conservation status. The game is available on iTunes and Google Play.
The National Science Foundation is accepting proposals for the Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections program. This initiative seeks to enhance and expand digital data documenting existing vouchered biological and paleontological collections. The deadline for full proposals is 18 October 2013. More information is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2013/nsf13569/nsf13569.htm.
Dr. Wayne Clough announced last week that he will step down as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in October 2014. He will have served more than six years as head of the Institution. Previously, Clough served as president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. “When I became Secretary in 2008, I believed strongly that the […]
In August, biological researchers and educators participated in the 5th Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event. This nationwide event, sponsored by the Natural Science Collections Alliance, enabled scientists to meet with their members of Congress in their local area rather than in Washington, DC, and allowed elected officials to learn first-hand about the science […]
iDigBio will host two workshops in September on digitization of biological specimens. Both training events will be accessible online. Fluid-preserved Invertebrate and Microscopic Slide Imaging This workshop focuses on imaging techniques for fluid-preserved invertebrates and microscopic slides. The primary goal is to prepare participants for imaging these difficult to record collection objects. More information is […]
Three scientific organizations dedicated to the preservation and use of biocollections have provided comments to the federal government about digitization of natural history collections as part of ‘big data.’ The letter to the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development outlines the Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA), an initiative developed by […]
Annual NSCA Board elections are getting underway, as per the NSCA Bylaws, which state: “The Nominating Committee shall furnish the names of nominees to the Secretary, who shall circulate them either in written or electronic form (e.g., web site) to the members at least thirty (30) days in advance of the election in order to provide […]
The brain size of some mammal species is getting larger, possibly due to human alterations in the natural environment. University of Minnesota biologist Emilie C. Snell-Rood studied a collection of mammal skulls at the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Snell-Rood studied ten species of small mammals, including mice, shrews, […]