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 National Science Foundation (NSF) has a selected a new Assistant Director for the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Dr. John C. Wingfield will assume the post that has been held in an interim capacity by Dr. Joann Roskoski since October 2009. Wingfield joined NSF from the University of California at Davis in September 2010 as […]
The National Science Foundation Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) has announced major changes to the process some of its divisions use to receive and review research proposals. The details are provided in a 15 August 2011 Dear Colleague letter from Dr. Joann Roskoski, acting director of BIO. The letter reads: As you are no doubt […]
NSC Alliance President, Dr. William Brown, has published a commentary, “Conservation: Invest in a DNA bank for all species,†in the 25 August 2011 issue of Nature. An excerpt from the article: To complement its efforts to conserve nature in the wild, the Convention on Biological Diversity should develop a comprehensive and adequately funded global […]
On 19 August, the NSC Alliance wrote to Ms. Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), about the strategic planning efforts her agency is currently undergoing. The letter highlighted the important role that collections play in our nation’s research enterprise, and called for increased IMLS involvement in several areas. “As […]
On 3 August 2011, the NSC Alliance wrote to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) about scientific collections as a source of baseline environmental data. The letter was in response an inquiry Senator Whitehouse made on the issue of baseline data on ocean environments during a recent hearing held by the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee […]
12 August 2011 This is an important time in the development of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. During my term at IMLS we will be implementing the reauthorization of the Museum and Library Services Act, developing a new five year strategic plan with emphasis on performance, and responding to and planning for reduced […]
NSF has released its spending plan for fiscal year (FY) 2011. Since Congress did not finish their work on FY 2011 appropriations until mid-April, NSF and other agencies have released their spending plans with only two months remaining in the fiscal year. NSF received $6.859 billion in FY 2011, $12.6 million less than the previous […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the availability of funding to enhance and expand digitization of and access to existing biological and paleontological collections in the United States. The solicitation differs from NSF’s first digitization grant opportunity in several ways. It provides multiple year deadlines for the program. It allows smaller requests from collections […]
A new online presentation sponsored by the NSC Alliance aims to inform biologists about proposed federal funding for science and how individual scientists can help secure increased funding for competitive, peer-reviewed grant programs. Â The webinar, presented as part of the 3rd Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event, features information on the federal budget process, […]
There appears to be bipartisan agreement that the nation must take corrective steps to reduce the size of the federal deficit. For months now, however, lawmakers have been battling a policy solution. Some politicians have proposed deep cuts or the elimination of some scientific research programs. Using the budget deficit to target scientific research that […]