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 Natural Science Collections Alliance submitted comments to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 29, 2009 regarding the agency’s development of a strategic research, education, and extension plan. When completed, the plan will identify current trends, constraints, and major opportunities and gaps that no single entity within the USDA would be able […]
On May 18, 2009, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released its long-anticipated fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget request. In total, NSF’s FY 2010 request is for $7.045 billion, an increase of $555 million (8.5 percent) above the FY 2009 request (Note: The FY 2009 and 2010 budget numbers do not include the one-time appropriation of […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide information about two current proposal solicitations funded by the economic stimulus during a webcast to be held on May 28, 2009. The Academic Research Infrastructure program (the ARI-R2 solicitation, NSF 09-562) and the Major Research Instrumentation program (the MRI-R2 solicitation, NSF 09-561) will be discussed. The webcast will […]
The National Science Foundation is accepting proposals through July 9, 2009 for research projects that address evolutionary processes or population and community ecology. The Evolutionary Processes Cluster will fund proposals that investigate the genetic bases of micro- and macroevolutionary processes and their effects on the evolution of genotypes and phenotypes, as well as proposals that […]
On 11 May 2009, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced two new grant opportunities for research infrastructure and instrumentation. $400 million will be available through the grant solicitations, which are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Academic Research Infrastructure Program will provide $200 million to update existing research facilities at […]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 included $10.4 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Several funding opportunities from NIH from the economic stimulus are now posted on www.grants.gov. Funding is available for current NIH grant holders to expand the scope of their research proposal. Programs such as the International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups […]
A volunteer at the Museum of Zoology at Cambridge University in Great Britain has rediscovered an egg collected by Charles Darwin during his voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle. It is the only egg known to be collected by Darwin during that voyage. The mocha colored egg has Darwin’s name written on it. The museum’s collection […]
CollectionsWeb and the Coalition on Public Understanding of Science are promoting the involvement of science collections in the Year of Science 2009. Initiatives to engage the public, such as science cafes, citizen science involvement, and science magazines or brochures generated by collections, are an effective way to communicate science and increase its value to society. […]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the results of a survey of the status of 611 scientific collections. The study was based on 147 institutions that have received funding from NSF since 1985. The survey, which was conducted in conjunction with the efforts of the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections, highlights the challenges […]
On 27 March, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a new grant opportunity for institutions that maintain biological collections. The Improvements to Biological Research Collections Program provides funds for improvements to network, secure, and organize established natural history collections in order to improve accessibility of the collection to the biological research community. Applicants are encouraged […]