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 Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections will hold its annual meeting at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut from June 11-16, 2012. The meeting theme is: Emerging Technology and Innovation in Natural History Collections Management. Additional information is available at: http://peabody.yale.edu/collections/spnhc2012/home.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has released a new five year strategic plan. The plan identifies the mission of IMLS to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, learning, and cultural and civic engagement by providing leadership through research, policy development, and grant-making. According to a press release by IMLS: “The strategic […]
Cristián Samper, the director of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), will resign in July to become president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Samper has served as director of NMNH since 2003. “It has been a privilege to serve at the Smithsonian as director of this great museum, with a team of […]
A British paleontologist has found a lost set of specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The fossils were found in a box in the British Geological Survey. The collection contains 314 slides of fossils prepared by Darwin, John Hooker, and others. Some of the slides were collected by Darwin on his expedition on the HMS Beagle. […]
Legislation is pending in the House of Representatives that would require the public release of sensitive information regarding peer review of federal grants. As it is currently drafted, the Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act, HR 3433, would require that the government publish online grant proposals funded by federal agencies. Unlike the current government […]
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is offering two research awards to current graduate students pursuing research involving biodiversity data. The 2012 Young Researchers Award is intended to foster innovative research and discovery in biodiversity informatics. Two awards of €4,000 will be available to graduate students in a master’s or doctoral program at a university […]
The NSF-funded iDigBio project is pleased to announce a Visiting Scholars program available at the national headquarters (HUB), University of Florida, Gainesville, starting in 2012. Emphasis will be placed on early-career collections and informatics-based professionals with demonstrated interest in digitization, particularly those who broaden representation within this academic and professional community. The iDigBio Visiting Scholars program […]
Today, NSC Alliance requested that the U.S. government pursue a discussion of how to improve the permit validation process for scientific specimens on the agenda for the sixteenth regular meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The comments were in […]
Dr. Betsy Bennett, director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, has been honored with the title of Tar Heel of the Year by The News and Observer, a North Carolina newspaper. The award is given to “a strong leader who has had wide and lasting impact in North Carolina,” according to paper. Dr. […]
After months of negotiations, Congress finally approved a $915 billion deal to fund a major portion of the federal government through fiscal year (FY) 2012.  The so-called ‘megabus’—a collection of nine appropriations bills—will fund the Departments of Defense, Energy, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor, and State, as well as numerous independent […]