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.
Delegates to the United Nations have given a green light to a plan to establish a new international panel to review the science underpinning policy decisions on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will be charged with “bridg[ing] the gulf between the wealth of scientific knowledge […]
The biological collections community has finalized a strategic plan to digitize and mobilize images and data associated with biological research collections. The ten year, national effort is the product of two workshops held at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in 2010, as well as surveys of 291 federal and approximately 600 federally supported collections. The […]
On 28 May 2010, the House of Representatives passed the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act. The legislation aims to stimulate innovation and improve science education by increasing funding authorizations for federal agencies that support basic research. The bill was passed by a vote of 262 to 150, which marked the end of a long and politically […]
On 25 May 2010, the NSC Alliance submitted comments on the “Final Draft Strategic Plan for Establishing a National Digital Biological Collections Resource”. The strategic plan is a 10 year, national effort to digitize and mobilize images and data associated with biological research collections. It was drafted by workshop participants at the National Evolutionary Synthesis […]
Recently, leading anthropologists and archaeologists sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar expressing deep concern with a recently implemented rule from the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) National Office in Washington, DC. NAGPRA is housed within the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service. According to the American Association […]
How much of North America’s plant diversity is safeguarded in ex situ collections? The short answer is we don’t know, but BGCI-US (Botanic Garden Conservation International-US), in partnership with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and the United States Botanic Garden, is using the North American Collections Assessment to answer this question. Results will be […]
On May 12, 2010 the Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) submitted comments to the Department of the Interior regarding a rule that outlines procedures for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains in the possession or control of museums or federal agencies. NSC Alliance called for the rescission of the rule, as […]
In a recent publication on GlobalPost.com, Dr. William Brown calls for the preservation of natural history collections as a way to preserve biodiversity. “Natural history museums and related institutions … are the keepers of the codes of life. They have the collections and the curators, scientists and educators who understand biodiversity,” wrote Brown, who is […]
On April 28, 2010, Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance) President William Brown wrote to House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) about the preservation and use of science collections. The letter calls for the consideration of non-federal scientific collections in government efforts regarding the management of collections. Representative Gordon is the sponsor […]
On April 21, 2010, NSF Acting Assistant Director for Biological Sciences (BIO) Dr. Joann Roskoski gave a presentation to participants of the annual Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) Congressional Visits Day. Her talk included a presentation of FY 2011 BIO priorities, including some initiatives related to natural science collections. Click here to view the […]