Date: January 14, 2021
Time: 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern Time (includes a 15 minute break)
Location: Online via Zoom
We invite the Biological Collections community at-large to join the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSCA), and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) for a joint discussion with the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on the future of biological collections. Representatives from the NASEM panel that authored the report, Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century, and the Extended Specimen Network writing committee will discuss and leverage the common themes and associated recommendations from these reports to kick off discussions on the short-, medium-, and long-term implementation plan goals and identify the path forward.
Moderator: Jyotsna Pandey, AIBS
Panelists from the BCoN report:
- John Bates, The Field Museum of Natural History
- Andrew Bentley, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Kansas
- Linda S. Ford, Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology
- David Jennings, Florida Museum of Natural History
- Anna Monfils, Central Michigan University
- Barbara Thiers, The New York Botanical Garden
- Jen Zaspel, Milwaukee Public Museum
Panelists from the NASEM report:
- Andrew Bentley, Biodiversity Research Institute
- Kyria Boundy-Mills, University of California, Davis
- James Collins, Arizona State University
- Manzour Hazbon, Becton Dickinson
- Shirley Pomponi, Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
- Barbara Thiers, The New York Botanical Garden
Recommendations from the BCoN, NASEM, and Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections (IWGSC) reports will not be covered in detail during the presentation. As such, we highly encourage participants to review the resources listed below prior to the webinar. Our goal is to foster a productive discussion about the next steps for the collections community.
Recommended reading and viewing:
- BCoN, 2019. Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to Promote Research and Education.
- Full report: https://bcon.aibs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Extending-Biodiversity-Collections-Full-Report.pdf
- Summary brochure: https://bcon.aibs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/BCoN_March2019_FINAL.pdf
- Lendemer, J. et al. The Extended Specimen Network: A Strategy to Enhance US Biodiversity Collections, Promote Research and Education. BioScience, Volume 70, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 23–30, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz140 (article is open access)
- BioScience Talks podcast on Biodiversity and the Extended Specimen Network, April 2019: http://bioscience-talks.aibs.org/biodiversity-and-the-extended-specimen-network
- BioScience Talks podcast on Leveraging Biodiversity Science Infrastructure in the COVID-19 Era, June 2020: https://bioscienceaibs.libsyn.com/leveraging-biodiversity-science-infrastructure-in-the-covid-19-era
- NASEM, 2020. Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century.
- Report release recording (30-min video): https://vimeo.com/456165916
- Full report: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25592/biological-collections-ensuring-critical-research-and-education-for-the-21st
- Report highlights: https://www.nap.edu/resource/25592/Biological%20Collections%20-%204%20Pager.pdf
- Report highlights slide deck, October 1, 2020: https://bcon.aibs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NASEM-BIological-Collections-Presentation-Slide-Deck.pdf
- IWGSC, 2020. Economic Analyses of Federal Scientific Collections.
- Report, presentation, and press release: https://iwgsc.nal.usda.gov/economic-analyses-federal-scientific-collections
The Biological Collections community around the world is incredibly diverse and all voices need to be heard. We rely on you to disseminate this announcement far and wide to groups and individuals who should be a part of this conversation.