On March 31, 2020, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance), and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) – the founding members of the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), wrote to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to draw attention to the important role that biological collections can play in helping to understand and identify solutions to current and future global health and environmental problems. BCoN’s Extended Specimen Network was highlighted as the kind of large-scale initiative that is needed to improve our understanding of biodiversity and how biodiversity and human systems interact. The groups called for a federal investment of $1 billion in biodiversity collections-related and -enabled research and education.
Biodiversity Collections Network
Building a community to advance and sustain digitized biocollections