The natural history collections community is invited to provide input on a draft report about community progress toward the goals and objectives outlined in the Strategic and Implementation Plans for NIBA. The report is the outcome of a two-day stakeholder workshop held in Washington, DC in January 2017 by the the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN). […]

During its first three years, BCoN worked with the community to identify tools and resources needed to improve the community’s capacity to communicate about biodiversity collections. As a result, the American Institute of Biological Sciences launched a new communication-training program. BCoN worked with the Natural Science Collections Alliance and isotopic scientists to inform a new […]

A new opinion piece published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences urges the creation of an IsoBank, a central repository for isotopic data. The article is an outcome a workshop sponsored by the Biodiversity Collections Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. An excerpt of the article follows: Stable isotopes […]

Are you interested in incorporating more real data into your undergraduate courses? Natural history collections have been digitizing (the process of converting information into a digital format) their holdings and making them available online, creating a vast resource for biodiversity data that educators can access! Apply now to join the 2017 “Resources for Collections-Based Undergraduate […]

The Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections (WeDigBio) Event kicks off this week from 20-23 October. Citizen scientists are teaming up with researchers and other participants around the world to capture biodiversity specimen data—digitizing the information for scientific research, education, and policy. Participants can pick a project in which to participate online (https://www.wedigbio.org/find-a-project) or find an […]

The Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid will be hosting the 20th anniversary of the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF) on 20 October. The event will engage a diverse audience of researchers, science communicators, international policymakers and industry representatives about the importance of natural history collections in today’s global economy and the challenges of the […]

The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has launched a new professional development program designed to enhance the communication skills of scientists, particularly those interested in communicating with decision-makers and the news media. The program is an excellent way to develop new communication skills and identify effective methods for broadening the impact of research and […]

The BCoN Collections Communications Working Group has identified a need to compile existing outreach documents that the biodiversity collections and science communities may use to educate decision-makers and the general public about the nature of biodiversity collections-based science, including the benefits derived from digitizing specimens and their associated data. If you or your organization would […]

The National Museum of Natural History is offering a fellowship opportunity for graduate students, post-doctoral and professional researchers. The program provides an opportunity to conduct independent research and to collaborate with Smithsonian scientists. Fellows have access to the world’s largest natural and cultural history collections. The fellowship is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens. […]

Two collections workshops will take place prior to the opening of the International Congress of Entomology, to be held in Orlando, Florida on September 25, 2016. “Invasive Pests, Collections as Critical Infrastructure” and “Bee Pollinators, Critical Gene Banks” are sponsored by Scientific Collections International (SciColl) and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The first workshop will […]