NASEM: Biological Collections Need National Strategy, Increased Investment

According to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), biological collections - living and natural history specimens, biological materials, and data in museums, stock centers, research centers, and universities - are in need of long-term financial sustainability, digitization, recruitment and support of a diverse workforce, and infrastructure upgrades. The report, Biological Collections: Ensuring Critical Research and Education for the 21st Century, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), argues that biological collections are an “invaluable, and often irreplaceable, component of the nation’s scientific enterprise.” Collections provide a wide range of benefits for the scientific community, including important resources for formal and informal education. Collections research is also responsible for many basic science discoveries and innovations, including advancing our understanding of biodiversity loss, global change, and human diseases. “Many biological collections are at a critical juncture,” said Dr. James Collins, a past-president of AIBS and co-Chair of the report committee and Virginia M. Ullman Professor of Natural History and the Environment at Arizona State University. “Biological collections need increased investment to serve us in the way we expect, while at the same time expanding their potential for new uses related to science and society.” The commi...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news