The Natural Sciences Collections Association (NatSCA) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

based membership organisation and

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

(No.1098156) run by volunteers from the membership. NatSCA's mission is "to promote and support

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

collections, the institutions that house them and the people that work with them, in order to improve collections care, understanding, accessibility and enjoyment for all." The subject specialist network promotes research and exchange of ideas, advances in technical and ethical standards, and raises the public profile of the conservation and preservation of

collections and objects. The organisation describes their focus as: * Community - developing an open, friendly and accessible network for sharing information, experience and skills. * Support - facilitating the professional development of stakeholders in natural science collections. * Standards - identifying and promoting good quality practice in the care and use of natural science collections. * Promoting collections - increasing awareness of the scientific and cultural value of natural science collections. * Advocacy - challenging neglect of collections and lobbying for the appropriate resourcing of collections for their care and sustainable use.

History

The Natural Sciences Collections Association was founded in April 2003 from the merger of Natural Sciences Conservation Group (NCSG) and Biological Curator's Group (BCG) at a meeting in the Manchester Museum on 7 April 2003. The organisation has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Geological Curators' Group and

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (abbreviated SPNHC, often pronounced "spinach") "is an international society whose mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of natural history collections to ...

. On 14 May 2020 Isla Gladstone (based at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery) was elected chair, replacing Paolo Viscardi (based at the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History) who was chair for two terms since June 2014.

Patrons

In 2013, the charity announced Alice Roberts, Iain Stewart and

Ben Garrod Ben Garrod (born 29 January 1982) is an English evolutionary biologist, primatologist and broadcaster. He has been Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement at the University of East Anglia since 2019. Early life Garrod was born ...

as patrons.

Publications

The Natural Sciences Collections Association publishes an annual

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

, the ''Journal of Natural Science Collections'' as well as occasional papers under the title of Notes & Comments and a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

. Previous publications include ''NatSCA News''.

Notes

External links

www.natsca.org
Museums in the United Kingdom Charities based in the United Kingdom {{science-org-stub