From Knowledge to Action: Next Steps for the Natural Science Collections Community

Area of Science:

• Biodiversity Science
• Natural Science Collections
• Digital Infrastructure

Background:

• The U.S. natural science community has a long history of collaboration.
• There is a growing need for unified support and strategic expansion of biological collections and their data.
• Physical biodiversity collections face numerous challenges that require coordinated solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline the vision and key themes for a proposed national center supporting biological collections.
• To address the management, unification, and strategic expansion of specimen/sample infrastructure and associated data.
• To foster coordination across research, education, and Indigenous communities.

Main Methods:

• Community consultations were conducted to identify major themes for the center.
• The proposed center will encompass eight major themes.
• Focus on workforce development, ethical collaboration, digital infrastructure, and AI innovation.

Main Results:

• Eight major themes were identified for the national center.
• The center aims to expand digital infrastructure for broad data access.
• It will foster innovation in AI for data capture, management, and analysis.

Conclusions:

• A national center is crucial for sustainable, long-term support of biodiversity science.
• The center will integrate biological collections to drive innovation and address societal challenges.
• Benefits include advancements in public health, environmental conservation, and the bioeconomy.