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Unfortunately, the NSF announced today that it was suspending support to natural history collections like the Field Museum. Hopefully they'll reverse course but

Unfortunately, the NSF announced today that it was suspending support to natural history collections like the Field Museum. Hopefully they'll reverse course but in general museums are on the decline and it's possible that our ability to do this kind of work with fossils and other organisms will be limited in the future. http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503651 http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503651

spdustin 11y ago
Cringe. Just two months ago we were "dozin' with the dinos" at the Field Museum, and went on a behind the scenes tour where we got to learn about the huge fish collection there. Seeing the huge halls of movable shelving units on tracks, filled with specimens, made me feel like the Field Museum may just have the Ark of the Covenant (movie reference too vague?). Learning about the research being done in just that one section was eye-opening, and I left feeling like there was so much more to natural history collections than meets the eye. So what can I do to help? Write my congress-critter? Donate to the museum? Field Museum, MSI, Adler, Shedd - my kids love the hell out of each of them and it makes me sad to know that institutions like these are hurting.
- jonchang 11y ago
  Hi there, I didn't see this comment until just now. Unfortunately you don't have contact information in your profile so hopefully you see this message. If you are not a practicing scientist, contacting the NSF will work best if you focus on how the collections at the Field Museum helped the Field Museum succeed in reaching out to the public about science. NSF has a dual purpose of "intellectual merit" and "broader impacts", and if you can speak about how the collections aligned with the NSF's goal of broader impacts that could make a difference. The proper contact email is dbicsbr@nsf.gov I know that the Field Museum has been doing a lot of layoffs recently. I don't know how well it's managed but definitely things like being a museum member and attending tours will signal to the museum that their research and outreach missions are important. Writing your senator and representative can definitely help, especially if you live in the district where a museum with a major collections focus is located. Most of them will have contact details or a constituent services form that you can use to get their attention.

spdustin 11y ago

Cringe. Just two months ago we were "dozin' with the dinos" at the Field Museum, and went on a behind the scenes tour where we got to learn about the huge fish collection there. Seeing the huge halls of movable shelving units on tracks, filled with specimens, made me feel like the Field Museum may just have the Ark of the Covenant (movie reference too vague?). Learning about the research being done in just that one section was eye-opening, and I left feeling like there was so much more to natural history collections than meets the eye. So what can I do to help? Write my congress-critter? Donate to the museum? Field Museum, MSI, Adler, Shedd - my kids love the hell out of each of them and it makes me sad to know that institutions like these are hurting.

jonchang 11y ago
Hi there, I didn't see this comment until just now. Unfortunately you don't have contact information in your profile so hopefully you see this message. If you are not a practicing scientist, contacting the NSF will work best if you focus on how the collections at the Field Museum helped the Field Museum succeed in reaching out to the public about science. NSF has a dual purpose of "intellectual merit" and "broader impacts", and if you can speak about how the collections aligned with the NSF's goal of broader impacts that could make a difference. The proper contact email is dbicsbr@nsf.gov I know that the Field Museum has been doing a lot of layoffs recently. I don't know how well it's managed but definitely things like being a museum member and attending tours will signal to the museum that their research and outreach missions are important. Writing your senator and representative can definitely help, especially if you live in the district where a museum with a major collections focus is located. Most of them will have contact details or a constituent services form that you can use to get their attention.