Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections March 2018 - 15

Society Reports
Indianapolis, Indiana, November 4-7, 2018.

Affairs Committee.

For more information on The Paleontological Society go to:
http://www.paleosoc.org/

The SVP wishes to remind SPNHC members that it offers
several awards and grants that might have relevance to those
interested in paleontology. These include grants to promote
student research and fieldwork, like the Estes, Patterson, and
Wood awards. The Jackson Student Travel Grant and Scientists from Economically Developing Nations grant both help
support travel to the SVP annual meeting. The Hix Preparators Grant is awarded to advance fossil research, standards,
and training in preparation and collections disciplines. Not all
of these awards limit eligibility to current members of SVP,
check the requirements carefully. Go to http://vertpaleo.org/
the-Society/Awards.aspx for details.

Respectfully submitted,
Jessica Cundiff, SPNHC representative to paleosoc

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
The 77th Annual Meeting of the Society
of Vertebrate Paleontology was hosted
August 23-26, 2017, in Calgary, Alberta, and was attended by numerous
SPNHC members. The annual Preparators Session focused on topics related to
paleontological collections conservation
and care. SPNHC was represented at
the Preparators Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and SVP Business meetings. The
2018 SVP meeting is planned for October 17-20, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Respectfully submitted,
Matthew Brown, SPNHC representative to SVP

Member-at-Large Reports
Deborah Paul

In December 2017, SVP and partner organizations responded
to Trump administration efforts to reduce or eliminate US
National Monuments containing significant paleontological
resources. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monuments were established under the Antiquities Act specifically to protect vertebrate paleontological resources. The
administration's new boundaries have excluded at least 500
known scientifically important sites from the monument, thus
weakening protection and making them ineligible for monument-based funding streams. More than 40 paleontologists
have ongoing work that is affected. SVP has responded by
filing lawsuits challenging the legal authority of the President
to make these cuts. More information about this action and
rationale can be found on the SVP website, http://vertpaleo.
org/What-is-Vertebrate-Paleontology/Fossil-PreservationLaw-in-the-US.aspx

As a new SPNHC Member-at-Large,
I've been working with other SPNHC
committees (Best Practices, Professional Development, International Relations) to (1) update, organize and curate
the digitization links on the SPNHC
wiki pages, (2) update the SPNHC
Wikipedia page content so that it can be
translated into other languages - starting with Chinese, and
(3) continue efforts of the SPNHC International Relations
Committee to include members from more countries around
the world. Starting last year, with the vision of Jennifer Strotman (Professional Development Committee), Holly Little and
I joined Jennifer in bringing SPNHC members the Biodiversity Informatics 101 workshop. With some luck, Jenn and
Holly will also bring this to SPNHC-TDWG2018.

In February 2017, SVP responded to the Department of the
Interior's draft regulations for the Paleontological Resources
Protection Act. Of special concern are the sections that
govern the disclosure of locality coordinates by researchers
and repositories. SVP suggested that DOI classify each site
according to its sensitivity at the time collecting permits are
issued, or when the final research report is submitted. SVP
suggested that authorization to release coordinates for sites
below a minimum threshold be given automatically. SVP has
developed a draft best practice document containing suggested criteria for sensitivity ranking, which will be revised in the
coming year based on feedback received by the Government

It would be fantastic to add your name to those working on
any of the above efforts. Perhaps you can help add content
to the new SPNHC wiki, or maybe you know the history of
SPNHC and have great writing skills. Or, perhaps you can
help translate the SPNHC Wikipedia page into more languages. Please contact me if you would like to help. You make
SPNHC a fantastic resource.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Paul, SPNHC Member-at-Large (2017-2020)

March 2018 * 15

http://www.paleosoc.org/ http://www.vertpaleo.org/the-Society/Awards.aspx http://www.vertpaleo.org/the-Society/Awards.aspx http://www.vertpaleo.org/What-is-Vertebrate-Paleontology/Fossil-Preservation-Law-in-the-US.aspx http://www.vertpaleo.org/What-is-Vertebrate-Paleontology/Fossil-Preservation-Law-in-the-US.aspx http://www.vertpaleo.org/What-is-Vertebrate-Paleontology/Fossil-Preservation-Law-in-the-US.aspx

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections March 2018