Our Goal

“Canon” is defined as “a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged”. Here we propose the establishment of a canon for natural history collecting by creating a network of networks of established Global North (resource-rich regions) and Global South partners that will strive to solve inequalities from parachute/helicopter/colonial science practices, and facilitate collaborative evolutionary and ecological research.

CANoN or the “Collections Action Network of Networks” will follow the four general principles of fieldwork by being (a) collaborative, (b) respectful, (c) legal, and (d) safe. These goals will be achieved by supporting scientific infrastructure in places where it is lacking through partnerships that facilitate reciprocal scientific exchange and by creating efficient pathways for conducting collections-based fieldwork. This program will also facilitate access to collections and research opportunities in the U.S. (and ultimately Europe, Australia, and elsewhere) by Global South researchers, increasing their participation in leading scientific roles. A natural outcome of CANoN is improved accessibility to global field-based research programs, promoting diversity and inclusion in the field.

How CANoN can help you

The Convention on Biological Diversity (United Nations 1992) and the Nagoya Protocol (United Nations 2010) established the sovereign rights of states over their own natural resources and advocate for a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, including its application and commercialization. These negotiations play an important role in the establishment of collaborative networks between countries, in particular between the Global North (often resource-rich) and the Global South (often biodiversity-rich) institutions, by ensuring equitable access and benefit-sharing. Through these international agreements, countries are developing regulations for accessing their genetic resources and procedures for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of these resources. Despite acknowledging the importance of these regulations, researchers studying biodiversity are caught in a web of new regulations that are often not clear. CANoN can connect researchers from different countries to facilitate navigating these regulations, and establish collaborative networks for international museum-based and natural history-based research. CANoN partnerships with groups like iDigBio can aid digitization efforts of international natural history collections, and can connect students and researchers looking to do fieldwork in different parts of the globe.

How you can contribute with CANoN

CANoN is designed to connect researchers worldwide and link institutions to improve collections-based research in both social and operational dimensions. The main products we provide are links between people. Therefore, the most important way researchers can contribute to the network is by joining it. Researchers can join CANoN by demonstrating their interest in facilitating collection-based research, such as:

- Facilitating field expeditions and international collaborations (e.g., facilitating permits/permissions, field logistics, identifying local researchers/students).

- Dedicating time and/or resources to improve the digitization and curation of collections.

- Allocating time and/or resources to hosting scholars and students from the network on sabbaticals, internships, and research visits.