NatureServe Network Membership

Membership in NatureServe enhances local organizational effectiveness by:

  • Engaging with a community. Participating in our network offers multiple opportunities to engage with ecologists, botanists and zoologists, and other conservation scientists that share your passion for gathering information and sharing knowledge about our natural world.
  • Increasing efficiency. Members share the costs and benefits of developing standards, methods, and computer systems to support our work.
  • Contributing and gaining access to innovations. Because we share a common purpose, members of the NatureServe Network can collaborate on finding innovative solutions to complex problems.
  • Increasing organizational reach and influence. As a member of NatureServe, your work contributes to solving conservation challenges at national, regional and international scales. NatureServe works to highlight and promote the work of its members through a variety of media.

There are two levels of membership, representing different levels of engagement, privileges and responsibilities.

Constituent Membership

Any organization that is dedicated to developing, promoting, and using standard methodologies to manage high quality biodiversity information in a consistent manner; approves of the objectives of the NatureServe Network, including the goal of data sharing; and supports the role of using science to inform conservation action shall be eligible to apply as a Constituent Member of the NatureServe Network.

  • Founding Constituent Members. These are the members of NatureServe at the time of its founding in 2000. The list of those entities eligible to be founding Constituent Members appears in Appendix A of the NatureServe Bylaws. Contact NatureServe's Director of Network Relations (703-908-1828; Allison_Gratz@natureserve.org), if you are unclear whether you are a Founding Constituent Member.
  • Subnational Constituent Members. Any organization that operates at the principal subnational level of a country, including states, provinces, departments, or territories, is eligible to be a Constituent Member of NatureServe. There can only be one Constituent Member per subnational jurisdiction. Subnational Constituent Members of NatureServe Canada (a.k.a., the Canadian Section of NatureServe) will be granted constituent membership in NatureServe, subject to ratification by the NatureServe Board of Directors.
  • Other Established Constituent Members. Organizations that historically have operated as a part of the NatureServe network, specifically the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Navajo Nation, the Cauca Valley Corporation, and the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre, are eligible to be Constituent Members of NatureServe.

Associate Membership

Any organization that supports the objectives of the NatureServe Network,  is not a Constituent Member, and that manages data or is active in promoting science-based conservation action important to the NatureServe Network shall be eligible to apply as an Associate Member of the NatureServe Network.

Applying for Membership

An organization eligible to join as a Constituent or Associate Member must comply with the following:

  1. have the endorsement of a senior executive within its host institution
  2. have the endorsement of the Section Council(s) their geographic scope of work is concurrent with or contained within
  3. apply for membership by addressing a letter requesting membership to the Board’s Membership Committee. The membership request must:
    1. demonstrate institutional history of relevance of its activities to the mission of the NatureServe Network;
    2. the intention and capability to perform the functions and meet the standards of membership as determined by the Board;
    3. state its commitment to sharing data or expertise with NatureServe; and
    4. pay the established fees and dues.

If you are interested in becoming a member of NatureServe, please contact Allison_gratz@natureserve.org.