September 2002
BESC Mission
The Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) is an alliance of organizations united by a concern for every aspect of the biology of the natural world, from agricultural systems to zoology. BESC supports the goal of increasing the nation's investment in the non-medical biological sciences across all federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
BESC Statement of Purpose
United by a concern for the future vitality of the non-medical biological sciences, a group of national organizations has joined together to form an informal coalition. Participating organizations include professional and scientific societies, associations, as well as academic institutions.
Government reports frequently group the biomedical sciences with non-medical biology (e.g. agricultural sciences, environmental biology, ecology, taxonomy, and fundamental cellular and molecular biology) into a "life sciences" category. Unfortunately, popular usage of the term life sciences as a reference to biomedicine overlooks the broad diversity of the biological sciences. Furthermore, recent efforts calling for a balance among the sciences fail to recognize this distinction, thus jeopardizing support for non-medical biology at a time when biology is critical contributor to the nation's science enterprise.
BESC, formed in 2002, is an informal activity undertaken by participating organizations. BESC has no offices, no officers, and no paid staff. There are no dues for BESC membership.