§ 235-a. New York state biodiversity research institute. 1. The New\nYork state biodiversity research institute is hereby created within the\nNew York state museum within the education department. The purposes of\nthe institute shall include:\n (a) advising the governor, governmental agencies, the regents, and the\nlegislature on matters relating to biodiversity in New York state;\n (b) fostering, pursuing and sponsoring collaborative biological and\necological research;\n (c) increasing understanding of biodiversity research and conservation\nneeds in New York by establishing and reporting on what is known and\nwhat is not known about the biological diversity of the state;\n (d) identifying priority needs for biodiversity research and inventory\nwork within New York that currently are not receiving adequate\nattention, and identifying public or private entities that are best\nsituated to address such needs, thereby leading to better coordination\nof biodiversity research efforts in the state;\n (e) promoting awareness of existing and new sources of biodiversity\ninformation and biodiversity expertise among planners, policy makers,\nand resource managers;\n (f) educating elected officials, governmental agencies, and the\ngeneral public on biodiversity issues through such means as it may\ndetermine;\n (g) organizing and sponsoring meetings on biodiversity topics;\n (h) encouraging the establishment of networks of collaborating\nscientists engaged in related aspects of biodiversity research;\n (i) raising sensitivity to biodiversity concerns among state and local\ngovernment agencies, and serving as a forum for enhanced interagency\ninformation sharing and cooperation;\n (j) recommending priority activities for funding through the state\nland biodiversity stewardship account, created pursuant to section\nninety-seven-oo of the state finance law;\n (k) assisting the commissioners of environmental conservation and\nparks, recreation and historic preservation in conducting reviews,\npursuant to section 3-0302 of the environmental conservation law and\nsubdivision eighteen of section 3.09 of the parks, recreation and\nhistoric preservation law, of lands currently in state ownership, to\nidentify lands and waters that harbor plants, animals, and ecological\ncommunities that are rare in New York state;\n (l) assisting the commissioner of parks, recreation and historic\npreservation in identifying ecologically significant sites within state\nparks and historic sites that are candidates for park preserve or park\npreservation area designation pursuant to article twenty of the parks,\nrecreation and historic preservation law; and\n (m) assisting the commissioner of environmental conservation in\nidentifying lands of ecological significance, currently in state\nownership, to recommend to the governor and the legislature for\ndedication to the state nature and historical preserve trust pursuant to\narticle forty-five of the environmental conservation law.\n 2. Definitions. When used in this section, the following terms shall\nmean:\n (a) "Biodiversity" or "biological diversity" means the total variety\nof living organisms found in the state, and the natural processes that\nsupport them; and\n (b) "Institute" shall mean the New York state biodiversity research\ninstitute created pursuant to subdivision one of this section.\n 3. Research programs. The institute shall foster, pursue and sponsor\noriginal systematic and ecological research, field studies, and\ninventories of biological collections that are designed to:\n (a) increase the information base pertaining to plant, animal,\nbiological community, and ecosystem occurrences in the state, including\ndescriptions, collections and catalogs of fauna and flora, plant and\nanimal life-cycle requirements and characteristics, the dynamics of\necological processes, and the status of rare plants, animals, and\nbiological communities;\n (b) detect, document, and interpret patter
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