Curator of Mineralogy and Petrology

The Hunterian
The oldest public museum in Scotland, with collections spanning arts, sciences and humanities, The Hunterian is at the forefront of university museums around the world.
Since it opened at the University of Glasgow in 1807, The Hunterian has proved itself an invaluable academic and community resource. Enriching student and staff experience and sharing the University’s teaching and research priorities, for over 200 years it has provided a platform for strategic and international collaborations, civic engagement and academic impact.

Job Purpose
To develop, care for, and engage audiences with the Mineralogy and Petrology (Min/Pet) collections of The Hunterian. The postholder undertakes and promotes research, teaching and learning initiatives and knowledge co-production with stakeholders on these collections, and promotes their use in community and public engagement in line with the stated objectives of The Hunterian as outlined in the 2021-25 Strategic Plan.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
To work with Collections Management and Curatorial colleagues to ensure that the collections are efficiently managed, documented and interpreted for their long-term well-being.
To work collaboratively with Audience Engagement, Collections Management and Curatorial teams to facilitate physical, digital and intellectual access to the collections for HE and other groups, and to encourage engagement with the collections by the widest possible learning audiences, including through exhibition, digital media and other means. This will include contributions to ongoing digitisation programmes in relation to content management systems, and the creation of suitable administrative, descriptive and interpretative content to enable this access.
To advise and be involved in the development of the collections in accordance with The Hunterian’s strategic development objectives for academic and public engagement.
To acquire and keep current a broad and deep subject-related knowledge and provide, as appropriate, expert advice to UoG and related organisations on matters pertaining to the collections, and to participate in national and international activities related to the collections.
To undertake, facilitate and partner in innovative research in the Hunterian collections and to participate actively in international scholarship relating to these collections. The post-holder will be required to write up research findings for publication in leading peer-reviewed journals and through other appropriate media.
To develop and sustain forms of engagement with university and local stakeholder communities, where possible exploring the relationship between the collections and strategic concerns such as colonialism and environmental change.
To be a lead provider and source of expertise in Hunterian laboratory practices relating to microscopy, photomicroscopy and identification, analytical and preparatory techniques (e.g. sectioning, XRD, SEM, pXRF), and their safe management and use.
To engage with faculty in cognate Schools in the University, in particular Geographical and Earth Sciences (GES), maintaining existing teaching and research relationships; initiating and leading on new partnerships across disciplines in order to develop and deliver innovative and multi-disciplinary collections-based teaching and research programmes.
To work with the Curators for Palaeontology, Life Sciences, and Science and Medical History Collections to develop new strategies for the future conservation, display and interpretation of the Min/Pet collections; to work with Audience Engagement and Experience on public engagement and knowledge exchange programmes, using the collections in innovative ways, collaborating with colleagues/researchers as required.
To identify potential sources of funding and secure such funds through grant applications as appropriate, either as an individual or team member, and to manage resources effectively and be accountable for their use in relation to the collection.
To support The Hunterian’s development of decolonial approaches to museum practice and collections work as part of the Collections & Curatorial team.