News

On May 27th and 28th 2021, NatSCA hosted an online conference, 'Natural Science Collections and Environmental Breakdown'.

This conference was recorded and can be viewed online on our YouTube channel. [External Link]

The description of each YouTube video contains the abstract for the talk. Each video has closed captions available.

Conference Programme
Conference Abstracts

Day 1 - May 27th 2021

Keynote

Recognising the Anthropocene Epoch in geological strata: the ongoing process of collecting and archiving a potential “golden-spike” section
Simon Turner, UCL / Anthropocene Working Group

First Session

Making the most of a collection that illuminates the debate on anthropogenic climate change: The HMS Challenger and Ocean Bottom Deposits Collection at The Natural History Museum
C.Giles Miller, Lyndsey Fox*, Tom Hill, Marina Rillo**, Steve Stukins, Epi Vaccaro, Natural History Museum, *University of Kingston, **University of Groningen

Accelerating Global Engagement Through Collaboration of Online Biodiversity Data Networks
Elizabeth Ellwood, Gil Nelson, Hamish Holewa, Dimitris Koureas, Joseph Miller, iDigBio / Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

First Session Q&A

Second Session - Tours

Rex Annex: providing a small museum with additional exhibit & prep space
Patti Wood Finkle & JP Cavigelli, Tate Geological Museum at Casper College

The Natural History Galleries at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
David Waterhouse, Norfolk Museums Service

Fourth Session

Herbarium specimens inform species selection for agroforestry trial of African indigenous rainforest species in Republic of Congo
Teva Kami* (Université Marien Ngouabi), Michael Hands (Inga Foundation), Florent Lager, Pierre Mberi (MPD Congo), Yvette Harvey (RHS Wisley), Martin Cheek (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) * Presenting

Synthetic and semi-synthetic microplastic ingestion by mesopelagic fishes from Tristan da Cunha and St Helena, South Atlantic
Alexandra McGoran 1,2,*, James S. Maclaine 2,*, Paul F. Clark,2, David Morritt,1, 1 Royal Holloway University of London, 2 Natural History Museum, London, * Presenting

Panel Discussion Q&A

Day 2 - May 28th 2021

First Session

Ecologising Natural History Collections through Interventions by Contemporary Artists
Sarah Wade, University of East Anglia

No Môr Plastic: Using the permanent natural science displays at Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales to support museum activism
Julian Carter, Sarah Younan, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales

‘Nature and Love’ Stepping up to the Environmental Challenge
Jo Hatton, Horniman Museums and Gardens

Second Session

How To Move a Mountain: Populating a New Collections Store at the Sedgwick Museum
Catherine Craston & Helen Devereux, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

Tour of Priceless Objects (van Onschatbare Waarde), the special exhibit in honour of Naturalis’ 200th birthday
Becky Desjardins, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Third Session - Lightning Talks

Got a Bone to Pick? Creating an easy-to-use flowchart for cleaning skeletal specimens
Georgia Kay, Naturalis Biodiversity Centre

Fossils, firearms and naked ladies
Lorna Steel, Radnorshire Museum (Powys County Council)

What’s in the Box? Exploring Natural Science Collections with Home Educating Families
Philip Hadland, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery

Can the dead save the Earth? Exposing postgraduate students to Southeast Asian natural history collections
Ting Hui, NG, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore

The profile of sediment profiles from Surinam
Kim König, Naturalis Biodiversity Centre

Plugging the gap: Resources to support the curation of biological sample collections
Kirsty Lloyd, Natural History Museum

Humanities Programming in a Natural History Museum
Patti Wood Finkle, Valeris Innella Maiers, Werner Wildlife Museum at
Casper College

The First Striped Dolphin on the Isle of Man, Working Collaboratively to Preserve it for the Manx Museum and Public
Laura McCoy, Manx National Heritage

Losing colour: the discoloration of plants in wet collections
Marion Dangeon, Elodie Granget, Latty Joane, Laura Brambilla, Haute Ecole Arc Conservation-restoration

“After breakfast purchase fossils of Miss Anning”: Jurassic Marine Reptiles in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge
Matt Riley, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge

Fourth Session

Taxidermy – Material Sustainability & Progression
Jazmine Miles-Long

Indigenuity and Storytelling: Pluralising Natural Sciences and Environmental Knowledges
Alexandra Alberda, Manchester Museum

Panel Discussion Q&A

Teaser - SPNHC / NatSCA / BHL Conference 2022 - Edinburgh

This conference was recorded and can be viewed online on our YouTube channel. [External Link]

All talks:

Nature Read in Black and White: An Update
Miranda Lowe, Natural History Museum and Subhadra Das, UCL

Decolonising Manchester Museum’s mineral collection – a call to action
David Gelsthorpe, Manchester Museum

Mo Koundje: how gorilla histories can help decolonise our collections
Rebecca Machin, Leeds Museums and Galleries

Decolonise! Activations of natural history collections by international artists
Dr Bergit Arends, University of Bristol

The political platypus and the colonial koala – how to decolonise the way we talk about Australian animals
Jack Ashby, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Colonial Critters: Decolonising the Powell-Cotton Museum
Rachel Jennings, Powell-Cotton Museum

Second Session Panel Discussion

Displays of Power: A Natural History of Empire
Hannah Cornish, Luanne Meehitiya, Tannis Davidson, Subhadra Das, Grant Museum of Zoology, UCL Culture

Ally Skills 101: Why Allies?
Hao Ye, University of Florida, Molly Phillips, Florida Museum of Natural History, iDigBio

The lost artists of British Enlightenment natural history
Isabelle Charmantier, The Linnean Society of London

James J. Harrison: Unnatural History
Jim Middleton, Scarborough Museums Trust

Legacies of Jamaica: A not so Elegant Priest!
Mama D Ujuaje and Rhian Rowson, Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives

Final Panel Discussion

The description of each YouTube video contains the abstract for the talk. Each video has closed captions available.

The original programme for the conference is available here.
The conference abstracts are available here.