The Dead Plants Society – A Case Study for Fundraising for Natural Science Collections

Written by Clare Brown, Leeds Museums and Galleries.

#fundraising #naturalsciencecollections #howtogetfunding #howtofundmyproject #fundingnaturalscience #botanyfunding #fundingforplantcollections etc

A long time ago, longer than I care to think about, I ran a herbarium coffee morning every week at Portsmouth Museums and Records Office. A group of us – staff and volunteers – got together, catalogued plants and had a coffee-and-biscuit break at about 11. The volunteers involved talked about their love of plants and their love of a good chinwag every week. For some it was their only regular social event. It was incredibly wholesome, inclusive, friendly and productive, and I have wanted to replicate it for ages.

© Leeds Museums and Galleries/Space 2

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NatSCA Digital Digest – September 2026

Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool.

Welcome to the September edition of NatSCA Digital Digest.

A monthly blog series featuring the latest on where to go, what to see and do in the natural history sector including jobs, exhibitions, conferences, and training opportunities. We are keen to hear from you if you have any top tips and recommendations for our next Digest, please drop an email to blog@natsca.org.

Sector News

Spare a thought for colleagues at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia

On September 1st the Academy announced that their museum will be closing at the end of September, shocking visitors around the world and staff across the museum. The main reasons cited for its closure seem to be financial stress and federal funding cuts. Although the museum building is closing on September 30th, it seems that plans are being put in place to protect the 19 million specimens in the collections. Whilst we wait to learn more, you can read the latest statement here.

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From Dioramas to The Red List: Conserving Felbrigg Hall’s Taxidermy Birds for a New Conservation Story.

Written by Louise Green, Project Manager and Collections & House Manager, Felbrigg Hall, National Trust, and Martha Infray, Regional Conservator, National Trust.

Introduction

The Bird Corridor at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk, houses a nationally significant natural history collection. Consisting of taxidermy bird dioramas collected by Thomas Wyndham Cremer (1834-1894), the displays document many of the resident and migratory bird species historically found in East Anglia.

Created by renowned nineteenth-century taxidermists Gunn of Norwich and Pratt of Brighton, the dioramas are a first-hand resource documenting the ornithological scene in East Anglia during the 19th-century.

Following the successful completion of the first Phase of conservation treatment in 2025, the second and final phase is nearing completion, with only two weeks of treatment remaining this autumn.

Historic label by Thomas Gunn, attached to the back of a diorama © National Trust/ Rob Coleman

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A Mammoth Task: Stabilising and Protecting Fossil Mammal Specimens in a Sustainable and Access-friendly Way for a Large-scale Collections Move.

Written by Lydia Amies, Caitlin Jenkins, Emanuele Casafredda, Lucia Petrera, Tanya Nakamoto and Fabiana Portoni, Natural History Museum, London.

The Natural History Museum, London (NHM) is moving a third of its collection (28 million) specimens to a to a new, purpose-built centre at Thames Valley Science Park near Reading. Under the umbrella of the Unlocked Programme a new facility is being designed and built to house natural history specimens, research laboratories, working space, and digitisation facilities. The project started in 2020 and the moves stage will commence in 2028.

The Unlocked Conservation Team is working to assess, treat and stabilise at-risk specimens that are due to move. Our focus is to futureproof collection storage while using materials in a sustainable and cost-effective way. Our work will improve access to the collections and enable safe handling of specimens. One of the largest and most complex collections we are working on is the Fossil Mammal Collection which is made up of a wide variety of species, from tiny extinct rodents to woolly mammoths.

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NatSCA Digital Digest – August 2026

Compiled by Ellie Clark, Curator of Fossil Cnidaria at the Natural History Museum.

Welcome to the August edition of NatSCA Digital Digest.

Digital Digest is a monthly blog series featuring the latest on where to go, what to see and do in the natural history sector including jobs, exhibitions, conferences, and training opportunities. We are keen to hear from you if you have any top tips and recommendations for our next Digest, please drop an email to blog@natsca.org.

Sector News

Entomological Skills Workshop at National Museums Northern Ireland

Join Buglife Northern Ireland Conservation Officer, Hannah, and National Museums Northern Ireland Curators for a workshop on collecting, preparing, and identifying insect specimens for conservation research.

The workshop is free and taking place on Saturday the 19th of September.

Book via their webpage. Age group 18 and above.

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