Meet the NatSCA Committee: Editor

Name: Rachel Jennings

What is your role on the NatSCA Committee? I am the Editor, responsible for managing our published content: Journal of Natural Science Collections, and NatSCA Notes & Comments.

Job title and institution: Documentation Assistant, Horniman Museum and Gardens.

Twitter username: @rachisaurus

Tell us about your day job: I work across the collections at the Horniman, but at the moment I am mostly focused on cataloguing and photographing objects selected for a major redisplay of our anthropology collection. I get to work with a fascinating variety of objects from all over the world. I’m really excited to see the new World Gallery when it opens next year.

Natural science collections are very popular with visitors. Why do you think this is? I think people love being able to experience aspects of nature that they’re unlikely to see in the wild. Museum collections can give them up-close encounters with the rare, the exotic, and the long-extinct. And, of course, there’s the cute factor!

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing natural science collections right now? Museums in general are facing very uncertain times at the moment, with the funding landscape shifting constantly under our feet. Natural science collections are at risk due to loss of staff and expertise, and if the collections are lost, that would represent a huge loss to science. NatSCA is working to champion natural science collections, and advocate for the people who care for them. We collect information on collections at risk, and lobby for resources to maintain those collections.

What would be your career in an alternate universe without museums? The only other things I’ve ever wanted to do were to work with animals, or be a writer. So, I think that if I didn’t have museums, you’d probably find me in a zoo or out in the field on a conservation project. Or holed up in a cabin somewhere, still struggling on my first novel!

What is your favourite museum, and why? I have an enduring soft spot for Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, as it is where I got my first introduction to museum work. They have amazing collections and staff, and I will always be grateful for the experience.

Written by Rachel Jennings, Documentation and Collections Assistant, at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, and NatSCA Committee Member.