Happy New Year, and welcome to the first Digital Digest of 2018. We have lots of news, conferences, and jobs to keep you entertained for the rest of the ‘working week’. Read on…

What Should I Read?

Palaeontologists have made public the discovery of a new giant bat found in New Zealand, and the media has gone mad for it. Its scientific name (Vulcanops jennyworthyae) was chosen to commemorate the Roman god of fire (specifically including that of volcanoes, making him rather relevant to New Zealand), as well as the hotel in the village in which it was found (also named after Vulcan – that is the Roman god, not Spock’s home planet), and the scientist who found the first fossils; Jenny Worthy.

If you’d like to know all about the Chair of the Geological Curators’ Group, Matthew Parkes, then a perusal of the new blog Six questions for a geological curator would be a good place to start.

The third blog article I’d like to recommend actually came out mid December but it has a lot of interesting points that are important for those working with natural history collections to consider, and so is worth another mention; Four ways natural history museums skew reality.

What Should I Do?

The Society for the History of Natural History has announced their next conference Bon Voyage? 250 Years Exploring the Natural World. The talks will cover botany, zoology, palaeontology and geology, so there should be something for all natural history types if you’d like to attend. Conference dates are 14th and 15th June. If you would like to submit an abstract, they are due by 28th February.

We are also now advertising our NatSCA conference; to be held on 26th and 27th April, the title of which is similarly exciting sounding; The museum ecosystem: exploring how different subject specialisms can work closer together. Abstracts due 2nd February, so don’t mess about if you want to submit an oral or poster presentation.

If you are having problems with pyrite, or want to present to others on the subject, this one day workshop will interest you; Pyrite Oxidation: where are we now? To be held at the Natural History Museum, London on 10th May.

What Can  I Apply For?

Kew Gardens has a few vacancies at the moment including; Botanical Horticulturalists, Community Learning Coordinator, and a PhD position in Genomic barcoding of the Aloe genus in trade.

The Natural History Museum, London, also has a few things going, including a NERC funded Post Doc in frogs, a Curator of Anthropology, and a Museum Assistant position at their branch in Tring.

My favourite job advert at the moment, though not in natural history, is by The National Gallery who are simply looking for a… Scientist.

Before You Go…

If you have seen an exhibition, visited a museum, or want to tell us about your work, do get in touch as we are always looking for material from external authors. Email us with your ideas at blog@natsca.org.

Written by Dr Emma-Louise Nicholls, Deputy Keeper of Natural History at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, and NatSCA Blog Manager.