Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Natural Science at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.

Welcome to the March 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 really keen to hear more about museum re-openings, exhibition launches, virtual conferences and webinars, and new and interesting online content. If you have any top tips and recommendations for our next Digest please drop an email to blog@natsca.org.

Where to visit

As we move closer to spring, the Museum of Zoology Cambridge and Cambridge University Garden will be broadcasting a Wildlife Diaries livestream at 5pm on Thursday 1st April. The series of blog posts will be available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RScsiUeR5aQ accompanied by a panel of wildlife experts who will be ready to answer your questions. You can revisit some of their 2020 BioBlitz highlights here.

The Museum Association’s Moving on Up conference is taking place on March 17th. This is for anyone working in any area of the museum sector, and those employed in a different sector who want to bring their skills to a museum setting.

The Tanyptera Trust webinars are continuing this month with Mining Bees on March 19th and Shieldbugs & Allies 31st March.

Throughout March, The Science Museum has a few online events planned, including: Climate Change: The View From Space; Does Tech Discriminate?  and Our Future Planet: Global Greenhouse Gas Removal.

London’s Natural History Museum is hosting A Fossil Hunter’s Virtual Tour of the museum on various dates in March for £10. You can discover the Natural World from Dinosaurs and Jurassic Marine Reptiles to Hope the Blue Whale with palaeontologist Dr Aaron W. Hunter as your guide.

Dr. Pat Morris will be hosting a Zoom on The History of Taxidermy on March 22nd. It will include everything from early examples of taxidermy to modern incarnations.

What to Read

The Museum Association has collaborated with their Decolonisation Guidance Working Group to put together resources to help with your decolonial practice. The decolonisation articles, blogs and resources can be found here.

The Geological Curator’s Group has posted an article titled: Feathered Dinosaurs and Evolutionary Dead-Ends written by Dr Emma Nicholls.

Following on with the theme of feathers, Research Stories: X-raying Birds at Manchester Museum was published just after the last Digest and explores what bird claws tell us about how they move and whether they prefer to live on the ground or perching on trees.

What to Watch

If you haven’t already, you can watch Sir David Attenborough’s Life in Colour documentary on BBC iPlayer.

Job Vacancies

The Natural History Museum is recruiting a full time Microscopy Specialist – the closing date is Tuesday 23rd March.

Vacancy for DiSSCo UK Manager: An opportunity to apply to manage the Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK initiative, “working to transform the operation of natural science collections as part of a larger European initiative“. Find out more and apply here. Applicants do not need to be based in London. Closing date 9am, 29th March.

Before You Go…

If you have any top tips and recommendations for our next Digest please drop an email to blog@natsca.org.

Similarly, if you have something to say about a current topic, or perhaps you want to tell us what you’ve been working on, we welcome new blog articles so please drop Jen an email if you have anything you would like to submit.