Compiled by Glenn Roadley, NatSCA Committee Member, Curator of Natural Science at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.
Welcome to the October 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 from you if you have any top tips and recommendations for our next Digest, please drop an email to blog@natsca.org.
Sector News
COP27 and Action for Climate Empowerment
COP27 will be happening in Egypt, in November, as the international meeting of governments to progress climate action. The main programme for the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that relates to the work of museums was already adopted at COP26, in Glasgow. This is called the Glasgow Work Programme on Action for Climate Empowerment and runs from 2021-31. It covers the public-facing aspect of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, relating to education, training, public awareness, access to information, public participation and international co-operation on climate change matters. The new programme also sets out a framework for stronger climate action, through effective policies, co-ordinated action, sharing tools and support, and more effective monitoring and communication of climate actions. The new programme specifically points out the important role of a range of sectors, including museums, educational and cultural institutions. Climate action is not just for COP, nor is it just for governments, and the new programme is both a recognition and an invitation for sectors to play their part.
To help understand the Glasgow Work Programme, and find out suggested actions you can take as an individual museum worker, museum, or across the sector, see https://curatingtomorrow236646048.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/action-for-climate-empowerment-curating-tomorrow-2022.pdf Henry McGhie, Curating Tomorrow
Virtual Meeting On Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Collections
Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service is organising a virtual meeting with Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences (University of Cambridge) on the Plio-Pleistocene of East Anglia. This free, virtual meeting will explore the Plio-Pleistocene; a hugely significant period of fluctuating environmental conditions that has shaped our planet and fauna today.
The British Plio-Pleistocene record, including the East Anglian Crags, is internationally significant providing key insights into the beginning of the ice age. The rich East Anglian geological record also charts the dramatically changing warmer and colder conditions of the ice age.
This online meeting is for anyone who has an interest in or would like to know more about the Plio-Pleistocene in East Anglia, and will bring together researchers, museum workers including curators, local societies, collectors and enthusiasts through a series of talks, discussions and Q&A sessions. The programme is recommended for those 16 and above.
For more info including how to book (booking is essential please): https://ipswich.cimuseums.org.uk/events/plio-pleistocene/
NatSCA Lunchtime Chats
The new lunchtime chats are for members only and run on the last Thursday of every month.
This series is supposed to be informal; no fancy equipment is needed; it will be put out over the NatSCA Zoom platform and there is no fixed format. There will be shaky walks through stores by mobile, demos, plain pieces to camera or traditional PowerPoints if that’s the best way to share images and info. For those who want to take part please email training@natsca.org to put forward your idea; if a stable internet connection for what you want to achieve is tricky, we can put up a pre-recorded video and then speakers can jump in at the end for the discussion.
Bring your sandwiches and a cuppa and we hope to see you on the day! All members will have received a link to join via Zoom (the same link works for all sessions) – if you haven’t, get in touch with membership@natsca.org
Where to Visit
The Cole Museum of Zoology at the University of Reading has fully reopened following a move into their new Health and Life Sciences building. Open from 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, the small museum has been reorganised to illustrate animal adaptation and diversity and to support undergraduate zoology teaching. If you want to visit do check their website as the museum is sometimes closed when used for teaching classes or when School groups are visiting.
Collections – Cole Museum (reading.ac.uk)
What to Read
The Natural History Museum of Denmark has launched a new blog following the work of the Conservation Unit. Head on over to find out more about the talented team and for updates behind the scenes as they prepare for an exciting move to a new museum site.
We have three new articles to sink your eyes into this month on the NatSCA blog. Principal Curator of Vertebrates at National Museums Scotland, Andrew Kitchener, describes the incredible feat of amassing a unique collection of approximately 700 Eocene birds from the London Clay by the late Michael Daniels.
Caroline Grounds (Freelance Zoological Collections Assistant, Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg) provides insight into her experiences finding a museum role in a new country and Jazmine Miles-Long (Taxidermist) has written up a review of ‘A Historical Directory of Taxidermists: Bird and Animal stuffers, Naturalists, Beast and Bird Preservers in Southwest England and Wales. Early 19th C to Mid-20th C.’, a directory complied by Kelvin Boot.
Where to Work
The Natural History Museum, London are looking for a community manager to help grow the DiSSCo UK community, and support both the managerial, governance and technical operations teams with programme management and development (closing October 12th).
For the green-fingered, Amgueddfa Cymru / Museum Wales is hiring a Senior Curator of Botany (closing October 26th), while a short hop across the Irish Sea the National Museum of Ireland requires a new Keeper of their Natural History Division (closes October 28th).
And even further afield, The Royal Alberta Museum, Canada, is recruiting for a new natural history conservator (closing October 17th).
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.
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