Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool.
Welcome to the November 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
Museum Association Conference 2022 & The Wild Escape
Last week, the Museum Association held their Annual Conference from 3rd – 5th November in Edinburgh. The conference was online and in person for those that could attend.
One of the projects mentioned, that may be of interest to some, was The Wild Escape project led by Art Fund – ‘a major participatory project for museums and schools inspired by the wildlife found in museum and gallery collections’. The project was previously called the Great Escape but aims to connect nature and biodiversity particularly for children aged 7-11 but is relevant for all ages. The project runs from January to June 2023 but can be shortened/lengthened to your museum’s specific needs. Resources are currently online and more are still to come. Grants are still available in Scotland and Wales.
Visit their website to find out more about how to get involved in The Wild Escape project.
Online Symposium: Uniting Earth Science Collections
The Geological Curators Group (GCG) and The Society of Mineral Museum Professionals (SMMP)have scheduled a meeting and seminar: Uniting Earth Science Collections. The one-day, online symposium takes place via Zoom on December 1st 2022. The 49th AGM of the Geological Curators Group will follow the first session of the seminar. Find out more and register here.
Museum Action for Climate Empowerment
If you want to learn about concrete actions museums can take to contribute to the Paris Agreement and in fighting climate change, then register for the webinar: Museum Action for Climate Empowerment – hosted by The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO). Museum action for climate empowerment takes place on 14 November 2022 10:00-11:00 GMT; 11:00-12:00 CET, remember to register!
Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group Conference 2023
The next annual conference of the Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group (VMSG) will be held in London, 4th – 6th January 2023. This will be a hybrid conference with early bird registration closing Monday 14 November 2022 and normal registration closing Monday 12 December 2022. You can register up to the day of the conference however, there’s no guarantee of catering or the conference dinner. Click here to register and find out more about the event and the activities planned here.
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
As part of Science Week Ireland 2022, the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin are hosting a Plant Science Festival to investigate and celebrate plant science: Plant Science Festival at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Glasnevin, Dublin, 14th to 20th November 2022.
The festival has a programme of talks, demonstrations, tours, botanical art workshops, and interactive experiments. One of the elements is an herbarium data capture interactive panel. This will run all week in the herbarium and will encourage visitors to digitise specimens. The National Herbarium in Dublin (DBN) holds over 600,000 thousand plant specimens with enormous scientific potential and historic importance. The interactive display in the herbarium building will encourage visitors to help in a mass-digitisation project to harvest data from these specimens. Staff will demonstrate the interactive module and illustrate why we are undertaking this project.
Tanyptera Trust has two workshops planned this November: Plant bugs and ground bugs ID weekend and Flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) weekend. Click to get more information about what the workshops will cover.
What to Read
Have a read about the redevelopment of the Geological Collection at Museo Giovanni Capellini in Museo Giovanni Capellini – Wunderkammer or Modern Museum? – the intriguing blog written by Michela Contessi, Conservator, Museum University Network, Collezione di Geologia “Museo Giovanni Capellini”.
Where to Work
The Natural History Museum, London has posts for a Senior Curator: Sternorrhyncha, Lice & Thrips (Permanent, Full Time; £38,733 to £46,725) closing date Monday 14 November and a Research Leader in Biodiversity and Health (Permanent, Full Time; £61,187 to £77,875 per annum) closing date Thursday 24th November.
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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