Compiled by Milo Phillips, Assistant Curator of Entomology for National Museums Scotland.
Welcome to the December 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 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
Catch up: Museum Action for Climate Empowerment Webinars
The most recent webinar from the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) is now available to watch online if you were unable to make it to the live webinar in November. Henry McGhie or Curating Tomorrow, and NEMO Policy Officer Elizabeth Wilde dig into sustainability insights for the sector, key ways that museums can meaningfully contribute to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and explores a new guide for how museums can measure and report greenhouse gas emissions. All previous webinars can also be found over on the NEMO YouTube channel.
Link to latest webinar: https://www.ne-mo.org/training/nemo-webinars.html
Link to NEMO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nemo-networkofeuropeanmuse7452
Registration Open for Field Studied Council January Courses
You can now register for upcoming natural history courses hosted by the Field Studies Council. January workshops include: an introduction to bee conservation, an exploration of botanical folklore, and courses on marine mammal and marine invertebrate biology and ecology. Many are hosted online with FSC Virtual, and costs vary.
Link to upcoming courses: https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/natural-history-courses/
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
Deck the Dinos
The Natural History Museum is getting festive! Drop by before January 3rd 2023 to see their T-Rex dressed up for the holidays in probably one of the largest Christmas jumpers we’ve ever seen.
Link to T-Rex article: https://blooloop.com/museum/news/natural-history-museum-t-rex-christmas-jumper/
Register for Alfred Russel Wallace’s Birthday Symposium
Oxford University Museum of Natural History will be celebrating the 200th birthday of Alfred Russel Wallace with a symposium exploring his contributions to science. The event is on January 9th and will be held both online and in person. Registration is now open, with details of timings and locations on their website.
Link to OUMNH event page: https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/0cd00bc2-2a47-49d3-a297-da1e96bff7be/
What to Read
A new species of extinct lizard has been described from the collection at the Natural History Museum. Read about how a 200-million-year-old fossil is changing our understanding of how modern lizards and other reptiles evolved.
A new book from Samuel Alberti, director of collections at National Museums Scotland explores how science museums can use their power to foster a greater sense of collaboration and community through sparking curiosity and boosting scientific literacy.
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03795-1
Forest & Bird announced their Bird of the Year winner for 2022. Bird of the Year is a nationwide campaign to raise awareness for endangered birds throughout Aotearoa, with spirited and often hilarious efforts by all to promote various birds as the favourite. The Pīwauwau Rock Wren, New Zealand’s only true alpine bird, is this year’s champion! Read more about the Pīwauwau and 2022’s so-called ‘underbirds’ on their website.
Link: https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
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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