Compiled by Milo Phillips, Assistant Curator of Entomology, National Museums Scotland.
Welcome to the January edition of NatSCA Digital Digest.
Wishing a Happy New Year to all our readers!
Digital Digest is 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
NatSCA 2024 – Submission Reminder
There’s still time to submit for the 2024 NatSCA Annual Conference! The Annual Conference & AGM of the Natural Sciences Collections Association will be held on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th April 2024, in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Papers can be presented in any of several formats: A 20-minute presentation (consisting of a 15-minute talk followed by 5 minutes of Q&A) or a 5-minute lightning talk. Talks can be presented in person or by submission of a pre-recorded presentation, with the option of an in-person or live stream Q&A (via Zoom).
Deadline for submission: 5pm GMT Friday 19th January. More info and submission forms here.
Museums and Galleries History Group 2024 Symposium
A one-day symposium held at the University of Leeds and online. Microhistory aims to direct attention towards marginal(ized) voices and perspectives and emphasizes the agency of the ‘ordinary’. This symposium will explore the relationships between large historical narratives and individual case studies and their use in disrupting established grand historical narratives, countering oversimplification.
The symposium will be held on January 26th. More information and registration here.
SHNH Early Career Researcher Symposium – Registration open
The Early Career Researcher Symposium is an event dedicated expressly to showcase research into the history of natural history being done by doctoral and early career researchers across the globe.
Registration is free but required for this online event and the programme, along with more information, can be found here.
Tree Cultures | Words, Woods and Well-Being
This conference, organised collaboratively between the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Linnean Society of London, will look at the place of trees in global culture.
The conference will be held on February 29th at the Linnean Society of London. More information, along with registration, can be found here.
Where to Visit
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 – National Museums Scotland
From January 20th to May 6th, National Museums Scotland will be showcasing the exceptional images which capture fascinating animal behaviour, spectacular species and the breath-taking diversity of the natural world.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform that showcases some of the best photography talent from around the world for nearly 60 years.
More information and ticket bookings can be found here.
‘Carboniferous Monsters: 100 million years before the Dinosaurs’
Gallery Oldham is the first venue to host this blockbuster exhibition which will run until the Saturday 27th January. This national touring exhibition features stunning 350 million year-old original fossils, reconstructed giant prehistoric animals, and skeleton casts from museums around the world, many of which have never been displayed in the UK before.
What to Read
Sneak Peak at Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest – People’s Choice
If you don’t have time to make it up to Edinburgh for the exhibition, have a look at some of the world’s best nature photography right here. These are some of the pictures being put to a popular vote for the People’s Choice Award
Oldest Fossilized reptile skin ever found pre-dates the dinosaurs
Some fossilized fun for the start of the year with researchers at University of Toronto Mississauga in Canada sharing their findings from a tiny specimen of fossilized skin around 289 million years old – that’s 21 million years older than the previous record holding specimens! Read more about it and see some very cool 3D scans up close here.
Where to Work
Project Conservators: Nature + Love – Horniman Museum and Gardens
Vacancies for two conservators to join the Collections Conservation and Care team to deliver the conservation programme for Nature + Love, the Museum’s National Heritage Lottery Fund (NLHF) project. Full-time; Fixed-term (24 months); £35,258per annum (£35,977 after probation). Deadline 29/01/2023. Information and applications here.
Collections Manager – Natural History Museum of Denmark
The Natural History Museum of Denmark is looking for a new collections manager for vertebrates.
Full-time; Permanent; No salary specified. More information and applications here.
SPNHC Biodiversity Crisis Response Committee – Voluntary
If there are any NatSCA members who are also in SPNHC and would be interested in joining the SPNHC Biodiversity Crisis Response Committee, please reach out to Mike Rutherford, Curator of Zoology & Anatomy at The Huntarian, Glasgow.
The purpose of this committee is to investigate the role of SPNHC in mobilizing collections around effective means of mitigating biodiversity loss and widely broadcasting the collection community’s positive contributions in this area. The group meets once a month, online usually on the 3rd Monday of the month in the afternoon.
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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