Compiled by Milo Phillips, Digitisation Coordinator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Welcome to the July edition of the 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
SPPC Registration and Call for Abstracts
Registration for the Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation is now open!
The deadline for abstract submission is July 31st and, the symposium will be run in a hybrid format. Afternoon tours of the university archaeological laboratories will also be available.
For more information on SPPC and to see past abstracts and posters, please visit their website.
Call for Papers – Book of Nature, Nature of Books: Practices of Female Botanists
The research centres TIL (Université de Bourgogne) and EMMA (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3) are organizing a bilingual, international, interdisciplinary conference on the role of women in the development of botany as part of visual, manuscript and print cultures, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period.
Discussions will focus on the history of natural sciences, print culture, book history, illustration studies, gender studies, plant studies and ecocriticism and the organisers welcome papers on a wide range of case studies, from archives and museum collections to the garden itself.
Please send a 300-word abstract and a biobibliography (in English or French) before 31 October 2024 to the following address: bookofnature2025@gmail.com
The full details can be found here.
NatSCA Journal – Submission Deadline and Call for Reviewers
The deadline for submission to the 13th Volume of the Journal of Natural Science Collections is rapidly approaching. If you have projects and practices to share that will benefit the museum community, please send your manuscript to editor@natsca.org by 31st July.
The Journal represents all areas of work with natural science collections, and includes articles on best practice and latest research across disciplines, including conservation, curation, learning, and exhibitions.
Articles should be relevant and accessible to our diverse membership.
If you would like to contribute to the Journal, please contact the editor (editor@natsca.org) and see our guidelines for authors here.
If you are interested in contributing to the Journal by acting as a reviewer, please also contact the editor, along with areas of specialism you would be confident reviewing (e.g. bird curation, mineralogy, conservation techniques, etc). You can read our information for reviewers here.
Museums Association Conference 2024: The Joy of Museums
Booking is now open for the annual conference which will be held at Royal Armouries Museum 12-14 November 2024, and is also available online for remote attendees.
This year’s conference celebrates the innovation, inventiveness and creativity that make our museums such incredible places and includes:
- A range of sessions – from workshops and panel discussions to In Practice case studies – that explore topical issues facing museums
- Issues up for discussion include the culture wars, working with migrant communities, engaging with young people and developing partnerships with schools
- Fringe networking events and the chance to meet commercial suppliers
- Three evening social events and a third day of tours included in the price
Keynote speakers include Michelle Charters, the director of the International Slavery Museum and Surfing Sofas, a social justice poet and community artist. Delegates can also join sessions on the Israel/Palestine war, working with our new UK government, understanding the new Code of Ethics, sponsorship and how museum attendance relates to inequalities in society.
In Practice sessions will include tips on creating happy workplaces, displaying contentious history and poverty-proofing museums.
Prices start from £50. For more information, view the full programme and to book your place go to https://www.museumsassociation.org/events/conference-2024/.
Where to Visit
Natural History in the Age of Revolutions | 1776-1848
The Linnaean Society of London will be hosting a conference to explore themes connected to the revolution in nature that began to be witnessed on a global scale in the decades around 1800, taking place on July 15th at their institution buildings in London.
Tickets and more information can be found here.
What to Read
We’ve got a fantastic double offering from the NatSCA blog to feast your eyes on this week.
Firstly, Anna Robson, Graduate Intern Archaeology and Bioscience Collections, Durham University tells us about the ins and outs and interesting discoveries while managing a forgotten university herbarium in Taking a ‘Leaf’ of Faith.
And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve also got Dan Gordon, Keeper of Biology, The Great North Museum: Hancock, taking us on a fishy foray in Rediscovering the Hancock Coelacanth, tracing the journey of this captivating specimen.
Where to Work
Museum Assistant – Cambridge University Museum of Zoology
£25,742 – £29,605 pro rata; Fixed-term (3 years) 0.95FTE
Full details and application process found on their listing here.
Deadline: 21st July 2024; Interviews to be held 23rd August 2024
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
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