Compiled by Ellie Clark, Collections Move Team Leader at the Natural History Museum
Welcome to the August 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
Registration is now open for the 13th European Bird Curators Meeting, October 2024, in Liverpool.
The European Bird Curators Meetings aim to promote cooperation, dissemination of best practices and new techniques in the curation, management, and use of bird collections. Presenters in the scientific programme often include curators, collection managers, museum historians and ornithological researchers. These are friendly meetings and anyone with an interest is welcome to join us.
The meeting will include plenary and submitted presentations, discussion sessions, collections tour, conference dinner (optional – Tuesday 29th October) and field excursion (optional – Thursday 31st October).
Please follow the ‘Tickets available here’ link from the event webpage to register. They have single day registration options and have kept costs as low as possible to encourage attendance by local natural history curators.
If you have any questions, please email vertebratezoology@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
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.
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/.
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. For those who want to take part please email training@natsca.org to put forward your idea. 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 River Art Installation at the Natural History Museum, London.
Ever wondered what lies beneath the surface of the River Thames?
Listen to the watery depths of the River Thames, featuring captivating recordings from an underwater habitat that’s often inaccessible to our ears. Discover the beauty and importance of underwater sound and explore how human-made noises can contribute to sound pollution in our waters. The River is a captivating art installation by sound artist Jana Winderen in collaboration with sound specialist Tony Myatt.
The River runs from 26 July 2024 to 26 January 2025 at the Natural History Museum. Free entry. Find more information here.
Visit the Virtual Lapworth Museum
The Virtual Lapworth Museum (available through the Museum’s website) aims to make its main galleries and a variety of key objects available online using detailed photography and interactive 3D models. As well as providing access to the Museum from anywhere in the world, the Virtual Museum uses high quality 360-degree photography and sound recordings of the Museum space to allow for an informative pre-visit familiarisation for audiences with any sensory or spatial concerns.
The Lapworth is frequently used as a key teaching resource for many undergraduate modules across the University of Birmingham’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences. The Virtual Museum provides more detail for a variety of subject-relevant displays, supporting teaching and learning in primary, secondary and higher education across the country and extends this access internationally – allowing the Lapworth to be enjoyed from all over the world!
Bees: A Story Of Survival
Immerse yourself in an exhibition that brings together art and science to explore one of nature’s most incredible creatures – the bee.
This exhibition is a story of 120 million years of adaptation and survival. Journey into the fascinating world of bees in ways that have never been experienced before. A soundscape connects you to a live beehive, constantly changing in response to the activity of the colony. Discover the wonder of these tiny creatures through interactives, sculpture, projection and light.
Bees: A Story of Survival runs from 4 May 2024 to 5 May 2025 at World Museum and was designed and produced by Wolfgang Buttress Studio and developed in collaboration with National Museums Liverpool.
To book and find out more visit: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/world-museum/exhibition/bees-story-of-survival#section–the-exhibition
What to Read
Ever wondered what the plants growing in your local pavements might be? The Natural History Museum have created a new ID guide, ‘Pavement Plants’ available to download for free from their website.
We have a number of fabulous articles on the Blog, including: Mary De La Beche: Lady Lepidopterist, written by Kanchi Mehta and Going ‘Extinct’ for Jewellery by Sonal Mistry and Olivia Beavers.
Where to Work
Leeds Museums & Galleries are looking for a part-time Natural Sciences Curator but get your skates on if you want to apply as the closing date is this Sunday (11th August)! Find out more information here.
National Museum Cardiff is currently advertising for a number of roles including:
Senior Curator in Entomology, closing date 21st of August. Find more information here.
Head of Plant and Earth Sciences, closing date 28th August. Find more information here.
National Museums Scotland are looking for a Project Curator to review their Caribbean Collections. Find out more here.
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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