Compiled by Ellie Clark, Curator of Fossil Cnidaria at the Natural History Museum.
Welcome to the November edition of NatSCA Digital Digest.
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
GCG Winter Seminar in Hastings – Registration Open
While the call for abstracts has now closed, you can still register to join the Geological Collections Group in December at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery for their 2025 Winter Seminar and Annual General Meeting. The Seminar and AGM will be held at the Museum on December 10th and will be followed by a field trip to the coast in the Pett Level – Fairlight area on December 11th.
For registration forms and details about the talks of the day, guidance on what to expect during the field trip, and directions for finding your ways to all of the above, visit their website here.
Early Career Researcher Symposium – Call for Papers
The Society for the History of Natural History in partnership with The Linnean Society of London Online, will be hosting their Early Career Researcher Symposium on Thursday 19th February 2026.
The event coordinators are now welcoming papers from across the field which speak to any aspects of the history of natural history. The only restriction is that eligible speakers must be individuals registered for PhD programmes or within 3 years of being awarded their doctorate.
Speakers will be convened into panels of related 15-20 minute papers by the conference organisers, with a shared session for questions at the end of each panel. Submissions from scholars in all parts of the world are encouraged and they will endeavour to put together a final programme which accommodates international time differences.
Questions and paper proposals should be submitted to Dr Elle Larsson, Meetings Secretary at: meetings@shnh.org.uk. Please include a title, an abstract (up to 250 words) and a speaker biography (up to 100 words).
The deadline for submissions is 12th December 2025.
Seeking NatSCA Blog Posts for 2026!
It may only be November, but the blog calendar for 2026 is now open!
It is a great time to get your slot booked in, especially if you have something going on next year that you’d like to promote or discuss. We welcome blogs on a wide range of topics related to natural science collections, check out the blog page to find out more: NatSCA | Natural Science Collections Association.
If you are interested but unsure if your topic is suitable for a blog, feel free to the editor a line at blog@natsca.org.
NatSCA Lunchtime Chats
The 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
Flora Indica Exhibition at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
The exhibition ‘Flora Indica: Recovering the lost histories of Indian botanical art’ opened at Kew on 11 October and continues in the Sherwood Gallery until 12 April 2026. Within the exhibition is the first-ever public display of 52 rediscovered botanical illustrations by Indian artists commissioned by British botanists between 1790 and 1850.
These exquisite watercolours, hidden for over a century, shed light on the contribution of Indian artists in shaping botanical knowledge. Co-curated by Dr Henry Noltie and Dr Sita Reddy, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the environments where these master artists worked, spanning present-day India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Admission is included with entry, more information is available on the Kew website.
What to Read
From the Blog…
We have a number of fantastic blogs for you to read this month.
Claire Kelly from the Natural History Museum London talks us through the process of the remedial conservation of a taxidermy snake skin, in her blog ‘Splits and Distortion of a “Historic” Snakeskin: Humidification as Part of Remedial Conservation Treatment of a Boa constrictor Skin’.
Adriana Ballinger, Yale University Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Research Fellow at the National Museum of Ireland, Natural History, shares her experience increasing accessibility of natural history collections through community-driven interpretation.
Want to get a job working with museum collections? Jennifer Gallichan from Museum Wales has complied the writing of Sarah Burhouse, Caitlin Jamison, Bethany Palumbo & Vicky Ward, about their experiences and advice on working with natural history collections.
Where to Work
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is seeking a Project Paper Conservator (Loans) on a temporary part time contract. The Project Paper Conservator will work onsite at the Conservation Studio at Kew, preparing paper-based collections for exhibition loan and returns. This will include undertaking remedial conservation treatments and mounting and framing/de-framing botanical illustrations. The closing date is 16/11/2025. Find more information here.
Brighton & Hove Museums are looking for a Project Assistant (Collections). This is a fantastic opportunity to work with nationally and internationally significant collections across their unique portfolio of sites—including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, The Booth Museum of Natural History, Preston Manor, Hove Museum of Creativity, and their offsite stores. The closing date for this role is 14/11/2025 so apply quickly if you are interested. Find more information 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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