Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool.
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
FINAL CALL for 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.
Mammal Photographer and Illustrator of the Year
The annual Mammal Photographer of the Year and Mammal Illustrator of the Year competitions are now accepting submissions!
From the 1st November until the 31st January, the doors to the annual photography and illustration competitions are open once again for submissions from wildlife photographers and artists across the British Isles.
This year they have split each competition into five different categories: Mammal Portraits, Mammals in their Landscapes, Mammal Behaviour, Humorous Mammals & Mammal Photojournalism.
Any 2D art is accepted into the illustration competition, including pencil, charcoal, pastel, ink, chalk, watercolour, oils, acrylic, gouache, 2D collage, mixed media, printmaking, screenprinting, digital art, pixel art, and more.
They have 2 art categories: Mammal Portraits and Behaviour & Mammal Artivism (art that raises awareness or inspires action).
For more information, please visit https://mammal.org.uk/competitions. Deadline for entries is January 31st 2026!
Introducing the Earth Heritage Network
The University of Birmingham has launched the Earth Heritage Network, in partnership with the International Centre for Heritage. It’s dedicated to understanding and elevating the significance of Earth Heritage that shapes the planet’s landscapes, ecologies, and cultural histories.
Its overarching ambition is to transform how society perceives and engages with the Earth, positioning Earth Heritage as essential to building fairer and more sustainable futures in a time of profound environmental and social change.
Their first newsletter is available to read here.
NEW NatSCA BLOG POSTS for 2026!
Do you have something exciting coming up next year that you’d like to promote? Is there a subject you’ve been itching to write about? With over 2000 views a month, the NatSCA blog is a great way of getting your work out there.
Jen is seeking blog posts for 2026, so if you have something in the pipeline that you would love to tell everyone about, drop her a line! This is an excellent opportunity to book yourself in a slot for any time in the year.
If you are interested but have any questions, please email blog@natsca.org. You can also find guidelines on how to contribute here: Guidelines for contributions to the NatSCA blog | NatSCA.
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; 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.
The Yorkshire Museum – New herbarium display showcasing North Yorkshire botanist Catherine ‘Kit’ Rob
A new temporary display, titled The Life and Work of Botanist Catherine ‘Kit’ Rob: An insider’s look at the Yorkshire Museum’s Herbarium’ is now open at the Yorkshire Museum. “Exhibited in the foyer of the Yorkshire Museum, it is free to visit and many of the specimens on display come from the ‘Kit’ Rob Herbarium. This display of plant specimens is a brand-new interpretation of the Yorkshire Museum’s Biology Collection. The Catherine Murial Rob collection represents the small number of female collectors we have in the Natural Science collection. Rob was a leading Botanist in the Yorkshire County and helped to compile the Collins Pocket Guide to British Wildflowers. This display has been supplemented by items from the Borthwick Institute of Archives at the University of York, where Kit’s personal archive is housed. Generously on loan are one of Kit Rob’s Wild Flower Society Journals and a membership card from the Catherine Muriel Rob Natural History Society, the charity set up in her name after her death.
The exhibition will be in the foyer area of the Yorkshire Museum and is set to run from the 1st December 2025 to the 31st May 2026. For more information, please contact Anna Robson, Associate Collections Curator for Biology at the Yorkshire Museum on anna.robson@ymt.org.uk. Visit the Yorkshire Museum and admire the beauty of herbarium specimens whilst learning more about the region’s biodiversity.
What to Read
Have you thought about what’s in your toothpaste? Palaeontology graduate Violet Nicholls reflects on the many uses of the geological collections at Portsmouth Natural History Museum.
We also have a shiny new NatSCA blog written by Leonie Sedman, Curator of Heritage & Collections Care, University of Liverpool. Leonie talks about the importance of NatSCA’s community support and the Rediscovery of a Challenger Expedition Specimen at the University of Liverpool.
Where to Work
Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is seeking a Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) Manager. This is a fixed-term post for 1 year, working 18.75 hours per week (0.5 FTE). Salary range: £35,681 – £41,636 pro-rata. Deadline for applications is Friday 12 December 2026.
Further information and full details of how to apply can be found on the museum website: https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/dams-manager.
Royal College of Surgeons of England are recruiting for two roles: Collections Officer and a Conservation Assistant. Fixed term (14 months), full-time (35 hours), (£28,961 per annum). Closing Date is January 4th 2026.
For further details for both positions and how to apply please see this link: https://hunterianmuseum.org/news/vacancy-collections-officer-and-conservation-assistant.
Warwickshire Museum is now advertising for a part-time Curator of Natural Sciences. This will be a job-share (three-year fixed-term), 2026 until December 2028. The closing date for applications is 5th January.
Please email (jonradley@warwickshire.gov.uk) if you have any enquiries. For more information about the role, please visit:
https://www.wmjobs.co.uk/job/250490/curator-of-natural-sciences?LinkSource=EmployerHub.
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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