Compiled by Milo Phillips, Digitisation Co-ordinator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Welcome to the April 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

NatSCA Annual Conference & AGM 2026: Registration Now OPEN!

Booking is now open for the Annual Conference & AGM of the Natural Sciences Collections Association (NatSCA) held on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th May 2026 at The Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This year’s theme is: Collaborating and Connecting with Natural History.

Due to limited venue capacity, the conference is limited to 120 places. Please follow this link to the conference page to find out more information: https://www.natsca.org/event/2924.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions. If you would like to become a member, which would qualify you for the conference discount or bursaries, please see our website for details.

Please note that the early bird discount ends on the 14th April so get in quick if you want to get the cheaper rate!

GCG Winter Seminar 2026 – Call for Abstracts

The Geological Collections Group is now accepting abstracts for their upcoming meeting, which will be held at the Manchester Museum on November 18th 2026, with a field trip and collection tours on November 19th.

The 2026 GCG Winter Seminar will serve as a ‘call to arms’ for those in our community to present on and discuss the public and scientific benefits of our collections. GCG are seeking presentations that demonstrate the value of collections, and case studies of when advocacy has, or has not, been effective.

Please send abstracts of less than 250 words to events@geocollections.org stating whether for an oral or poster presentation.

The deadline for abstract submission is July 31^st, 2026.

The Bill Pettit Memorial Award – Application Deadline April 13^th

NatSCA is pleased to invite applications to this year’s Bill Pettit Memorial Award. Up to £3,000 of grant money, is available to NatSCA members this year to support projects including the conservation, access and use of natural science collections.

Projects will be assessed against NatSCA’s mission and are scored against: conservation of collections, collections access, collections use and timescales and costs. We are looking for innovative projects with a tangible legacy.

To apply, please fill out the application form available here.

Deadline for 2026 applications: April 13^th 2026

SPPC2026 17th November, Manchester UK

This year the Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation will immediately precede the Geological Collections Group (GCG) Winter Seminar and AGM.

Details and registration information for this conference can be found here.

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. 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

Edinburgh Science Festival 2026 – Going Global

The Edinburgh Science Festival is in full swing across the city’s museums, galleries and gardens.

This year the Festival will showcase the research and innovation created through international partnerships that address shared challenges, directly aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will be highlighting Scotland’s contribution to scientific advances through research, innovation and its extraordinary people.

Event programs and booking information can be found on their website here.

Giants – National Museums Scotland

Visiting from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Giants showcases the colossal prehistoric creatures that lived after the extinction of the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.

Discover life-sized 3D sculptures, skeletons, and fossils in this immersive, family friendly exhibition.

Encounter Otodus megalodon, the largest shark to have ever swum the oceans, and Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the biggest ever snake. What advantages did their immense size offer? Why did they eventually face extinction? How were they discovered?

The exhibition runs through September 14^th. Further details and information about booking can be found here.

What to Read

The Curious Case of a Historical Seed Collection

Over on the NatSCA blog, Hideko Yamamoto and Jovita Yesilyurt at the Natural History Museum, London explore their fascinating seed collection with us, the history, the practicalities of looking after such material, and the ways in which such a collection and the data it holds are so valuable to future research.

Paper discussing the problem of the use of pins with entomological collections.

Yes, it’s in French, but worth a read if you want to know more about vert-de-gris, which is apparently not really vert-de-gris. More information can be found here. You can find the article in the journal Coré.

Where to Work

Assistant Conservator (Projects) – University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

The University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge are looking for a full-time, fixed-term Assistant Conservator (Projects) to support a major collections move programme.

The post holder will play a key role in delivering practical conservation work as part of a focused project team. In addition to project-specific work, the role will contribute to wider collections care across the Museum. The role requires the post holder to have good general knowledge and experience in the care and conservation of organic materials.

Closing date: 23 April 2026

Full details about the post, and how to apply, can be found here.

Committee Member, Museum Accreditation Panel (Voluntary position)

The Accreditation Committee is a subcommittee of Arts Council England’s National Council. Its purpose is to oversee the effective management of the Accreditation Scheme for museums and galleries in the UK. The Committee acts as a representative of the museum sector in the UK in its overview of the Accreditation Scheme for museums and galleries. The Accreditation Committee plays an important role in the credibility and reputation of the UK-wide scheme by providing peer recognition through their role in decision-making at regular award panel meetings.

Being a member of the Committee is a way to support your professional development and an opportunity to give back to the sector.

Fixed term of four years. Commitment is estimated to be approximately 4 days a year.

More information can be found here. There will also be a webinar to provide further details of this role on 22 April 2026, between 12pm-1pm. To register for this webinar please click here.

Closing Date: 17:00, Friday 15 May 2026

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.