Category Archives for Training

An Inspired Approach to Tail Repair: The Conservation of an Arctic Fox Mount

Written by Madalyne Epperson, Assistant Conservator, Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM).

The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), located in downtown Milwaukee, is Wisconsin’s natural history museum. It opened to the public in 1884 and houses more than four million objects. The Museum is currently undertaking a multi-year effort to pack its extensive collections and relocate to a newly constructed building, due to open in 2027. I joined the MPM team in September 2025 to prepare roughly two thousand objects for display in the new building, which will be called the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin. One of my first assignments was to stabilize a full body arctic fox and ptarmigan predation mount.

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NatSCA Digital Digest – February 2026

[Editors note: apologies for the late publication of this month’s newsletter which was due to the blog editor being poorly!]

Compiled by Ellie Clark, Curator of Fossil Cnidaria at the Natural History Museum.

Welcome to the February 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

24th Conference of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies – Abstract Submissions Open

IFORS is now accepting abstract submissions in preparation for the upcoming conference Decision Support for a Sustainable World. The conference will be held July 12th through 17th at the University of Vienna, Austria. Details on the conference and access to the submissions portal can be found on their website, along with program details and information on registration.

Abstract submissions are open now and close March 15th. Registration opens April 25th.

Fixing Our Broken Planet Community of Practice Gathering: Northern England 

Date: Tuesday 17th  March 2026 10:00 – 17:30  +  Opt-in dinner
Location: Manchester Museum

The Fixing Our Broken Planet (FOBP) Community of Practice supports museum and cultural sector practitioners to connect, share best practice, and explore how organisations can respond to the planetary emergency.

This free, in-person gathering is for CoP members across the North of England and will focus on the shared question: What are we going to do about the planetary emergency? Responding to member feedback, the event will use Open Space Technology, a hands-on, participant-led approach where attendees shape the agenda on the day, encouraging collaboration and diverse perspectives around complex challenges.

Join to exchange ideas, develop practical solutions, and gather inspiration to take back to your organisation. Lunch is provided and spaces are limited to 50, with priority given to those working, volunteering, or studying in the Northern England museums sector. For more information and to register, follow this link.

Transmitting Science: “Care and Management of Natural History Collections”.

Using a combination of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and readings, this course will teach participants how to better care for and manage all natural history collections (including botany, geosciences, and zoology). Rather than the traditional discipline-based approach, the course teaches collections care based on collection material and preparation type – dry preparations, wet preparations, and documentation (including paper-based and electronic media).

The course will benefit individuals who already have experience in caring for natural history collections, as well as those who intend to work with natural history collections. The live sessions will combine lectures, hands-on computational exercises, and guided examples.

For more information on fees and how to register visit the course webpage: https://www.transmittingscience.com/courses/museums-and-collections/care-management-natural-history-collections/

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A New Generation of Bolton Field Naturalists.

Written by Lauren Field, Curator of Natural History, Bolton Museum. 

In 1895 The Borough of Bolton Botanical Society was formed. This group concerned itself, as the name implies, with botany alone but eventually a feeling emerged among naturalists in Bolton that other aspects of natural history should be covered.

On February 7th 1907 a group of keen local naturalists met at the Chadwick Museum (Bolton Museum’s first building). The group included members of the Botanical Society as well as ornithologists, entomologists and others representing natural history from astronomy to geology – from the heights of the sky to the depths of the earth.

They soon settled on the name Bolton Field Naturalists’ Society.

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NatSCA Digital Digest – December 2025

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.

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NatSCA Digital Digest – November 2025

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.

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