The Life and Work of Botanist Catherine Muriel Rob – New Herbarium Exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum

Written by Anna Robson, Associate Collections Curator – Biology, York Museums Trust

A new foyer case exhibition titled ‘The Life and Work of Botanist Catherine ‘Kit’ Rob: An insider’s look at the Yorkshire Museum’s Herbarium’ is now on display at the Yorkshire Museum. This exhibition displays the herbarium in a new light, being one of the only times the museum has exhibited the dried plant specimens to the public. It is also a special exhibit of material from Kit’s personal paper archive which has been kindly loaned by the University of York’s Borthwick Institute for Archives.

The Yorkshire Museum’s herbaria contain thousands of specimens, with its origins in the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) which was founded near 200 years ago. The YPS herbaria was first catalogued by Henry J. Wilkinson, Honorary Curator of Botany (1892 – 1933), and is still used as a reference guide by researchers interested in the museum’s herbarium and by curators.

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NatSCA Digital Digest – July

What Should I Read?

On the palaeo-blog by ever prolific palaeoartist Mark Witton, a new piece called Ricardo Delgado’s Age of Reptiles at 25: a palaeontological retrospective looks back on the Age of Reptiles comic series, that first appeared in 1993. It is full of palaeoartistry insights, entertaining musings, and images from both Witton and the comic series.

The Geological Curators’ Group blog is a hive of activity with new content now coming out fortnightly. The latest article, published a couple of days ago, is a review of the very popular and highly successful pyrite workshop that took place at the Natural History Museum, London. With really useful content, the article by Deborah Hutchinson, Curator of Geology at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, is called Pyrite Oxidation: Where Are We Now?

Some fantastic new dinosaur skeletons, with thought-provoking growth rings within the bones…., are currently being unearthed in Argentina. Read about this Triassic site in the following article from the BBC; Fossil of ‘first giant’ dinosaur discovered in Argentina.

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