NatSCA

The Rediscovery of a Challenger Expedition Specimen in William Herdman’s Zoology Museum Collection at the University of Liverpool (and how digitisation is transformative). Written by Leonie Sedman, Curator of Heritage & Collections Care, University of Liverpool. Along with many other NatSCA members, I care for a mixed collection, meaning that one inevitably becomes something of a 'Jack of all trades’ missing out on the academic satisfaction created by specialisation. As a curator who finds collections research to be the most satisfying part of my job, it can be frustrating when that research is often only possible on a ‘need-to-know’ basis - usually when a new display or exhibition is being planned, or when the specimens are to be used in teaching.

The Rediscovery of a Challenger Expedition Specimen in William Herdman’s Zoology Museum Collection at the University of Liverpool (and how digitisation is transformative).

Written by Leonie Sedman, Curator of Heritage & Collections Care, University of Liverpool. Along with many other NatSCA…

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 

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…

Splits and Distortion of a “Hisstoric” Snakeskin: Humidification as Part of Remedial Conservation Treatment of a Boa constrictor Skin” Written by Claire Kelly, Conservator at Natural History Museum, London. Boa Constrictor in Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles Gallery at NHM ©The Trustees of the Natural History Museum A Boa Constrictor on display in the Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles Gallery at the Natural History Museum in London, UK was removed to undergo a considerable amount of remedial conservation treatment.

Splits and Distortion of a “Hisstoric” Snakeskin: Humidification as Part of Remedial Conservation Treatment of a Boa constrictor Skin”

Written by Claire Kelly, Conservator at Natural History Museum, London. Boa Constrictor in Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles Gallery at NHM ©The Trustees of the…

“Our Irish Natural History”: Increasing the Accessibility of Natural History Collections through Community-Driven Interpretation Written by Adriana Ballinger, Yale University Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Research Fellow at the National Museum of Ireland, Natural History. Natural history specimens are often inaccessible to the communities from which they were collected. As a result, source communities lack opportunities to connect with elements of their local heritage, and museums and their publics overlook the place-based expertise that many of these communities hold about the specimens we research and see on display.

“Our Irish Natural History”: Increasing the Accessibility of Natural History Collections through Community-Driven Interpretation

Written by Adriana Ballinger, Yale University Charles P. Howland Postgraduate Research Fellow at the National Museum of Ireland, Natural History. Natural history…

How to Get a Job Working with Museum Collections Written by Sarah Burhouse, Caitlin Jamison, Bethany Palumbo & Vicky Ward. Compiled by Jennifer Gallichan, Vertebrate Curator, Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. Those of us that that are lucky enough to work with natural science collections will be familiar with the question ‘How do you get a job in a museum’? At a time when cuts to the sector mean that museum jobs seem even fewer and farther between, I felt it was important that we share some of our combined experiences to hopefully give some tips (and hope) for emerging museum professionals.

How to Get a Job Working with Museum Collections

Written by Sarah Burhouse, Caitlin Jamison, Bethany Palumbo & Vicky Ward. Compiled by Jennifer Gallichan, Vertebrate Curator, Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. Those of us that that are lucky enough to work with natural science collections will be…

NatSCA Digital Digest – October 2025

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

From Deck to Decant: A Marine Biologist’s Déjà Vu After a Year in a Natural History Museum Written by Dr Jamie Maxwell, Collections Assistant, National Museum of Ireland, Natural History. Not every job takes you to a windswept beach on Ireland’s west coast to recover the head of a stranded True’s beaked whale calf. But then again, my past year as a Collections Assistant at the Natural History Museum in Dublin has been anything but ordinary. As we collected the head of the slightly decomposed whale calf, I was reminded of my previous fieldwork experiences, mainly on research cruises during my academic career.

From Deck to Decant: A Marine Biologist’s Déjà Vu After a Year in a Natural History Museum

Written by Dr Jamie Maxwell, Collections Assistant, National Museum of Ireland, Natural History. Not every job takes you to a windswept beach on Ireland’s west coast to recover the head of a stranded True’s…

NatSCA Digital Digest – September 2025 Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. Welcome to the September 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 

NatSCA Digital Digest – September 2025

Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. Welcome to the September edition of NatSCA Digital Digest. A monthly blog series featuring the latest on where to go, what to see and do in the…

Seeing With Their Eyes A Poetic Reflection on the 2025 ‘From Collections to Connections’ NatSCA Conference Presentation Written by Pauline Rutter – Independent Archival Artist, Community and Organisation Poet. These words look out from the page with eyes I have borrowed. Eyes not shaped for vision through the specific disciplinary scientific lens. Eyes that strain to see beyond past centuries of debate on what, of all origins, is knowable and what is not. With these original eyes, would ways of seeing allow the light to travel outwards resisting funnelled perspectives and interpretations descended from imperialistic systems of Enlightenment science, colonial ideologies and narratives?

Seeing With Their Eyes A Poetic Reflection on the 2025 ‘From Collections to Connections’ NatSCA Conference Presentation

Written by Pauline Rutter – Independent Archival Artist, Community and Organisation Poet. These words look out from the page with eyes I have borrowed. Eyes not shaped for vision…

Crispy, Brown and Far Too Delicate – Are Herbarium Specimens Just Too Difficult to Use? Written by Clare Brown, Leeds Museums and Galleries. Taking a walk through a forest, running through fields of wheat or even just gazing at trees, all a far-cry from dealing with the sheets of pressed, long-dead dried plants you come across in museum collections. Good taxidermy at least looks like the original animal. Other problems with plant specimens include their need for low light, extremely careful handling and, occasionally, mercuric chloride.

Crispy, Brown and Far Too Delicate – Are Herbarium Specimens Just Too Difficult to Use?

Written by Clare Brown, Leeds Museums and Galleries. Taking a walk through a forest, running through fields of wheat or even just gazing at trees, all a far-cry from dealing with the sheets of pressed,…

NatSCA Digital Digest – August 2025 Compiled by Ellie Clark, Collections Moves Team Leader at the Natural History Museum. Welcome to the August 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 

NatSCA Digital Digest – August 2025

Compiled by Ellie Clark, Collections Moves Team Leader at the Natural History Museum. Welcome to the August 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…

Moving a ‘Monster’ – the Ups and Downs of Exhibiting a Japanese Spider Crab Written by Hannah Clarke – Assistant Curator (Collections Access), University of Aberdeen. In May this year, I was given the slightly terrifying task of overseeing the removal and transportation of Aberdeen University’s much-loved Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi) specimen. The crab, who is usually proudly displayed in the foyer of the University’s Zoology Building, had been requested for loan by Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums, for their exciting new exhibition ‘Monsters of the Deep.’

Moving a ‘Monster’ – the Ups and Downs of Exhibiting a Japanese Spider Crab

Written by Hannah Clarke – Assistant Curator (Collections Access), University of Aberdeen. In May this year, I was given the slightly terrifying task of overseeing the removal and transportation of Aberdeen University’s…

How to Foster Empathy with Endangered Animals: Developing a Creative Writing and Drawing Workshop Toolkit Written by Dr Christina Thatcher, Lecturer in Creative Writing & Dr Lisa El Refaie, Reader in Language and Communication, Cardiff University. With biodiversity declining at an alarming rate, we need to find ways of encouraging people to care about all endangered animal species, not just the ones with the most obvious appeal, such as pandas and polar bears, for example.

How to Foster Empathy with Endangered Animals: Developing a Creative Writing and Drawing Workshop Toolkit

Written by Dr Christina Thatcher, Lecturer in Creative Writing & Dr Lisa El Refaie, Reader in Language and Communication, Cardiff University. With biodiversity declining at an alarming rate,…

A Refresher Course on Fluid Specimen Conservation at the Natural History Museum of Denmark Written by Anastasia van Gaver (Conservator) & Bethany Palumbo (Head of Conservation) Natural History Museum Denmark). As conservators, it’s essential we keep up to date with developments in the techniques used in specimen treatments. With hundreds of fluid-preserved specimens to make and conserve for the new exhibitions at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, we sought the best in the field to give us a refresher course.

A Refresher Course on Fluid Specimen Conservation at the Natural History Museum of Denmark

Written by Anastasia van Gaver (Conservator) & Bethany Palumbo (Head of Conservation) Natural History Museum Denmark). As conservators, it’s essential we keep up to date with developments in the techniques…

NatSCA Digital Digest – July 2025 Compiled by Milo Phillips, Digitisation Co-ordinator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Welcome to the July 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…

NatSCA Digital Digest – July 2025

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

Bark Tanning Skins into Leather for Taxidermy – A Sustainable, Natural and Non-harmful Alternative to Commercial Tanning Products? Written by Jazmine Miles Long, Taxidermist. When a taxidermy mount is made, the skin of the mammal (and in some cases reptiles and birds) is usually tanned. Tanning is the process of turning a raw skin into leather using chemistry. By turning the skin into leather, we are changing a fragile perusable material into something durable that can be sculpted into taxidermy and be more resistant to insect attack.

Bark Tanning Skins into Leather for Taxidermy – A Sustainable, Natural and Non-harmful Alternative to Commercial Tanning Products?

Written by Jazmine Miles Long, Taxidermist. When a taxidermy mount is made, the skin of the mammal (and in some cases reptiles and birds) is usually tanned. Tanning is…

Planet Ocean: Using Local Collections to Celebrate Global Climate Action Written by Sarah Marden, Curator of Natural History at The Box, Plymouth. From March 2024 to April 2025, a new exhibition at The Box called Planet Ocean explored Plymouth’s marine heritage and contemporary identity as “Britain’s Ocean City”. Specimens from our natural history collections, including spirit-preserved marine invertebrates, molluscs, corals, mounted sea birds and seaweed folios were displayed alongside art, world cultures collections, image and film and loan material from local partners.

Planet Ocean: Using Local Collections to Celebrate Global Climate Action

Written by Sarah Marden, Curator of Natural History at The Box, Plymouth. From March 2024 to April 2025, a new exhibition at The Box called Planet Ocean explored Plymouth’s marine heritage and contemporary identity as…

NatSCA Digital Digest – June 2025 Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. Welcome to the June 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 

NatSCA Digital Digest – June 2025

Compiled by Olivia Beavers, Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool. Welcome to the June edition of NatSCA Digital Digest. A monthly blog series featuring the latest on where to go, what to see and do in the natural…

A Hundred Feet Through the Door – A Chance Encounter with some Centipedes set me on a Curatorial Path…

Written by Dan Gordon, Keeper of Biology, The Great North Museum: Hancock. So, how did I get started in museums? Like perhaps many people, it began with a stroke of luck. I’d decided to study…

5 Top Tips on How to Decant your Museum By Eimear Ashe, Collections Moves Project Manager, National Museum of Ireland Having recently completed a major decant of Natural History collections in the National Museum of Ireland, I thought it a perfect opportunity to share my learnings with fellow NatSCA colleagues. National Museum of Ireland – Natural History Tip 1. Start with the staff! What skills do you need to recruit in or increase capacity in?

5 Top Tips on How to Decant your Museum

By Eimear Ashe, Collections Moves Project Manager, National Museum of Ireland Having recently completed a major decant of Natural History collections in the National Museum of Ireland, I thought it a perfect opportunity to share my learnings with fellow…

NatSCA Digital Digest – May 2025 Compiled by Ellie Clark, Collections Moves Team Leader at the Natural History Museum, London. Welcome to the May 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…

NatSCA Digital Digest – May 2025

Compiled by Ellie Clark, Collections Moves Team Leader at the Natural History Museum, London. Welcome to the May 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…

A Stable Future – Research into the Stability of Materials used in Taxidermy Manufacture. Written by Jazmine Miles Long - Taxidermist & Bethany Palumbo - Head of Conservation, Natural History Museum Denmark. Taxidermy collections are crucial for our understanding of biodiversity, evolution, population genetics and climate change. They form a large part of natural science collections and their long-term preservation is essential. Historically, taxidermy was created using natural, durable materials such as wood, plant fibres, wax, clay and glass with examples dating back to the 16th century.

A Stable Future – Research into the Stability of Materials used in Taxidermy Manufacture.

Written by Jazmine Miles Long - Taxidermist & Bethany Palumbo - Head of Conservation, Natural History Museum Denmark. Taxidermy collections are crucial for our understanding of biodiversity, evolution,…

A Time Capsule of Extinction: Scotland’s Iconic Wildlife Written by Caitlin Jamison, Museum Collection Technician, Montrose Museum: ANGUSalive. Montrose Museum in Angus, northeast Scotland, houses an impressive natural history collection. Everything from taxidermy to fossils to rare minerals are housed in a modest, Greek-revival style museum off the high street. Built in 1842, it is one of the first purpose-built museums in Scotland. Sadly, due to changing public interest (and the challenging funding situation facing many local authority museums) the collection has been somewhat forgotten since it was catalogued onto neat pink index cards in the late 1970s.

A Time Capsule of Extinction: Scotland’s Iconic Wildlife

Written by Caitlin Jamison, Museum Collection Technician, Montrose Museum: ANGUSalive. Montrose Museum in Angus, northeast Scotland, houses an impressive natural history collection. Everything from taxidermy to fossils to rare minerals are…

NatSCA Digital Digest – April 2025 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…

NatSCA Digital Digest – April 2025

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…

Packing the Blaschka Glass Models  Written by Julian Carter, Principal Conservator Natural Sciences, Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, Cardiff During the late 19th century, Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolf (1857-1929) produced thousands of beautifully detailed glass models of a wide range of sea creatures, and other animals, for natural history museums and aquaria all over the world. The work has since been hailed as “an artistic marvel in the field of science and a scientific marvel in the field of art”.

Packing the Blaschka Glass Models 

Written by Julian Carter, Principal Conservator Natural Sciences, Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales, Cardiff During the late 19th century, Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895) and his son Rudolf (1857-1929) produced thousands of beautifully detailed glass models of a wide…

We are keen to support our members in attending the #NatSCA2025 conference. To have a look at our bursary offer, please go to: www.NatSCA.org/awards-and-bursaries

Tickets are selling fast for the #NatSCA2025 conference at Manchester Museum so book soon to avoid disappointment! www.natsca.org/natsca2025

In addition information about bursaries can be found here: www.natsca.org/awards-and-b...
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Booking is now open for #NatSCA2025 conference! This year’s theme is: Making a Difference: Showing the Positive Impact of Natural History Collections, and it will be hosted by the Manchester Museum. To find out more and register go to www.natsca.org/natsca2025

Birds of Bolton Museum Written by Lauren Field, Curator of Natural History, Bolton Museum. In June 2024 Bolton Museum launched a summer exhibition titled Birds of Bolton. This exhibition celebrated the incredible variety of bird life in Bolton and beyond and was inspired by the recent donation of a large collection of sketchbooks by Bolton-born artist and naturalist Eric Gorton (1929-2001).

Birds of Bolton Museum

Written by Lauren Field, Curator of Natural History, Bolton Museum. In June 2024 Bolton Museum launched a summer exhibition titled Birds of Bolton. This exhibition celebrated the incredible variety of bird life in Bolton and beyond and was inspired by the recent donation of…