Current Committee Role:
Journal Editor, Geological Curator
About Me:
I am a Collections Manager in Earth Collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I am responsible for the day-to-day management of the Museum’s mineralogy and petrology collections, and parts of the invertebrate palaeontology collections. My role includes: managing the storage and conservation of the collections; developing the collections through new acquisitions, documentation and digitisation; answering public enquiries; and, facilitating research visits and loans. I also have a significant role in developing new exhibitions and displays from temporary exhibitions like First Animals to major new permanent displays.
I started my career with an MGeol in Geology with Palaeobiology from the University of Leicester, and completed a PhD at the University of Bristol using pioneering Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray Tomographic Microscopy to reveal the internal structure of the first vertebrate and brachiopod skeletons. Prior to moving into a collections-focussed role in 2020 I held a number of a postdoctoral research positions, most recently as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Museum of Natural History. I continue to conduct research through a range of collaborative projects. My research interests are focused on: using the fossil record to understand the early evolution of animals, in particular their skeletons; how decay and preservation bias our understanding of exceptionally preserved fossils; and, the anatomy and evolution of the first vertebrates.
I joined GCG committee in 2022 as the editor of the journal Geological Curator and am the first contact for journal submissions and queries, and always open to suggestions for special editions. I am also a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, and a member of The Palaeontological Association, The Russel Society and NatSCA.
You can also find me on Twitter.
Current Committee Role:
Current Committee Role:
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator
About Me:
I am a Palaeontology and Geobiology MScR student at the University of Edinburgh, exploring the geochemistry and environmental conditions that allowed the development of some of the earliest complex Ediacaran lifeforms. I have broad research interests in deep time, proxies, and diversification and extinction events, as well as experience and enthusiasm for museum collections, public outreach, and scientific communication in the Geosciences.
I am aware that Geoscience as a sector could make improvements for equality, elevation, as well as celebration of underrepresented groups, and therefore I aim to understand and aid any EDI-related issues- ensuring that the GCG continues to have EDI and accessibility within its core values.
Please feel free to reach out on
Current Committee Role: Committee Assistant
About Me:
I currently work at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (HMAG) where I am Collections and Engagement Curator of Natural Sciences and archaeology. The collections I care for at HMAG include Lower Cretaceous age fossils of dinosaurs and plants and also a collection of rocks and minerals from around the world. As part of my engagement work, I run a home education group.
During my career to date, I have worked in several different museums and worked on projects ranging from museum redevelopments at Folkestone and Canterbury Museums, the development of geology based learning resources, the conservation of pyritic specimens and public outreach. I am also very interested in the history of geology and have written articles on the history of geological collections such as those at Folkestone Museum.
I have been a member of GCG since 2007 and joined the committee in 2024. My first action as a committee member was to build an online distributed library of non-object based resources.
I am an associate of the Museums Association and in my spare time I enjoy fieldwork, photography and making useful things out of driftwood. In 2018 I published my first book, Fossils of Folkestone, Kent.
Current Committee Role:
Collections Coordinator Assistant
About Me:
I have just started a new position as Curator of Ores at the Natural History Museum in London. Exciting times lie ahead as I familiarise myself with this new collection and the potential it holds for research and engagement. Prior to this, I worked across all geoscience collections at the museum, in the role of Curatorial Assistant.
I have been a member of GCG since 2007, when I started my first paid museum role managing the mineral collection at the University of Edinburgh’s Cockburn Museum. Since then, I have worked in local, regional, university and national museums across the UK and have managed a number of geological collections at risk. I wanted to join the GCG committee to share some of my knowledge and experience and give something back to the community of specialists that has helped me so much over the years. I also look forward to continuing to benefit, in a more active way, from the vast amount of expertise within the group!