Current Committee Role:
Co-opted Member: Web and Comms Support Officer
About Me:
I am the Collections Manager for fossil vertebrates at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. I joined the museum in 2014, after working in several collections-based roles at the Natural History Museum in London, the Sedgwick Museum and the Museum of Zoology in Cambridge.
My current job at OUMNH is fantastic because it is hugely varied. In addition to the usual curatorial duties such as enquiries, loans and research visits, I help out with public engagement, outreach (I attend the Yorkshire Fossil Festival every year), exhibitions and events.
At university I studied biological sciences, and was particularly interested in evolution, which is how my love of palaeontology began. I did a PhD on plesiosaurs, and after realising that I wanted to become a curator, followed this up with a PGDip in Museum Studies. I have done palaeontological fieldwork in various sites across the UK, South Africa and the USA.
I have been a co-opted Member of the GCG committee since 2017.
Current Committee Role:
Co-opted Member (archive support)
About Me:
Hello, I’m Lil Stevens and I have joined the GCG committee as a co-opted member. I’m going to catalogue the group’s archives and help out where I can.
I work at the Natural History Museum in London as the Earth Sciences Collections Task Force Manager. This group was set up to provide curatorial assistance across the Earth and Life Sciences collections. I manage a (so far) small team of curatorial assistants, as well as the Loans and Exhibitions Coordinator. Doing this role has made me think a lot about what makes a good curator, especially because the role of a Task Force Assistant (TFA) is quite a difficult one. We need to be able to work in any Earth Sciences collection and know how to handle the specimens, how to structure and research the data, how and when to make decisions about the nature of the objects or documentation, what policies and procedures apply and to fit in with what the curators need us to do. Our TFAs come in at curatorial assistant level, so we’re expecting people with degrees and possibly postgraduate qualifications and asking for some experience in collections management, but the pay is pretty low. I think there is a lack of awareness in the sector as a whole about how much knowledge and experience is needed to do the most ‘basic’ curatorial jobs. A huge number of decisions are required just to take an object in to a museum and incorporate it in the collections. The representation of that object in a database is really only as good as the data it came with plus the quality of the curator who accessioned it.
You can read more about Lil's work on our blog.
Current Committee Role:
Journal Editor
About Me:
I am Senior Curator of Fossil Mammals at the Natural History Museum, London. I am currently on secondment until November 2020, during which time I am managing the Earth Sciences Task Force team at the Natural History Museum. The Task Force is a team of peripatetic Curatorial Assistants who undertake project work on collections for curators and researchers across the department.
I have a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology from University College London and a PhD in palaeontology from the University of New South Wales, Australia. I am a vertebrate palaeontologist with interests in Australian and South American fossil mammals, Mesozoic mammals, dental evolution in herbivores and the history of science. I have been involved in fieldwork around the world, including opal mines in Australia and excavating extinct ground sloths in South America. Recent projects include: Darwin's Fossil Mammals (researching and digitising) eMesozoic (digitising British Mesozoic vertebrates).
As Editor of The Geological Curator, I am focused on ensuring that knowledge and lessons learned are documented and shared as widely as possible for the benefit of geological collections and society.
Current Committee Role:
Secretary
About Me:
I am a Senior Conservator at the Natural History Museum in London (UK). My role includes co-ordinating the conservation of all Earth Science collections projects and work requests, and giving advice to curators on storage issues. I love project management, solving problems and (when I get the time) undertaking research to develop preservation techniques.
I hold a BSc in Geology, MSc in Palaeobiology, MSc in Museum Studies and MA in Principles of Conservation. I think that I first learned to love geology because I grew up in a rock-poor county, so seeing an outcrop always meant that I was going on holiday. Decades later I am still fascinated by earth science materials and believe strongly in the necessity of safeguarding collections. I am very proud to be a member of the GCG Committee and hope that I can make a worthwhile contribution to the valuable work of the group.
You can see my NHM staff profile here
Current Committee Role:
Treasurer
About Me:
I am the Rock Collection and Fieldwork Administrator in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. In my role I look after all the geological materials that are held within the department which can be broadly broken down in to 3 main categories:
- The teaching collections including hand specimens of rocks minerals and fossils, thin sections and maps that are used for teaching today, and the classic teaching collections that were reference samples for courses that were run in days gone by.
- The research collections, related to PhD and MSc projects or from individual academics. Being in the Royal School of Mines, a lot of this material relates the studies of ore deposits from all around the world. There are also samples from research trips to specific areas such as the Swiss Alps and Greenland.
- The named collections are very varied in content depending on the interests of the named individuals, examples of these are the Huxley Fish Collection and the Sherman evaporites collection.
In my role I also organise the undergraduate fieldwork logistics, departmental first aid provision and manage the departments lecture capture software.
I am a geologist through training and before working in my current roll I researched the formation and evolution of gold placers in the Yukon, Canada.
I joined the GCG committee as a co-opted member at the start 2020 and became an ordinary member in late 2020. I hope to be able to assist the committee in moving GCG forward and to continue to inform and assist our members.
You can read more about Rob's work on our blog.
Current Committee Role:
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Co-ordinator (co-opted position)
About Me:
I’m a palaeontology PhD student at The University of Leeds researching regional differences in the impact and intensity of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event on benthic fauna. I have broad range of interests in palaeontology and specialise in taxonomy, systematics, evolution, biogeography, biostratigraphy, and preparation and conservation of collections.
I’m also a Visiting Academic at The University of Manchester where I graduated with a Master of Earth Sciences degree in 2019. At university I completed two collections-based research projects. My undergraduate project involved documenting the Lower Jurassic marine reptiles at the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, whilst my Masters investigated the systematics, biogeography, and speciation of endemic Aptian (Cretaceous) ammonites. This also included preparing and caring for a collection of approximately 2000 induvidual ammonites.
I’m currently expanding my previous marine reptiles work and am documenting Lower Jurassic marine reptile specimens from Yorkshire in public British collections. This project aims to increase accessibility and sample size for researchers, and possibly provide funding opportunities for the museums themselves.
My love for palaeontological collections led me to join the GCG in 2021. The pandemic hit just a few months after I graduated, and I found myself navigating hardships which really opened my eyes to the need for more inclusion and diversity in the sector. In my role as the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Co-ordinator I am passionate about supporting everybody who has an interest in geological collections, whether that interest be professional or simply a curiosity.
I would love to hear any suggestions you have as to how the GCG can be even more inclusive and bring about more support, so please do not hesitate to drop me a line.
Current Committee Role:
Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) Representative
About Me:
Hello there, my name is Andrew Haycock. I have worked at Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales since 2004, where I am Curator of Mineralogy & Petrology in the Department of Natural Sciences. Looking after the collections can vary a lot day to day. I can often be found undertaking general housekeeping in the stores and galleries, answering public enquiries, preparing loans for researchers and other museums, curating new collections and auditing old ones, preparing content for public outreach events and exhibitions, undertaking fieldwork, and of course completing collection management paperwork!
Growing up in northeast Wales, I spent my childhood and youth climbing and clambering over the local rocks and hills. Collecting numerous rocks, minerals and fossils as I went. When there was an opportunity to study GCSE and A Level geology in college, I jumped at the chance. Moving to Cardiff, I graduated from Cardiff University with BSc Geology and MSc Applied Environmental Geology. I have been a member of GCG and SPNHC for a number of years. I am also a member and treasurer of the Welsh Stone Forum, and have undertaken an AMA with the Museums Association.
My GCG committee role involves reporting back on the business and activities of SPNHC that are relevant to GCG, as well as promoting our own activities in return. SPNHC is an organisation devoted to the preservation, conservation and management of natural history collections. Meetings are generally held in north America, but we are very lucky to have meetings in the UK and Europe every few years or so.
Society meetings are a great way to network with colleagues, keeping up to date with best-practice and current thinking. I look forward to building on the relationship between GCG and SPNHC.
National Museum Wales: Staff Profile
You can find me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/andy_p_h
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:
Communications Coordinator
About Me:
I am an independent researcher from Canada with a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford. I've worked and volunteered at natural history museums in Canada (Royal BC Museum), Norway (Oslo Naturhistorisk Museum), and the UK (Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH)). I am passionate about collections and curation, and have worked with a wide range of collections from extant birds and mammals to ancient invertebrates, reptiles, plants, and minerals.
As a palaeontologist I primarily study birds, using digital morphology and geometric morphometric methods. In my academic career I've worked in the field in Wyoming, USA, San Salvador, Bahamas, and the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and helped to unearth exciting fossil finds. I've had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge and experience with school groups and museum visitors, particularly at the OUMNH, for children and families at the Women in Paleontology events and as special lectures in skills courses for university undergraduates.
This is my first year as part of the GCG. As Communications Coordinator I endeavour to draw the GCG community together by helping to share and promote geological collections and achievements. I am also a member of the Palaeontological Association, the Paleontological Society, the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), and the Geological Association of Canada.