Hi everyone,

Thanks for visiting my blog! My name is Emma Bernard and I am a Curator of Palaeobiology. I've worked in the Museum for nearly two years now, working in many sections including fossil mammals, but I am now based in the Fossil Fish Section.

My job involves looking after all the fossil fish and sharks in the Museum - around 80,000 specimens ranging from the Ordovician Period (about 485 million years ago) to the Pleistocene (about 12,000 years ago), which have been collected from all over the world.

We have lots of historically important specimens, many with interesting stories, some that were part of the founding collections of the Museum, and others which just look a bit odd. In further posts I will give more details about some of these amazing collections.

You can also follow the collections on Twitter @NHM_FossilFish and #FossilFriday, which is becoming more popular.

Me with a Fossil Mammal display I curated at the Munich Show in 2012.

I hope to give you an insight into the wide variety of day-to-day projects and jobs I undertake in the Museum, and what life is really like as curator.

Part of my job involves looking after and providing information to visiting researchers, and answering enquiries which come in about the collection. I facilitate loans, assist with exhibitions, participate in collection-enhancing fieldwork and public events, such as the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. I also do a lot of work in documenting the collection, so people know exactly what we have and from where.

On fieldwork on the Isle of Skye, looking for Jurassic fossils.

Keep checking back to find out more about fossil fish and what I get up to!