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Miss Mary Spencer Jones

Curator Mary Spencer Jones
  • Senior Curator (Bryzoa)
  • Life Sciences department
  • LS Aquatic Invertebrates Division
Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 5BD

Biography

Employment history

2009 - present       Senior Curator, Bryozoa section, Higher Invertebrates division

1990 - 2009           Curator, Bryozoa section, Higher Invertebrates division

1989 -1990            Scientific Officer, Parasitic Worms section

1984 -1989            Assistant Scientific Officer, Parasitic Worms section

Professional Roles

External Links

 

  • International Bryozoology Association [Archivist]
  • Co-editor Annals of Bryozoology

Curation

External Links

Curatorial responsibilities

I am responsible for all aspects covering the Recent Bryozoa collection, which consists of the phyla Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) and Kamptozoa (Entoprocta). The collection numbers over 300,000 specimens collected worldwide over four centuries. I also have an interest in the history of bryozoology and natural history.

Pentapora specimen

A dried bryozoan specimen of Pentapora fascialis

Special projects

  • The George Johnston Collection – the dry “Zoophytes”.

  • Pictorial catalogue of the Challenger bryozoan collection.

  • Pictorial catalogue of George Busk's British Museum Catalogue specimens, which includes material from Charles Darwin and HMS Rattlesnake.

Fieldwork

 

Laguna San Rafael

Evening at Laguna San Rafael

 

  • Participated in numerous oceanographic cruises collecting fish parasites in the Atlantic and North Sea on FVS Scotia and RVS Challenger, 1985-1994. 
  • Participated in shallow-water and intertidal fieldwork programmes in Laguna San Rafael National Park, Chile in 1998, 1999, 2003 in collaboration with the Muse and Raleigh International.
  • EU funded "Tsunami Impacts in Laem Son National Park" project, Ranong Province,Thailand, March 2007 & May 2006.
asajinella gelatinosa

Asajirella gelatinosa (Oka, 1891) collected from Thailand

  • Collecting freshwater bryozoans in Thailand, March 2008 in collaboration with Prof. Beth Okamura (NHM), Prof. Timothy Wood (Wright State University, Ohio) and members of staff of the Department of Environmental Science, Kasetsart University in Bangkok.

Publications

Publications

Scholz J. & Spencer Jones M.E. (2010). Darwin und die Bryozoa: Portrait einer folgenreichen Beziehung. (in press).

Wyse Jackson P.N. & Spencer Jones M.E. [eds] (2008). Annals of Bryozoology. Volume 2. Dublin. International Bryozoology Association, 442 pp.

Spencer Jones M. E., Sanner J. & Thomas C.  (2008). Bryozoan exchange: Bassler and Hastings. Annals of Bryozoology, 2, 413-420.

Porter J.S., Ryland J.S. & Spencer Jones M.E. (2008) One name, two species: the history behind the Linnean Zoophyte, Alcyonium gelatinosum. Annals of Bryozoology, 2, 247-270.

Wyse Jackson P.N. & Spencer Jones M.E.  (2007). The quiet workforce: the various roles of women in geological and natural history museums during the early to mid-1900s.   In: Burek C.V. & Higgs B. (eds) 2007, The role of women in the history of geology, Geological Society London, Special Publication, 281, 97-113.

Wyse Jackson P.N., Buttler C.J. & Spencer Jones M.E. 2002. The Proceedings of the Twelfth International Bryozoology Association Conference. Lisse A A Balkema Publishers. 409 pp.

Wyse Jackson P.N. & Spencer Jones M.E. [eds] 2002. Annals of Bryozoology: aspects of the history of research on bryozoans. Dublin: International Bryozoology Association. 381 pp.

Wyse Jackson P.N. & Spencer Jones M.E. 2002. From Rondelet to Stockholm: four centuries of bryozoological research In: Wyse-Jackson P N & Spencer-Jones M E (Eds.) Annals of Bryozoology: aspects of the history of research on bryozoans.  Dublin: International Bryzoology Association. p363-381.

John D.M., Foster-Smith R., Paterson G.L., Ramirez M.E., Evans N.J., Spencer Jones M.E., Reid D.G. & Ferrero T.J. 2002. A “biotope” approach to the marine benthic biological assemblages of the San Rafael Laguna National Park, Chile. Boletín del Museo National de Historia Natural, Chile, 51: 159-173.

Porter J., Hayward P.J. & Spencer Jones M. 2001. The identity of Alcyonidium diaphanum (Bryozoa: Ctenostomatida). Journal of the Marine Biological Association U.K., 81: 1001-1008.

Gordon, D.P., d’Hondt, J.-L., Watson, J. & Spencer Jones, M. 1998. Discovery of the lost type species of Caberea (Bryozoa) and the identity of Caberea pinnata Lamouroux, 1816 (Hydroida). Journal of Natural History, 32: 405-418.

Wyse Jackson, P.N. & Spencer Jones, M. 1996. W.H. Harvey’s Bryozoans from Australia (1854-1856). In: Gordon D.P., Smith A.M. & Grant-Mackie J.A. [Editors] Bryozoans in Space and Time. Proceedings of the 10th International Bryozoology Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, 1995. NIWA, Wellington, p401-412.

Spencer Jones M.E. 1996. Procedure for curating old glass museum jars. The Biology Curator, No.7: 3-5.

Peck, L.S., Hayward, P.J. & Spencer Jones, M.E. 1995. A pelagic bryozoan from Antarctica. Marine Biology, 123: 757-762.

Spencer Jones M.E. 1990. Heptamegacanthus niekerki n.g., n.sp. (Acanthocephala: Oligacanthorhynchidae) from the south-east African insectivore Chrysosapalax trevelyani (Güther, 1875). Systematic Parasitology, 15: 133-140.

Spencer Jones M.E. & Gibson D.I. 1990. A list of monogenean genus-group names published since Yamaguti’s Systema Helminthum. Systematic Parasitology, 16: 213-226.

Bray R.A., Spencer Jones M.E. & Lewis J.W. 1988. Acanthocephaloides cyrusi n.sp. (Acanthocephala: Arhythmacanthidae) from southeast African teleost fishes. Systematic Parasitology, 12: 109-116.

Spencer Jones M.E. & Gibson D.I. 1987. A list of old and recently erected genus-group names not included in the “CIH Keys” to nematode parasites of vertebrates and invertebrates. Systematic Parasitology, 9: 125-136.

Reports

John D.M., Paterson G.L.J., Evans N.J., Ramirez M.E., Spencer Jones M.E., Baez P., Valentine C., Ferrero T. & Reid D.G.  2003. Manual de biotopos marinos de la Region de Aysén, sur de Chile. (A manual of marine biotopes of Region Aysén, southern Chile.) Biodiversity Aysén Project, Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, London, 128pp.

John, D.M., Paterson G.L.J, Evans, N.J., Ramirez, M.E., Spencer Jones, M. & Reid, D.G., 1999. A provisional manual of marine biotopes of the Laguna San Rafael National Park and Estero Elefantes, southern Chile. 37 pp. The Natural History Museum, London [separate revised CD-ROM version]

Abstracts

Spencer Jones M.E.  & Wöss, E.R. (2009). Condition reports on freshwater bryozoans – a tool for access as well as conservation. p106, In: Bridging Continents. New Initiatives and Perspectives in Natural History Collections, 6 - 11 July 2009, 24th annual meeting of SPNHC, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Spencer Jones M.E.  2007. The wet Bryozoa and Entoprocta collections at the NHM. p75, In: Hageman, S.J. & McKinney, F.K. (eds) Abstracts of with Program. 14th Meeting of the International Bryozoology Association, Boone, North Carolina, 2007.

Spencer Jones M.E. & Ramalho, L.V. 2007 The NHM Marcus collection. p75, In: Hageman, S.J. & McKinney, F.K. (eds) 2007. Abstracts with Program. 14th Meeting of the International Bryozoology Association, Boone, North Carolina, 2007.

Spencer Jones M.E. & Wyse Jackson, P.N. 2007. Where is that bryozoan collection? p76, In: Hageman, S.J. & McKinney, F.K. (eds) 2007. Abstracts with Program. 14th Meeting of the International Bryozoology Association, Boone, North Carolina, 2007.

Spencer Jones M.E., Holmes, V. & Thomas C. 2007. Darwin’s bryozoans. p76, In: Hageman, S.J. & McKinney, F.K. (eds) 2007. Abstracts with Program. 14th Meeting of the International Bryozoology Association, Boone, North Carolina, 2007.

Spencer Jones M.E. 2003. Biodiversity Aysén, southern Chile: a preliminary bryozoan report. Boletin de la Sociedead de Biologia de Concepcion. 74: 115.

Spencer Jones M.E, Sanner J. & Thomas C. 2003. Bryozoan exchange: Bassler and Hastings. Boletin de la Sociedad de Biologia de Concepcion. 74: 114.

Spencer Jones M.E. 2003. History of freshwater bryozoology in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Boletin de la Sociedad de Biologia de Concepcion. 74: 116.

Holmes V. B. & Spencer Jones M.E. 2003. A review of the effects of heavy metal toxicity in freshwater Bryozoa. Boletin de la Sociedad de Biologia de Concepcion. 74: 69.

Bray R.A. & Spencer Jones M.E. 1989. The quantification of host specificity and its use as a taxonomic character. Information. Åbo Akademi, 20: 60.

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