Sunday 26 April, 14:00–15:00
Free, booking required
Attenborough Studio
Pinned, Pickled and Pressed: What Can Natural History Collections Tell Us In An Ecological Crisis?
In this engaging panel discussion, you’ll meet some of our passionate curators and researchers. They’ll each bring with them just one specimen from the part of the collection they care for that they believe tells a powerful story about our relationship with the planet.
We’ll explore how these pinned, pickled and pressed objects yield invaluable information about how our planet is changing, even years after being collected.
We look after a remarkable more than 80 million specimens, from dinosaurs to dragonflies, birds to bats and fish to frogs. You’ll even find meteorites from space that are millions of years old in our galleries!
Each object in the collections we care for represents a snapshot in history. They reveal what was happening in a particular place on our planet at a specific time to a given species or ecosystem.
Examining natural history collections helps us paint a clearer picture of how life on our planet has changed over time. Tales of massive global changes, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, are also told through different specimens. Discover how all this knowledge can help us to plan and take action for a better future.
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Speaker biographies
Dr Natalie Cooper
Natalie is a merit researcher with us. She is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist who works on understanding how the diversity of life evolved and how we can protect it from human activities. Natalie works on a variety of animal groups, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes.
Dr Sandy Knapp
Sandy is our Director of Research and one of our botanists. She specialises in the taxonomy and evolution of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Sandy’s authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and several popular books. They include the award-winning titles Potted Histories, Extraordinary Orchids and In the Name of Plants. Sandy was awarded an OBE in His Majesty the King’s New Year Honours in January 2023 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society. She’s passionate about promoting the role of taxonomy and the importance of science for conservation and sustainable development worldwide. She’s committed to increasing openness, diversity and inclusion in science.
Dr Simon Loader
Simon is our Principal Curator of Herpetology. He’s a herpetologist whose research focuses on vertebrate biodiversity, particularly amphibians, with a strong geographic emphasis on Africa. His work uses evolutionary approaches to understand how species form and how biodiversity is maintained. He’s also contributed to the discovery and description of new species, helping advance scientific knowledge of global biodiversity.
Dr Erica McAlister
Erica is our Principal Curator for Fleas and Flies. She’s been recording, researching and curating flies for more than 20 years, both in the UK and across the world.
Visiting information
All ages are welcome, but content is recommended for ages 16+.
We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes early to allow time to get to the Attenborough Studio.
When you arrive at the Museum, show your ticket to our staff to jump the queue.
Accessibility information
This event is wheelchair accessible.
If you’re unable to wait in queues for long periods, speak to our security staff and they’ll fast track your entry.
Seating is available in the event space.
Guide dogs are welcome at the Museum. Water for them is available on request.
The nearest accessible toilets are on the Ground Floor of our Orange Zone. We also have a Changing Places toilet on the Ground Floor of our Blue Zone.
Blue Badge parking spaces are available. Request a parking space by emailing us at [email protected].
We can provide you with a wheelchair or folding chair to carry if you email us at [email protected].
If you have any questions or would like to discuss accessibility requirements, email us at [email protected].
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