Miss Roula Pappa

Summary

I have 12 years experience in the curation of fossil mammal collections in small local authority, large regional and national museums. Since September 2015 I have been working as a curator in NHM and I am responsible for the British Pleistocene fossil mammals (over 160,000 specimens). It is fascinating to work in NHM and have the opportunity to handle some of the most historically important objects. As a curator, I have deep commitment to raising the public awareness and understanding about the importance of collections and of the science that underpins them. I participate in outreach events such as the Science Uncovered, Scarborough Fossil Festival and Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. Some of my other duties include: Provide support for users on fossil mammal collections; Upgrading documentation and storage of collections; Support various museum projects and departmental projects (e.g. exhibitions and events); Cataloguing, object entry, acquisitions, valuations, loans and enter data into Collections Management System; Assessing destructive sampling application and Managing volunteers. My research focuses on Pleistocene bears. During my PhD I examined the palaeodietary ecology of Pleistocene bears from Britain, in order to understand ursid dietary flexibility in response to changing environments. In order to examine the changing nature of Pleistocene carnivore diet and palaeoecology, I used an innovative technique known as Dental Microwear Analysis. The technique allowed me to examine the abundance, distribution, orientation, size and shape of micro-features on the chewing surface of enamel, which directly reflect the properties of food consumed. Before moving in London I worked for many years in Greece on many excavations and participated on cave expeditions in Greece and abroad.