They are comprehensive in their coverage of the natural world
and are global in terms of their content. Botany is represented
only by fossil plants.
Scotland’s diverse and interesting geological background is
shown through a strong collection of Scottish geological
material.
Most of the several million specimens held originate from
efforts to find out about the Natural World. The collection
covers:
- Rocks and Geological Structures
- Minerals
- Vertebrate Fossils
- Invertebrate and Plant Fossils
- Birds and Mammals
- Amphibians and Mollusca
- Insects and Spiders
- Marine Invertebrates
Natural Sciences department
Dr Nick Fraser: Keeper of Natural Sciences
Specific responsibility: Head of
Department.
Expertise: Vertebrate Paleontology: systematics,
phylogeny, biostratigraphy, biogeography and functional
morphology.
Research Interests: Early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems;
phylogeny and systematics of Rhynchocephalia and Protorosauria;
global faunal and floral change across the Triassic-Jurassic
boundary.
Dr Andrew Ross: Principal Curator of Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
development of the fossil collections.
Research interest/expertise: Fossil arthropods,
particularly the taxonomy, biodiversity and palaeoecology of
insects.
Dr Stig Walsh: Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
vertebrate collections, especially Palaeozoic fish and early
tetrapods.
Research interest/expertise:
Vertebrate palaeoneurology (especially birds), avian palaeontology
and evolution, vertebrate taphonomy, micro-CT techniques and
quantitative approaches for investigating vertebrate skeletal shape
variation.
Dr Yves Candela: Curator of Invertebrate Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
invertebrate and plant collections with particular responsibilities
for fossil Brachiopoda.
Research interest/expertise:
Brachiopoda taxonomy; biodiversification and biogeography of the
Ordovician marine faunas; Cladistical analysis of the Strophomenida
brachiopods.
Dr Sarah Stewart: Assistant Curator of Invertebrate
Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
invertebrate and plant collections with particular responsibilities
for fossil mollusca.
Research interest/expertise:
Geology, stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Girvan district,
Scotland. 'Neglected' and/or problematic fossil taxa (groups).
Vicen Carrió-Lluesma: Geology Conservator
Specific responsibility: Conservation and
preparation of the collections within geology, including
documentation.
Research interest/expertise:
Anoxic environments techniques to improve the life of the
collections. Also Silurian gastropods.
Dr Rachel Walcott: Principal Curator of Earth Systems
Specific responsibility: Head of Petrology,
Mineral and Earth structures collection. Curation and development
of the geology collection, especially Earth structures, metamorphic
and sedimentary rocks.
Research interests/expertise: Metamorphic
petrology, sediments, erosion processes (terrestrial and martian),
tectonics, digital curation, quantitative approaches to
understanding the interaction of geological processes and life.
Peter Davidson: Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Curation of the
mineral collections with specific responsibility for the meteorite
and building stones collections. X-ray and FTIR analysis.
Research
interest/expertise: Mineralogy and the
application of x-ray diffraction analysis. Topographical mineralogy
(especially Scottish), meteorites and the history of the NMS and
the mineralogical collections. Scottish building stones and their
history.
Brian Jackson: Research Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Strategic development
of the mineral and economic mineral collections and curatorial
policies relating to these including partnerships with other
institutions.
Research
interest/expertise: All minerals and gems
and the application of FTIR (a type of chemical analysis) to
identify and study them. Strontian Lead Mines, Scottish gold and
low grade metamorphism as an alternative new approach to
mineral-forming processes, pegmatite minerals and gem feldspar.
Simon Howard: Curator of Petrology
Specific responsibility: Documentation and
curation of the petrology collections and the geology teaching
collections.
Expertise: Geo archaeological, Provenancing of the
Recumbent, stone circles of North East Scotland.
Research Interests: Geo archaeological
provenancing.
David Herd: Assistant Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Documentation of new
minerals and back cataloguing of previously accessioned material
and field work logistics.
Research interest/expertise: Data
capture, tracing old specimen histories and fieldwork
logistics.
Suzie Stevenson: Geology Conservator and Preparator
Specific responsibility: Preparation and
conservation of collections and preparation to assist curators in
their research.
Research interest/expertise:
Mineral photography and thin section preparation.
Dr Graham Rotheray: Principal Curator of Entomology
Specific responsibility: Curation of insects
and spiders including dry, pinned, slide-mounted and wet preserved
material.
Research interest/expertise: Diptera (flies),
especially Syrphidae (hoverflies) and saproxylic Diptera (dead wood
flies); their larvae, functional morphology; phylogenetics
(identifying and understanding biological relationships),
biodiversity and conservation.
Richard M. Lyszkowski: Assistant Curator of Entomology
Specific responsibility: Curation and care of
insect collections.
Research interest/expertise:
Beetles, especially Palaearctic Buprestidae (Jewel beetles) and
Staphylinidae (Rove beetles); pipunculid flies; insect
photography.
Susan Chambers: Principal Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: marine invertebrates
such as starfish, crabs, leeches, sponges from the inter-tidal to
abyssal depths (3000 metres). The collections are mostly from the
NE Atlantic with a more recent focus on British waters.
Research interest: Polychaete taxonomy (names of
marine worms) with a special interest in temperate Cirratulidae,
Polynoidae and tropical Sabellaridae. Also the zoogeography of
Chaetognaths, a different group of planktonic worms.
Fiona Ware: Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
documentation of the marine invertebrates collections (including
dry, slide-mounted and wet preserved material); development of the
Scottish marine invertebrates collections.
Research interest/expertise:
Taxonomy (classification) and distribution of meiofauna (animals
that range in size from approximately 0.1 mm to 1 mm) with
particular interest in benthic copepods (small crustaceans that
live on or within the sediments); development of
collections-related data standards.
Sankurie Pye: Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
collection development of mollusca and brachiopod collections
(worldwide).
Research interest/expertise:
Contributing to taxonomy (classification) by researching the
provenance of historical collections. Ecologically orientated work
has included studies of the distribution of the molluscan faunas
around Britain.
Cathryn Candela: Curatorial Assistant for Invertebrate
Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation of marine
invertebrate collections.
Research interest/expertise:
Curation and documentation of material collected during the DTI
funded Strategic Environmental Assessment 7 survey of the west of
Scotland.
Dr Andrew Kitchener: Principal Curator of Vertebrate
Biology
Specific responsibility: Head of Birds, Mammals
and Taxidermy. Curation and development of bird and mammal
collections, especially carnivores (felids, mustelids), marine
mammals and ungulates. Exhibition development.
Research interest/expertise:
Hybridisation (cross-breeding) between native and introduced mammal
species, geographical variation (including biogeography) and the
effects of captivity on mammal and bird skeletal morphology,
including ageing and pathology, faunal change and zooarchaeology of
Scotland.
Bob McGowan: Senior Curator of Birds
Specific responsibility: Curation of bird
collections, including skins, eggs and skeletons.
Research interest/expertise: The
history of the collections and collection development, egg
collections, sampling populations through oil-spill casualties,
etc. and record assessment.
Dr Jerry Herman: Senior Curator of Mammals
Specific responsibility: Curation of mammal
collections, especially cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises),
small mammals (mice, voles, shrews).
Research interest/expertise:
Molecular evolution, intraspecific variation, biogeography and
archaeology of Eurasian mammals, especially rodents and
cetaceans.
Zena Floody: Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Vertebrate coordinator
for the Royal Museum Project. Curation of the vertebrate
collections.
Research interest/expertise:
Vertebrate biology and collections care.
Phil Howard: Taxidermist
Specific responsibility: Preparation of animal
specimens for exhibitions and the mammal study collection.
Research interests: Methods of fur dressing and
taxidermy.
Alan Lothian: Laboratory Assistant, Taxidermy
Specific Responsibility: Assisting curators
& taxidermists with exhibitions preparation and upkeep.
Expertise: Preparation of bird & mammal
skeletal specimens.
Drew Bain: Taxidermy Assistant
Specific responsibility: Assisting Taxidermists
with the preparation of animal specimens for the Royal Museum
Project.
Research interest/expertise:
Skeletal preparation and taxidermy restoration.
Research associates
Dr Clare Pannell
Research interest/expertise:
Stable isotope signals of carbon and oxygen in Mollusca as tools
for palaeoclimate analysis. Growth banding in freshwater pearl
mussels; responses to temperature and climate change.
Dr Michael Taylor
Research interest/expertise:
Palaeobiology and evolution of marine tetrapods, especially
Mesozoic marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs; the history of
palaeontology and museums, especially the collector Hugh Miller
(1802-1856).
Geoff Swinney
Research interest/expertise:
History and historical geography of Museums, particularly the
institution known sequentially as the Industrial Museum of Scotland
(1854-1864), the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art (1864-1904),
the Royal Scottish Museum (1904-1985), the Royal Museum of Scotland
(Chambers Street), and the Royal Museum. Biological models,
particularly the work of Leopold Blaschka, and the career of
William Speirs Bruce and his contributions to polar and
high-latitude scientific exploration.
Dr Mark Shaw
Research interest/expertise:
Taxonomy, biology and ecology of parasitic wasps, especially
Western Palaearctic Ichneumonidae and Braconidae.
Emma Ross
Research interest/expertise:
British adult caddisflies (Trichoptera), soil macro-invertebrate
biodiversity and insect photography.
Contact Natural Sciences
Email: n.fraser@nms.ac.uk
Tel: main switchboard on 0300 123
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