The Natural Sciences collections are comprehensive in their
coverage of the natural world, although Botany is only represented
by fossil plants. The collections are global in terms of their
content and most of the several million specimens held originate
from efforts to better understand the Natural World. They are
divided into five sections as follows:
The Invertebrate Biology collections include
one of the largest collections of marine invertebrates in the UK
containing nearly 1 million specimens. Historically significant
collections include material from Lord Byron’s expedition on HMS
Blonde (1826), the voyage of HMS Rattlesnake
(1856) and the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (1902–1904)
led by the Antarctic explorer William Speirs Bruce. In recent years
National Museums Scotland has acquired several large and
scientifically important collections of marine invertebrates
through collaboration with a variety of institutions.
The Palaeobiology collection consists of about
250,000 fossils that are housed in a purpose-built environmentally
controlled store. It is particularly renowned internationally for
its unparalleled holdings of Scottish Palaeozoic fish, land
animals, eurypterids and plants, and the historically important
Hugh Miller collection. The collection also includes fabulous
fossils of all kinds, from all over the world, mostly acquired
during the 19th century.
The Vertebrate Biology collection contains more
than 200,000 specimens of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and
fishes preserved as skins, skeletons, whole specimens in alcohol,
eggs and nests. The collection is particularly strong in marine
mammals from the NE Atlantic, Palearctic bird skins and British
mammals.
The Earth Systems collection of 50,000
specimens covers much of Scotland’s rich geological and
mineralogical diversity. We have a particularly good range of
agates, minerals from important historical mining regions in or
near Scotland, unusual igneous rocks from inaccessible regions, and
a small but diverse meteorite collection.
The Entomology collection comprises nearly 2
million specimens that are among the most fragile yet colourful of
any held by National Museums Scotland. The collection is rich in
British and especially Scottish material, but substantial holdings
exist of butterflies and moths, dragonflies, bees & wasps,
beetles and flies from all over the world. Most specimens are
pinned, but some are slide-mounted or stored in alcohol and
collections of associated material are also maintained, such as
nests, galls and leaf mines.
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.
You can find out more about Dr Nick
Fraser here.
Dr Andrew Ross: Principal Curator, Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility:
Curation and development of the fossil collections.
Research interest/expertise: Fossil arthropods,
particularly the taxonomy, biodiversity and palaeoecology of
insects.
You can find out more about Dr Andrew
Ross here.
Dr Stig Walsh: Senior Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Dr Stig
Walsh here.
Dr Yves Candela: Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Dr Yves
Candela here.
Dr Sarah Stewart: Assistant Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Vicen
Carrió here.
Dr Rachel Walcott: Principal Curator, Earth Systems
Specific
responsibility: Head of Mineral, Meteorite and Rock
collections with particular emphasis on the development of fault
rock (pseudotachylyte), ore mineral and bio-mineral
collections.
Research interests: Metamorphic petrology and rock
fault genesis, Pb-rich ore minerals and deep sea vent
mineralisation, erosion processes (terrestrial and martian), and
tectonic geomorphology.
You can find out more about Dr Rachel
Walcott here.
Peter Davidson: Curator, Minerals and Meteorites
Specific responsibility: Curation of the
mineral, bio-mineral and gem collections, XRD and FTIR
analysis.
Research interest/expertise: Mineralogy and the
application of x-ray diffraction analysis. Meteorites,
topographical mineralogy (especially Scottish), the history of
National Museums Scotland and its mineral collections.
Simon Howard: Curator, Rocks
Specific responsibility: Documentation and
curation of the rock collections. SEM and thin section
analysis.
Research interests: Geo-archaeology
provenancing.
David Herd: Assistant Curator, Minerals and Meteorites
Specific responsibility: Documentation of new
minerals, back cataloguing of previously accessioned material and
field work logistics.
Research interest/expertise: Data capture, tracing
old specimen histories and fieldwork logistics.
Suzie Stevenson: Earth System Conservator and Preparator
Specific responsibility: Conservation of
mineral, meteorite and rock collections, preparation of specimens
for display and samples for analytical research.
Research interest/expertise: Specimen
conservation, mineral photography and thin section preparation.
Dr Graham Rotheray: Principal Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Dr Graham
Rotheray here.
Richard M. Lyszkowski: Assistant Curator, 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, 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.
You can find out more about Susan
Chambers here.
Fiona Ware: Curator, Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
development of the collections of marine invertebrates including
Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish, sea anemones, corals and
hydroids), Crustacea (barnacles, shrimps, lobsters, crabs), Bryozoa
(sea mats), Echinodermata (sea urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers)
and Tunicata (sea squirts); research loans and enquiries.
Research interest/expertise: Development of the
collections of Scottish marine invertebrates; taxonomy and
biogeography of benthic harpacticoid copepods; subterranean biology
and the ecology of invertebrates inhabiting terrestrial cave
environments.
Sankurie Pye: Curator, 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.
Dr Andrew Kitchener: Principal Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Dr Andrew
Kitchener here.
Bob McGowan: Senior Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Bob
McGowan here.
Dr Jerry Herman: Senior Curator, 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.
You can find out more about Dr Jerry
Herman here.
Zena Floody: Assistant Curator, Vertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: 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 and taxidermists with exhibitions preparation and
upkeep.
Expertise: Preparation of bird and mammal
skeletal specimens.
Georg Hantke: Curatorial Preparator
Specific responsibility:
Preparation of animal specimens for study and basic curation of
vertebrates.
Research interests: Taxonomy, systematics and
biogeographics of Central American lower vertebrates and
insects.
Rachel Russell: Department Administrator
Can be contacted on 0131 247 4228 or r.russell@nms.ac.uk
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).
Dr 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.
Brian Jackson
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.
Dr Jeff Liston
Research interest/expertise: Pachycormid
bony fish and the evolution of large suspension-feeding
vertebrates, including Leedsichthys; the Jurassic Oxford
Clay ecosystem; Scottish dinosaurs; dinosaur eggs and reproductive
strategies; interpretation of growth rates from the fossil record;
the history of palaeontology within philosophy and culture; Alfred
Nicholson Leeds (1847-1917) and William Hunter (1718-1783) as
collectors of vertebrate palaeontology; the palaeobotanist Robert
Kidston (1852-1924) and the Glasgow School of Palaeobotany.