Sankurie Pye

Sankurie Pye

Curator of Invertebrate Biology

Specific responsibility: Curation and collection development of Mollusca and brachiopod collections (worldwide).

Research interests/expertise: Taxonomy and biogeography of the British Hydrobiidae (mud snails). Ecologically orientated work has included studies of the distribution of the molluscan faunas around Britain.

E: s.pye@nms.ac.uk

Sankurie Pye is Curator of Invertebrate Biology.

Sankurie studied Marine and Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrews before joining the National Museums Scotland in 1997 as Assistant Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Molluscs and Lower Vertebrates. She later specialised in the care and development of the Invertebrate Biology Collections with specific responsibility for the molluscan and brachiopod collections.

Her current work is centred on making collections more accessible to all, for example increasing accessibility of specimen data. Her research is specimen based and has included the distribution and taxonomy of brackish water Hydrobiid snails in Britain and the distribution of molluscan faunas around Britain. She is also passionate about raising the profile of marine issues and introducing Ocean Literacy to non-specialist audiences through museum collections.

She is Chair of the Local Organising Committee for the 2022 Conference of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). The meeting in 2022 will also include BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library) and NatSCA (UK based Natural Sciences Collections Association).