Mordella on the Dance Floor: Preparing British entomological collections for digitisation

3 August – 11 September (six weeks)
supervised by Louis Lofthouse

Project summary

This project is an opportunity to work alongside collections staff behind the scenes in one of the largest insect collections in the world, contributing to the accessibility and conservation of a global scientific and cultural resource.

Specifically, this project aims to prepare the Museum’s British entomological collections ahead of potential DiSSCo UK digitisation projects.
DiSSCo UK is an initiative aiming to harness the full potential of the UK’s natural science collections by making them physically and digitally open, accessible, and usable for all forms of research and innovation: https://dissco-uk.org/

Project details

The Museum houses several small, recently-donated British insect collections requiring curatorial work ahead of potential upcoming DiSSCo UK digitisation projects, preceding incorporation into the main entomological collections.

During their placement students will:

Assess and plan the best method of approaching the project with supervisor.
Label, re-house, and re-arrange pinned entomological collections.
Create and complete an Excel spreadsheet of contents for relevant entomological collections.
Have opportunities to create social media content on the project for the Museum blog, website and other social media accounts.

Selection criteria

Essential

Good manual dexterity in order to handle delicate specimens
Attention to detail
Organised and methodical approach to work
Word processing skills on Microsoft platforms and internet search engines

Desirable

Interest in Natural History collections
Interest in entomology, taxonomy, or biological recording

Outcomes for students

Have the opportunity to gain an insight into the workings of a museum and collection.
Understand the importance of natural history collections and the methods used to preserve them.
Produce a searchable spreadsheet containing information on entomological collections.
Have training in curatorial techniques for entomology collections.

Reasonable adjustments

The museum is committed to making reasonable adjustments to its summer placements to make sure that students with disabilities or health conditions are not substantially disadvantaged. If you are concerned about meeting the selection criteria for a project of interest, or completing relevant tasks, please get in touch with Hannah Betts before submitting your application to discuss possible adjustments to the project: summerplacements@oum.ox.ac.uk.