In the second post in our mini-series on science musuems, we talk to the staff working behind the scenes creating the exhibits and carrying out valuable research.

A look backstage

Museums sometimes conjure images of static exhibits and leisurely activities, yet in reality a museum is an ever-evolving forum for learning and scientific research. But have you ever considered who puts together the displays and creates the exhibits or how the information we are presented with was discovered?

In our last post, we briefly mentioned that museums carry out important scientific research, providing a facility for experts and scientists. In this post we’ll speak to two researchers from the Natural History Museum in London to find out how they contribute to making the museum into a learning zone.

Let’s take a look behind the scenes….

The Cast

Fred Rumsey is a British botany expert who has worked at the Natural History museum for 15 years carrying out important research into British flora; he is currently working within the new Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity.

Victoria Herridge is a post doctoral research assistant in palaeontology who has worked over the last ten years at the Natural History Museum, having carried out her masters and PhD there. In her past she has also worked as an explainer at the Science Museum in London.

Can you explain the purpose of your role?

It is a really great thing engaging with the public; everyone gets to hear the intricate details of my research and this fuels the broader impact my science research has. My current role is all encompassing and one of my main remits as I see it is to enhance public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the natural world. For example, I run extra-mural courses, workshops, talks, teach schoolchildren, as well as dealing with general enquiries. We often forget that behind the scenes at a museum there is vast expertise. One of the roles of any researcher, aside from the science we carry out, is that we inform others of our work and, particularly within museums, that we encourage public engagement. One way for museum scientists to do this is by contributing to our public offering, through educative displays and face-to face interactions. Science can sometimes run the risk of not being attractive to the general public; we are trying to change this.

My role is two-fold. The first, and main, role is my research work that focuses on the evolution of dwarf elephants. My second role is public facing, engaging with museum visitors and providing talks and seminars. I also sometimes give guest lectures at universities. It’s great that I am able to have direct contact with visitors and explain my research. I get to see people’s reactions and I know I am disseminating my research to wider audiences. I am also carrying out research on taxonomy; that underpins most biological research and I get to enhance the value of the museum’s collections as well as public knowledge.

Why do you like working as a researcher at a museum?

For the unique opportunities it provides and the doors it opens. The collections: specimens, literature resources and artworks are unrivalled and provide endless opportunities for research. With nearly 350 scientists at the museum it’s wonderful to be constantly surrounded by a breath of knowledge and expertise and to mix with researchers from different disciplines. We currently have a new building which facilitates mixing between staff members; lots of fertile resources can be tapped into.

Museums are treasure troves full of resources for scientific researchers. Having the opportunity to work with collections that are national treasures is fantastic. Having access to them on my doorstep is an incredible honour. If I want to examine something I can just walk into the museum collections and open up a cabinet, I am extremely fortunate.

Is a researcher the same as a curator?

At the Natural History Museum a curator looks after the collections and their use in exhibits. They are also encouraged to do research to increase knowledge of their groups, etc, although this is not their main focus; their primary remit is to work with the collections and to facilitate their use. It is a difficult task as they have lots to learn, and new curators go through a long mentoring process until they are fully up to speed.

Researchers tend not to be as heavily involved in curation – yet this does vary depending on the museum – but they will be generating new accessions as a consequence of their studies. Curators also have the important task of making their collections more accessible. The safest and most broadly inclusive way to do this is virtually, so that they can be used throughout the world without leaving our safe environment. In contrast, as a researcher you are always encouraged to use and develop the collections, but the main focus is to bring in research money and write high impact papers.

What do you feel is the most important aspect of your work?

This is a hard one; it’s like asking what your favourite type of music is. Well, there are more than one – they all feedback on each other. I think it is great to be able to look after and further national collections, enhancing the sum of scientific knowledge. Developing on and improving collection knowledge and the ability to talk to the public about it.

How does your role differ from that of a university researcher?

We are becoming more similar as increasingly we are measured against the same criteria – grant income and high impact publication. I think we do differ and we risk losing our unique selling points; I would argue that museums should be taking on the longer-term research and the big monographic studies which are essential to underpin our understanding of the natural world but which are unattractive to funding councils and difficult to publish. This has to be publically supported. A university researcher is involved heavily in teaching; their role is solidly academic, this is not necessarily true of museum scientists. Museum researchers increasingly are becoming involved in engaging and educating the public which is a different skill set. As a scientist at the museum funded by the public I believe we have a duty to inform the public what marvellous things we do, and try to make the difficult research we are working on accessible and interesting.

Effectively a museum department is a close equivalent to a university department. Here we have over 300 scientists, split into 5 departments: Zoology, Entomology, Botany, Palaeontology and Mineralogy. I work in Palaeontology.

How are you funded?

I have been lucky as much of my research is focused on British Flora and is relatively inexpensive to fund in comparison to other research. Previously many of my costs have been met internally, falling within the remit of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan process which the NHM is committed to support, but this is not always the case. Much of my work relates to rare species, or invasive organisms, looking at the status of taxa, both conservation-wise and taxonomically. This work primarily attracts funding from governmental bodies such as the wildlife agencies: Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales and Scottish National Heritage to name a few.

I am now coming up to the final year of my post doc, which is funded by NERC. However the future remains uncertain – it means when applying for my next position, I need to write a strong research proposal as everyone expects competition to be higher than ever. Hopefully I will be able to write a substantial new proposal as I want to stay working as a researcher.

Have you been affected by government cuts?

Generally everyone has been affected by government cuts. The government bodies at national and regional level where we get our funding resources have suffered massive cuts and this ultimately cascades down to us. There has been a loss of scientific expertise within the commissioning agencies as a consequence and therefore there is both an increasing reliance on external sources of scientific data but less ability to direct research or arguably understand outputs. Philanthropic donations help, for instance a big digitization programme of Type and other material is being supported by the Andrew W.Mellon foundation.

Future

Ultimately we need to clearly explain to government why what we do is vital, can’t be done elsewhere and demonstrate that we are doing it cost effectively – we can do no more. I remain positive and take each day as it comes.

The Natural history museum has been open for nearly 150 years and gets 4,000,000 visitors a year. Over this time it has had its funding ups and downs, yet remains a huge ever-changing infrastructure investing in cutting edge research. Onward and upwards.

In the next of our new, regular editorials on Of Schemes and Memes, we are running a mini-series looking at various aspects of science museums.

Museums are places for inquisitive minds. Appropriately, the name comes from the nine Muses who, in Greek mythology, were sources of inspiration in poetry, the arts and science. The origins of modern museums lie in private collections of rare and curious artefacts, which belonged to the affluent from times as early as the Renaissance. But what are science museums for nowadays? What do they offer the public and what goes on behind their doors? The rich variety of activities and events that are organised by science museums can easily be underestimated so in this post we will delve further into what a museum can really offer.

Look, but DO touch

Science museums function as interactive hubs where visitors can gaze at and interact with strange and unusual exhibits, both temporary and permanent. This is a very different proposition from the earliest museums where the “look but don’t touch” rule applied to everything. A modern science museum, by contrast, is an open-learning educational centre, rich in resources and inspiration for scientists of the future. The museums aim to encourage a more interactive approach using modern audio-visual technologies while at the same time preserving concrete, physical evidence and examples of our past.

In 1969 physicist Frank Oppenheimer founded the Exploratorium, a museum of science, art, and human perception located in San Francisco that’s an example of this hands-on approach. It was one of the first institutions to design and build exhibits giving visitors direct experience of the scientific world. Oppenheimer’s approach to exhibits has been adopted by most science museums worldwide, where there is a dominating focus on learning through physical interactivity.

Mixing leisure with learning

How does that hands-on approach contribute to the museum’s mission? The experience offers children a novel alternative to classroom learning:

“No one ever flunked a museum,”

as Frank Oppenheimer amusingly said. They stimulate and entertain – arousal of curiosity is all-important in encouraging future scientists. A study carried out by Naomi Haywood and Paul Cairns suggests that children who engage with scientific exhibits can benefit from positive learning experiences with careful targeting in the design of the exhibit.

But it’s not just the exhibits that help inspire children. These museums offer access to a myriad of activities: science shows, demonstrations, experiments, storytelling and workshops, all with an overall aim to inform and educate.

Some examples of current activities include the Hunterian Museum which is hosting an exhibition until the 23 July that includes skeletal remains from hundreds of extinct species. Matt Brown reveals more in his Dodos, megalodons, thylacines, mastodons post. The Natural History Museum is also holding an exhibition with an extensive collection of half a million images, including paintings and photographs all related to the natural world.

Preparation for these exhibitions is detailed and every care is taken to ensure scientific accuracy. The brand-new atmosphere gallery exhibit at The Science Museum, for example, was developed through extensive research and engagement with scientists and specialists, including expertise from the Met Office. As Richard Black, environment correspondent for the BBC website, commented:

“The gallery has begun to answer the big but persistent question of how to make climate science intelligible and interesting.”

The brand-new atmosphere gallery exhibit at The Science Museum. Source

In addition to encouraging children to think that science is fun, museums also hold lectures, talks and seminars that should appeal to wider sections of the public. In Germany, at Munich’s Deutches Museum weekly one-hour talks are given by renowned scientists who make their work and topical science issues accessible to everyone. Question and answer sessions at the end allow the audience to participate.

A night at the museum…

Another way museums promote the dissemination of science is by encouraging community involvement. In the US, for instance, every Thursday night, 6-10pm at the The California Academy of Sciences is NightLife, where the whole museum is open to adults only and plays host to a bar, a DJ and special lectures and exhibits. These themed nights are a great opportunity for those interested in science to come together and share ideas.

Similarly, Science Night at the Science Museum in London is an “all night extravaganza with a scientific twist” aimed at children. With adult supervision, up to 380 8 to 11 year olds can spend an evening carrying out “science based” activities followed by a night camping out in the museum galleries. This is topped off the next morning by breakfast, more science fun and an IMAX film.

The museum also encourages learning by hosting interactive tours. Their weekly tour, for example, the popular Spaced Out Tour, is aimed at children and offers a full interactive experience including roaring rockets, amazing astronauts and smelly space poo. Matt Brown also blogged about Touring The Science Museum Dressed As A Cockroach which is another creative activity hosted by the museum.

Preserving the past

Although outreach has become a major goal of science museums, their primary function has continued. Through storage and cataloguing of important objects and specimens, museums provide a trustworthy source of information and samples for scientific research. They preserve knowledge that could otherwise easily be lost and provide the ideal environment for research. It’s easy to forget that museums are places for research and that the artefacts they contain provide significant primary sources of information for the scientific community. An editorial in Nature this week has been discussing the importance of preserving the past:

‘historic objects frequently turn out to have great — often unexpected — value for cutting-edge research. Well-preserved old bones, for example, are a treasure trove for modern palaeontologists wielding new DNA-based analytical technologies.’

Over 300 scientists work at the Natural History Museum carrying out fundamental research into the natural world. Sadly for the future of this type of research, a distressingly high number of historic scientific collections — from herbaria to minerals — are being lost or left to rot in universities as there is neither sufficient space nor enough money to look after them. Unlike some universities, museums are the perfect hosts for protecting and preserving scientific artefacts. We will take a look at how scientific researchers use historic collections in our next instalment.

Online Outreach

When the museum doors are closed their work doesn’t stop; it continues in the virtual world. Museums are now looking at the wider picture and opening their gates to the blogosphere. UCL has started a museum and collection blog where you can catch up on the latest news. Other museums across the world are providing a huge range of online resources for teachers, students and the general public. In Australia, Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum hosts an “Object of the week” blog which introduces users to some of the curators, their favourite objects and the stories behind them. The Dana centre in London also offers webcasts for lectures and talks that they hold, so if you are unable to attend in person there is no need to miss out as you can participate online. By making full use of the online world, where geographical constraints need not exist, museums are extending their boundaries globally.

And Finally…

We’ve had an unfortunate reminder of the unusual dangers faced by museum collections in recent years. When countries become unstable, these institutions can find themselves threatened, as we have seen during the present political situation in Egypt, where some of the world’s most ancient artefacts are housed. The importance of these items to the community can best be understood simply by viewing the picture above where the human wall protects the Cairo Museum.

Next time

In the next instalment we will take a look at what museum employees really do behind those doors….

The first in an occasional series of posts in which we invite other Nature web sites into our digital party for a virtual cocktail. First up, say hello to Scitable, a teaching and learning resource from Nature Education, which has just launched new sections on careers and communications.

If you’re looking for basic information on a scientific topic – the structure of DNA, or the purpose of the Golgi apparatus, say – there’s no shortage of material on the web. We’ve all heard of Wikipedia, right? But reading up on a subject is only part of the learning process. To truly master the ideas, you need to puzzle things through, ask questions and debate alternatives. The virtual classrooms of Scitable provides all of these.

Clearly written introductory material is accompanied by subject-specific discussion areas and a Q&A facility where students can ask questions of experts and get individual replies. Users can also build up a network of classmates to share ideas and collaborate on projects. In many ways, Scitable is like a younger sibling of Nature Network, with a more pedagogical slant. There’s even a student blog. For those standing in front of the blackboard, a series of tools lets you open a classroom area and craft a lesson plan around the onlline course material.

Scitable launched in January 2009, aimed at high-school and undergraduate students. It initially focused on genetics, but has since expanded to cover cell biology and ecology. The site has recently published two new areas to help students: English Communication for Scientists and a Guide to Life Science Careers.

Conference etiquette by Dr. Jorge Cham.

Written by science communicator Jean-luc Doumont and other language experts, English Communication for Scientists is, as you’d expect from its clearly communicated title, a brief guide on how to communicate more effectively in English. Although it was developed with non-native speakers of English in mind, it is useful for native speakers, too. Organized as six self-contained units, English Communication for Scientists provides no-nonsense, directly applicable guidelines, illustrated with examples of written documents, oral presentations, and more.

The Guide to Life Science Careers, developed by Dr. Karen Peterson, Director of the Office of Scientific Career Development and the Scientific Ombudsman at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in Seattle, Washington, helps students to explore and choose what career is best for them in life sciences. Starting with a personal assessment of who the student is and how he or she works best, the guide provides direction as to the best career fit in life science, and how to take the right steps to get their science career off to a good start. Some aspects of the guide are strategies for networking, overcoming shyness, and building a resume. This guide is a must-read for anyone embarking on a career in the life sciences.

Presentation woes by Dr. Jorge Cham.

We’d be interested in hearing from anyone who’s given Scitable a try – whether from a student or teacher perspective. Are online teaching aids such as Scitable a useful supplement to traditional classroom teaching? And might they one day supplant offline methods of learning?