My time at Manchester Museum (so far)

As the second working week of 2021 is well underway, I thought it would be a good idea to update on how my time at Manchester Museum has been so far.
I’ve been a part of the team for almost 4 months now, which is something I myself can’t quite believe, as it has completely flown by.

Due to the pandemic, I am yet to actually work in the museum and have worked completely remotely up to this point. Despite this, I feel like I’m still learning every day about the role of a museum curator as well as contributing to various projects at the museum and I’ve been made to feel like a true part of the team.

I’ve been involved in projects such as cataloguing minerals (which I wrote about here). I’m also involved in cataloguing images on to records on Sapphire, contributing to adding museum specimens on to an online platform which makes them more easily accessible (particularly at times like this).

I’ve also been involved in a couple of research projects on top of these. The first of which involved looking at the numerous rewilding projects in the UK and the efforts that they’re putting in to reintroduce wildlife back to their native habitats in the UK. For me, this has been interesting to look at the sheer scale of these types of projects and I now feel like I understand the lengths that organisations go to to protect wildlife.

A project I am currently working on involves looking at the relationship between indigenous people and fossils and minerals. This is particularly compelling as it is relevant to the topic of decolonisation, which is all about re-telling the past so that we don’t ignore or disregard people that contributed to history, that may have been written out due to colonisation. Manchester Museum is one of many institutions that is committed to this cause and it’s great to be a part of.

Before my placement started I had goals and expectations in mind, such as wanting to get more contacts in the museum and natural sciences as a whole, learn about research of different topics and to become more knowledgable in earth sciences. Safe to say I’ve achieved all of this and then some, I really couldn’t have wished for anything better.

Since I watched Jurassic Park for the first time at 4 years old, it’s been my dream to work in a museum. Although this placement is only for a year, I feel like this has been a massive step in the right direction for my education and career prospects.

Thank you to the team at Manchester Museum who have made this opportunity amazing for me so far, especially David, as he’s done a lot more than just let me write on his blog. Thanks to David I’ve been kept in the loop of everyone at the Museum and I wouldn’t be involved in all these amazing projects if it wasn’t for him.

Hopefully the museum will be open for visitors soon and I’ll be able to interact with visitors and colleagues on site before I return to Liverpool in September. Until then, even if things stay as they are I’d have been more than satisfied with how my placement year has been.