Last week, the Symplectic team were lucky enough to take a tour around the Natural History Museum in London.
The NHM is one of the world’s most famous museums, containing over 70 million natural history specimens and a significant collection of Charles Darwin’s discoveries. But perhaps not as widely known is the fact that the NHM is a research institution, conducting investigations in diverse fields such as anthropology, environmental science, genomics, and many more. It’s known as a world leader in taxonomy, identification and conservation, and publishes over 700 scientific papers a year.
Our team has a diverse set of backgrounds and interests – we all have links to scientific research in some way – but that wasn’t the only reason we visited. Last year, we announced that we’d be working with the NHM to implement our Elements product into the institution’s existing systems. We’re providing their first research information management solution, which will allow them to collect, manage and report on the research carried out by their 850+ staff.
Despite supporting researchers from all disciplines, we don’t always get to see them out in the field. This was a great opportunity to experience the environments that our work makes a difference in, and meet some of the people who make use of it day-to-day. Here are some of the things we saw:
PICKLED SEA CREATURES IN THE SPIRIT COLLECTION
A ‘FOOTBALL FISH’ – HIMANTOLOPHUS GROENLANDICUS
THE INSECT COLLECTION, WHERE WE LEARNT NOT TO USE THE WORD ‘BUG’
HISTORICAL EXAMPLES OF SCIENTIFIC DRAWINGS IN THE SPECIAL COLLECTION
A BOOK IN THE SPECIAL COLLECTION
Some of these exhibits are available to the public, and you can find more information about them here.
It was an honour to meet some of the expert researchers at this prestigious institution. I’m sure it won’t be the last visit for many of us. Thanks again to the staff at the NHM for showing us around!