Sector worried by loss of natural history expertise
Gareth Harris, Issue 111/12, p7, 01.12.2011
Warwickshire and Derby museums have made curators redundant
Concerns have been raised about the loss of curatorial expertise in the natural history field following a spate of redundancies in the past year. Steven Falk was made redundant from his post of senior keeper of natural history at Warwickshire Museum in October.
In a letter to Museums Journal (see p20), Falk stressed that he was the “last surviving traditional keeper of natural history in the entire West Midlands”, adding that “natural history collections in this region are now entirely within the hands of museum geologists, social historians and archaeologists”.
But Mark Ryder, head of localities at Warwickshire County Council, defended the move, saying that the heritage and cultural services must make annual savings of £413,000 by March 2014.
He added that the museum’s curatorial team was “being restructured to create a more integrated approach to collections management, interpretation and development, against a backdrop of reducing operational costs”.
The new team will consist of a curator of natural sciences, a curator of human history and two part-time collections assistants.
Derby City Council made Nick Moyes, former keeper of natural sciences at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, redundant in March, following a spending squeeze.
Bill Grange, natural history keeper at the museum until 2006, criticised the move in a letter to the Derby Telegraph earlier this year. “I worry that the natural history collections, which need specialist knowledge for their care and documentation, will be at risk,” he wrote.
In response, Roger Shelley, principal keeper at Derby Museum, said: “Resources have been realigned so that we have more staff working on collections care, including natural sciences.”
Meanwhile, Museums Journal understands that the post of curator of natural science at Luton’s Wardown Park Museum has been axed.
Elise Naish, collections manager at independent charitable trust Luton Culture, which runs the museum, said the curatorial team underwent a structural review this year in response to changes in funding.
“We no longer have a specific post solely looking after this collection [natural history]. It now falls within the remit of the local collections curator and assistant curator,” said Naish.
She added that the museum had started to work with local natural history groups.
In a letter to Museums Journal (see p20), Falk stressed that he was the “last surviving traditional keeper of natural history in the entire West Midlands”, adding that “natural history collections in this region are now entirely within the hands of museum geologists, social historians and archaeologists”.
But Mark Ryder, head of localities at Warwickshire County Council, defended the move, saying that the heritage and cultural services must make annual savings of £413,000 by March 2014.
He added that the museum’s curatorial team was “being restructured to create a more integrated approach to collections management, interpretation and development, against a backdrop of reducing operational costs”.
The new team will consist of a curator of natural sciences, a curator of human history and two part-time collections assistants.
Derby City Council made Nick Moyes, former keeper of natural sciences at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, redundant in March, following a spending squeeze.
Bill Grange, natural history keeper at the museum until 2006, criticised the move in a letter to the Derby Telegraph earlier this year. “I worry that the natural history collections, which need specialist knowledge for their care and documentation, will be at risk,” he wrote.
In response, Roger Shelley, principal keeper at Derby Museum, said: “Resources have been realigned so that we have more staff working on collections care, including natural sciences.”
Meanwhile, Museums Journal understands that the post of curator of natural science at Luton’s Wardown Park Museum has been axed.
Elise Naish, collections manager at independent charitable trust Luton Culture, which runs the museum, said the curatorial team underwent a structural review this year in response to changes in funding.
“We no longer have a specific post solely looking after this collection [natural history]. It now falls within the remit of the local collections curator and assistant curator,” said Naish.
She added that the museum had started to work with local natural history groups.
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