Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house surrounded by 500 acres of deer park. It houses the Nottingham Natural History Museum, which has more than 750,000 specimens.
Last September I began a 10-week placement as a volunteer natural history restorer and I have continued to train and volunteer here since.
For two years I’ve run an online shop selling taxidermy, wet specimens and pinned insects that I created in my spare room at home. After graduating with a BSc in zoology in 2014, I became a self-employed landscape gardener and I also volunteered at my local Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve.
My degree gave me a good understanding of animal anatomy, which is vital in creating museum-quality specimens. Many of these specimens have been birds, so my work at the RSPB reserve has helped me understand how the finished articles should look.
Being a self-taught taxidermist has also been a great help. Any squeamish thoughts were long gone before beginning the programme. Museum volunteering is a great way to learn dying arts and crafts that are rarely covered in schools and other educational courses.”
Last September I began a 10-week placement as a volunteer natural history restorer and I have continued to train and volunteer here since.
For two years I’ve run an online shop selling taxidermy, wet specimens and pinned insects that I created in my spare room at home. After graduating with a BSc in zoology in 2014, I became a self-employed landscape gardener and I also volunteered at my local Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve.
My degree gave me a good understanding of animal anatomy, which is vital in creating museum-quality specimens. Many of these specimens have been birds, so my work at the RSPB reserve has helped me understand how the finished articles should look.
Being a self-taught taxidermist has also been a great help. Any squeamish thoughts were long gone before beginning the programme. Museum volunteering is a great way to learn dying arts and crafts that are rarely covered in schools and other educational courses.”
