Job Description
About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.
Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.
We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.
Diversity and inclusion matter to us.
Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.
We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.
Role Purpose
We are looking for five volunteers for 6 months, who can work together with the support of the Entomology (insect) curators to integrate the Mike Morris bequest into the National Insect collections.
Mike Morris (1936-2025) was an NHM Scientific Associate and former head of the Furzebrook Government Research Station, where he became the acknowledged expert on grassland leafhoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) and weevils (Curculionoidea).
The collection includes around 400 boxes of specimens of all insect orders. This project will convert a major acquisition from a liability to an asset; loose boxes at risk of misplacement / damage / pest infestation, that are not accessible to become integrated into the collection and CMS system and available for scientific study and digitisation.
In this 6-month period we are aiming to curate 150 of these boxes. The overall project is estimated to take 18 months.
Role Summary
This role offers a unique opportunity to volunteer behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum and gain first-hand experience of caring for a historic scientific collection. The successful candidate will develop an understanding of how museum collections are maintained, learn about the history and provenance of specimens, and gain valuable collections management and archival research skills. Working as part of a collections team, the postholder will Volunteers will work across insect collections handling, labelling and sorting of dry insect specimens. Mounting and repairing of incompletely prepared insect specimens. Databasing of specimen label data.
Main tasks will include:
- Photograph boxes from the M.G. Morris collection
- Apply accession labels to specimens and transfer to museum standard modern housing (unit trays/ drawers)
- Make any necessary specimen repairs
- Make a list of what is in each box, databasing where applicable into spreadsheets
- Sort specimens to Insect Orders
- Liaise with appropriate NHM curators
- Deliver specimens to appropriate NHM curators
- Incorporate to the collections under curatorial supervision
- Specialist preparation of unmounted or incompletely prepared insect specimens
Person specification
- Experience of handling of delicate, dry insect specimens without damage
- The ability to successfully recognise major groups of insects
- Good attention to detail
- The ability to work well as a team, as well as individually
- The ability to read old handwritten labels and interpretation of specimen-associated information
Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.
Find out more here
What we offer
As a Museum volunteer you can receive:
- Discount in the Museum shops and cafes (seasonal variations may apply)
- Benugo meal vouchers to cover expenses in the staff canteen
- Free access to temporary exhibitions at the NHM (via official letter)
- Access to exhibitions at other Museums which support this reciprocal benefit (via official letter)
- Opportunities to attend relevant talks and seminars
- Free copies of in-house museum magazines (NHM Magazine and WILDWORLD)
During our Volunteer Pilot scheme we are able to offer meal vouchers for the staff canteen but not able to pay travel expenses.
How to apply
If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.
Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.
Closing date: 23:59 on 15 November
Interviews expected: w/c 23 November