Museum of Natural History Public Talks

This podcast explores some of the countless relationships between biology, biodiversity, and geology, past and present. The third and final podcast in our Biodiverse Objects series explores some of the countless relationships between biology, biodiversity, and geology, past and present. How have geological processes on a large and small scale influenced life from the beginnings and how are they continuing to affect biodiversity today? We are also looking into - and listening into! - the physics of patterns. From black smokers to music chiming with a nautilus shell, from obsessions with basalt to deep-sea ooze and the beginning of life on Earth. Finally, a look at the coevolution of life and landscapes will conclude our meander to join the dots between animate and (so-called!) inanimate matter. About Biodiverse Objects This series of three epic (length-wise ;-)) podcasts takes a close look at some fascinating and surprising objects in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is a kind of fringe-event to go hand in hand with the major redisplay happening at the Museum in 2022. Each podcast is a journey of discovery through the nooks and crannies of the Museum, talking to researchers and experts on the way. We will seek out the rarely seen or heard-about enigmatic objects in the Museum and their stories – scientific, historical and personal. These objects can be specimens, natural objects, artefacts, tools, or even museum interna such as conservation fluids. What they all have in common is that they speak to us about ecology and biodiversity. Both terms are linked – without constantly evolving ecological relationships there is no biodiversity. Is there such a thing as “biodiverse objects”?

In this podcast, we look at extinction and the role of collections and museums. The second podcast in our Biodiverse Objects series is about extinction and the role of collections and museums. This ranges from the good - researching causes for extinction and preserving evidence, to the bad – contributing to extinction or damaging populations and environments through over-collecting, to the ugly – the legacy of regarding and displaying extinction as “deserved” in the “survival of the fittest. We will also explore “the spirit of conservation” – methods of preserving animal remains. About Biodiverse Objects This series of three epic (length-wise ;-)) podcasts takes a close look at some fascinating and surprising objects in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is a kind of fringe-event to go hand in hand with the major redisplay happening at the Museum in 2022. Each podcast is a journey of discovery through the nooks and crannies of the Museum, talking to researchers and experts on the way. We will seek out the rarely seen or heard-about enigmatic objects in the Museum and their stories – scientific, historical and personal. These objects can be specimens, natural objects, artefacts, tools, or even museum interna such as conservation fluids. What they all have in common is that they speak to us about ecology and biodiversity. Both terms are linked – without constantly evolving ecological relationships there is no biodiversity. Is there such a thing as “biodiverse objects”?

A journey from 3D dioramas from the 19th century that contain taxidermy animals to today's virtual reality reconstructions of ancient or hidden worlds. In the first podcast in our Biodiverse Objects series, we take a close look at stunning 2D depictions of insect and plant ecosystems from the early 18th century and embark on some early 19th century time-travelling through fossils - forensic fossils that bear the marks of their ecosystems which are there for us to decode. A personal highlight is exploring miniature dramas captured in many million-year-old amber. About Biodiverse Objects This series of three epic (length-wise ;-)) podcasts takes a close look at some fascinating and surprising objects in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is a kind of fringe-event to go hand in hand with the major redisplay happening at the Museum in 2022. Each podcast is a journey of discovery through the nooks and crannies of the Museum, talking to researchers and experts on the way. We will seek out the rarely seen or heard-about enigmatic objects in the Museum and their stories – scientific, historical and personal. These objects can be specimens, natural objects, artefacts, tools, or even museum interna such as conservation fluids. What they all have in common is that they speak to us about ecology and biodiversity. Both terms are linked – without constantly evolving ecological relationships there is no biodiversity. Is there such a thing as “biodiverse objects”?

Elaine Charwat has been on a journey into the attic storerooms behind the scenes of the Museum to discover 19th-century wax models of parasites. Join doctoral researcher Elaine Charwat on a journey into the attic storerooms behind the scenes of Oxford University Museum of Natural History to discover 19th century wax models of parasites and hear about parasites models in science past and present. Meet Mark Carnall, Zoology Collections Manager at the OUMNH, who talks about the differences between models and the thousands of specimens he looks after, and Dr Péter Molnár, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto, who offers important insights into current research using mathematical models. Different types of models and replicas are everywhere in the museum, and they tell us much about the organisms they represent or reconstruct, but even more about processes in research and science. Made to communicate and produce data, these larger-than-life objects are as fascinating as their subjects! Elaine Charwat is a Arts and Humanities Research Council doctoral researcher and this podcast was produced as part of her research programme.

In this podcast episode Museum research fellow Dr Duncan Murdock talks about the first animals to build skeletons, and what they did with them. Half a billion years ago a bewildering array of animals evolved, bristling with shells, teeth and spines during a Cambrian explosion of skeletons. Dr Murdock will explain the who, what, when and how of when life got hard for animals, and the world changed forever. Dr Duncan Murdock is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Dr Murdock's research is focused on using the fossil record to understand the early evolution of skeletons in animals. He uses high magnification electron microscopes and 3D X-ray imaging to study microscopic skeletal elements and determine the environmental and developmental drivers of biomineralisation in animals.

For Brain Awareness Week, Dr Phil Burnet (Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford) speaks about how the gut microbiome can affect mood and mental health. Part of the Bacterial World exhibition programme (www.oum.oxac.uk/bacterialworld).