Conservation of Natural History Specimens

Lu Allington-Jones is Head of Conservation Science and Documentation at the Natural History Museum in London and has worked for over 25 years within the heritage sector. She specialises in the preservation and remedial conservation of earth science materials and is an associate editor for the journal Geological Curator. Lucie Mascord ACR is Natural History & Environmental Management Conservation Officer for Lancashire County Council Museums. She studied Human Anatomy at the University of Liverpool. She trained in natural history conservation through an Icon internship and QEST scholarship achieving accredited status in 2016. She served as trustee for Icon and NatSCA.Simon Moore ACR is a freelance natural science conservator. His career spans six decades, beginning in the Natural History Museum London before moving to Hampshire County Council Museums Service. He later became a freelance conservator providing his services worldwide. He steered the formation of the UKIC natural sciences conservation group and NatSCA. John E. Simmons BS, MA writes, consults, teaches, and conducts museological workshops. He received the Carolyn Rose Award for Outstanding Commitment to Natural History Collections Care and Management from the SPNHC in 2011) and was a US Fulbright Senior Scholar in Spain in 2026.

• Part 1. Preventive Conservation; 1. Historical Overview of the Conservation of Natural History Specimens - John Simmons; 2. Management of Collections - Efstratia Verveniotou, Kurmo Konsa, Mati Martin, Lennart Lennuk and Anna Fenlon; 3. Environmental standards for the preservation of natural history specimens - Jéssica Tarine Moitinho de Lima and Anna Fenlon; 4. Condition Reporting - Lucie Mascord with contributions from Fran Ritchie; 5. Analytical techniques to better understand and preserve natural history collections - Laura Brambilla, Sophie Cersoy, Marc Herbin and Fabiana Portoni; 6. Health and Safety - Lucy Watkinson, Robin Hansen, Kathryn Makos, Jeffrey Sotek, and Catharine Hawks; Part 2. Dry stored zoological specimens; 7. Taxidermy, skins and keratinous materials - Fran Ritchie, Arianna Bernucci and Lucie Mascord, with contributions from Daisy Greenwell, Anna Ivory, Fabiana Portoni, Tanya Nakamoto, Emilia Kingham and Efstratia Verveniotou; 8. Osteology and ivory - Lucie Mascord, Emilia Kingham, Sheldon Teare and Rebecca Desjardins; 9. Dry Invertebrates - Jacqueline Chapman-Gray, Anna Fenlon, Mark Carnall and Véronique Rouchon; Part 3. Fluid stored zoological specimens; 10. Fluid storage history, best practices and environmental guidelines - John Simmons, Marc Herbin and Sophie Cersoy; 11. Storage fluids - John Simmons, Simon Moore and Gali Beiner; 12. Fluid storage containers - Dirk Neumann, Ash Dupuis, Laura Brambilla, Sophie Cersoy and Fabian Neisskenwirth; 13. Remedial techniques for fluid preserved zoological specimens - Julian Carter, Elodie Granget, Fabian Neisskenwirth and Simon Moore; Part 4. Entomological specimens; 14. Storage, Environments and Remedial Conservation for Entomological Collections - Olga Sivell, Suzanne Ryder, Natalie Dale-Skey, Alessandro Giusti and Arianna Bernucci; 15. Lepidochromy: research for the understanding of a forgotten technique - Marion Dangeon, Alexandra Lefebvre and Laura Brambilla; Part 5. Botanical specimens; 16. Herbarium specimens - Magdalena Grenda-Kurmanow, Jovita Yesilyurt, Konstantina Konstantinidou and Mark Nesbitt; 17. Other Botanical Collections - Jovita Yesilyurt, Magdalena Grenda-Kurmanow, Konstantina Konstantinidou and Mark Nesbitt; 18. Fluid preserved botany - Elodie Granget, Marion Dangeon and Laura Brambilla; Part 6. Geological specimens; 19. Minerals - Lu Allington-Jones, Véronique Rouchon, Robin Hansen and Evangelia Kyriazi; 20. Gemstones and geological adornments - Lu Allington-Jones and Robin Hansen; 21. Meteorites - Natasha Almeida and Lu Allington-Jones; 22. Rocks - Lu Allington-Jones, Julianne Snider and Evangelia Kyriazi; 23. Fossils - Vicen Carrió, Lu Allington-Jones and Evangelia Kyriazi; 24. Geological and palaeontological specimens exhibited in situ and outdoors - Evangelia Kyriazi; Part 7. Cross-discipline groups; 25. Microscope slides - Birger Neuhaus, Alice Gimat and Jens Riedel; 26. Models - Emilia Kingham, Lu Allington-Jones, Sabina Carraro, Astrid van Giffen, Nikki Harrison and Tannis Davidson; 27. Tissue and DNA techniques: standards and storage for preservation of frozen plants and animal tissue - Heather Avrili; 28. Eggs and nests - Anna Fenlon, Douglas Russell and Suzanne Ryder.