This is an archive of the NMS website
Natural Sciences expertise
Our Natural Science collections are comprehensive in their
coverage of the natural world and global in terms of their
content.
This page outlines the responsibilities and research interests
of the department.
Dr Nick Fraser: Keeper of Natural Sciences
Specific Responsibility: Head of
Department.
Expertise: Vertebrate Paleontology: systematics,
phylogeny, biostratigraphy, biogeography and functional
morphology.
Research Interests: Early Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems;
phylogeny and systematics of Rhynchocephalia and Protorosauria;
global faunal and floral change across the Triassic-Jurassic
boundary.
Dr Andrew Ross: Principal Curator of Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
invertebrate and plant collections
Research Interest/Expertise: Fossil arthropods,
particularly the taxonomy, biodiversity and palaeoecology of
insects.
Dr Stig Walsh: Senior Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
vertebrate collections, especially Palaeozoic fish and early
tetrapods.
Research Interest/Expertise: Vertebrate
palaeoneurology (especially birds), avian palaeontology and
evolution, vertebrate taphonomy, micro-CT techniques and
quantitative approaches for investigating vertebrate skeletal shape
variation.
Dr Yves Candela: Assistant Curator of Invertebrate
Palaeontology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
invertebrate and plant collections with particular responsibilities
for fossil Brachiopoda.
Research Interest/Expertise: Brachiopoda taxonomy;
biodiversification and biogeography of the Ordovician marine
faunas; Cladistical analysis of the Strophomenida brachiopods.
Dr Sarah Stewart: Assistant Curator of Invertebrate
Palaeobiology
Specific responsibility: Curation of fossil
invertebrate and plant collections with particular responsibilities
for fossil mollusca.
Research Interest/Expertise: Geology, stratigraphy
and palaeontology of the Girvan district, Scotland. 'Neglected'
and/or problematic fossil taxa (groups).
Vicen Carrió-Lluesma: Geology Conservator
Specific responsibility: Conservation and
preparation of the collections within geology, including
documentation.
Research Interest/Expertise: Anoxic environments
techniques to improve the life of the collections. Also Silurian
gastropods.
Principal Curator of Earth Systems (position vacant)
Peter Davidson: Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Curation of the
mineral collections with specific responsibility for the meteorite
and building stones collections. X-ray and FTIR analysis.
Research Interest/Expertise: Mineralogy and the
application of x-ray diffraction analysis. Topographical mineralogy
(especially Scottish), meteorites and the history of the NMS and
the mineralogical collections. Scottish building stones and their
history.
Brian Jackson: Research Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Strategic development
of the mineral and economic mineral collections and curatorial
policies relating to these including partnerships with other
institutions.
Research Interest/Expertise: All minerals and gems
and the application of FTIR (a type of chemical analysis) to
identify and study them. Strontian Lead Mines, Scottish gold and
low grade metamorphism as an alternative new approach to
mineral-forming processes, pegmatite minerals and gem feldspar.
Simon Howard: Curator of Petrology
Specific responsibility: Documentation and
curation of the petrology collections and the geology teaching
collections.
Expertise: Geo archaeological, Provenancing of the
Recumbent, stone circles of North East Scotland.
Research Interests: Geo archaeological
provenancing.
David Herd: Assistant Curator of Mineralogy
Specific responsibility: Documentation of new
minerals and back cataloguing of previously accessioned material
and field work logistics.
Research Interest/Expertise: Data capture, tracing
old specimen histories and fieldwork logistics.
Suzie Stevenson: Geology Conservator and Preparator
Specific responsibility: Preparation and
conservation of collections and preparation to assist curators in
their research.
Research Interest/Expertise: Mineral photography
and thin section preparation.
Dr Graham Rotheray: Principal Curator of Entomology
Specific responsibility: Curation of insects
and spiders including dry, pinned, slide-mounted and wet preserved
material.
Research Interest/Expertise: Diptera (flies),
especially Syrphidae (hoverflies) and saproxylic Diptera (dead wood
flies); their larvae, functional morphology; phylogenetics
(identifying and understanding biological relationships),
biodiversity and conservation.
Susan Chambers: Principal Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: marine invertebrates
such as starfish, crabs, leeches, sponges from the inter-tidal to
abyssal depths (3000 metres). The collections are mostly from the
NE Atlantic with a more recent focus on British waters.
Research Interest: Polychaete taxonomy (names of
marine worms) with a special interest in temperate Cirratulidae,
Polynoidae and tropical Sabellaridae. Also the zoogeography of
Chaetognaths, a different group of planktonic worms.
Fiona Ware: Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
documentation of the marine invertebrates collections (including
dry, slide-mounted and wet preserved material); development of the
Scottish marine invertebrates collections.
Research Interest/Expertise: Taxonomy
(classification) and distribution of meiofauna (animals that range
in size from approximately 0.1 mm to 1 mm) with particular interest
in benthic copepods (small crustaceans that live on or within the
sediments); development of collections-related data standards.
Sankurie Pye: Curator of Invertebrate Biology
Specific responsibility: Curation and
collection development of mollusca and brachiopod collections
(worldwide).
Research Interest/Expertise: Contributing to
taxonomy (classification) by researching the provenance of
historical collections. Ecologically orientated work has included
studies of the distribution of the molluscan faunas around
Britain.
Dr Andrew Kitchener: Principal Curator of Vertebrate
Biology
Specific responsibility: Head of Birds, Mammals
and Taxidermy. Curation and development of bird and mammal
collections, especially carnivores (felids, mustelids), marine
mammals and ungulates. Exhibition development.
Research Interest/Expertise: Hybridisation
(cross-breeding) between native and introduced mammal species,
geographical variation (including biogeography) and the effects of
captivity on mammal and bird skeletal morphology, including ageing
and pathology, faunal change and zooarchaeology of Scotland.
Bob McGowan: Senior Curator of Birds
Specific responsibility: Curation of bird
collections, including skins, eggs and skeletons.
Research Interest/Expertise: The history of the
collections and collection development, egg collections, sampling
populations through oil-spill casualties, etc. and record
assessment.
Dr Jerry Herman: Senior Curator of Mammals
Specific responsibility: Curation of mammal
collections, especially cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises),
small mammals (mice, voles, shrews) and bats.
Research Interest/Expertise: Origin and evolution
of small mammals in the British Isles; biology and archaeology of
cetaceans, including fieldwork on stranded animals.
Geoff Swinney: Research Curator of Lower Vertebrates and
Mollusca
Specific Responsibility: Curation of the
collections of extant fishes, amphibians and reptiles; supervision
of the mollusc collection.
Research Interest/Expertise: Taxonomy
(classification) and ecology of deep-sea mid-water fishes; history
of museum collections and their usage, with particular reference to
those of the Royal Museum building.
Phil Howard: Taxidermist
Specific Responsibility: Preparation of animal
specimens for exhibitions and the mammal study collection.
Research interests: Methods of fur dressing and
taxidermy.
Jack Fishwick: Taxidermist
Specific responsibility: Preparation of animal
specimens for exhibitions and the bird study collection.
Research Interest/Expertise: Small mammal and bird
taxidermy, taxidermy education.
Alan Lothian: Laboratory Assistant, Taxidermy
Specific Responsibility: Assisting curators
& taxidermists with exhibitions preparation and upkeep.
Expertise: Preparation of bird & mammal
skeletal specimens.
Research associates
Dr Clare Pannell
Research Interest/Expertise: Stable isotope
signals of carbon and oxygen in Mollusca as tools for palaeoclimate
analysis. Growth banding in freshwater pearl mussels; responses to
temperature and climate change.
Dr Michael Taylor
Research Interest/Expertise: Palaeobiology and
evolution of marine tetrapods, especially Mesozoic marine reptiles
such as plesiosaurs; the history of palaeontology and museums,
especially the collector Hugh Miller (1802-1856).