Julian Carter
My passion for the natural science world arose whilst in the local state-run high school. The school was not the most salubrious of places, but it had some inspirational teachers who very much initiated my interest in the sciences. This led to studying environmental biology at Swansea University, a course that was rich in field and other practical work, which further inspired my interest in the natural world. However, I had not intended to end up working in museums, and it’s only by chance, and a need for employment, that I ended up applying for a contract role as a natural science conservator for the zoological collections at the National Museum Wales back in 1992. The application was successful, and unexpectedly, my journey into the museum world began…
Initially this work focused on the zoological collections, and I was soon taken in by the crazy world of fluid preserved things, along with the wonder of our historical collections, such as the Blaschka Glass Models. It was soon clear that natural science collection care and conservation was a complex and inspiring area of museum collections, and the pioneering work of societies such as SPNHC was to prove invaluable in helping make sense of it.
Applying museum conservation approaches to natural science collections was very much in development at this time. Soon I was actively involved in the Biology Curators Group and the fledgling Natural Sciences Conservation Group (who both later merged into the Natural Science Collections Association here in the UK), taking the opportunity to be a small part in the development of natural science collection conservation within the museum sector.
My first real contact with SPNHC as a society was in 1995, when I attended the SPNHC Annual Meeting in Toronto, and got to meet the crazy, passionate people that make it! I was very much taken by the inclusivity and willingness to share, attributes that have always been a key part of the society, and were very much in our ethos when we took on the challenges of hosting the annual meeting in Cardiff in 2014.
Thus, it is very much an honour to be president of the society for the next two years, and to support taking the society forward as we continue to move through the challenges presented by the pandemic and the growing issues arising from climate change. Our skills, knowledge, creativity, and collections have never been more important to society as a whole, and SPNHC will continue to act as a fulcrum to support our community as a place to share, support, promote and develop our skills and knowledge.
Over this coming year or so the SPNHC council and the committees will be aiming to continue our core work and to better support our key functions. Examples include appointing administrative support for the work of our finance, membership, and the editorial functions, getting the members survey finalised and initiated to support an updated strategic plan, and revising the conference guidelines in order to better support future local organising committees.
Please do get in contact with me and let me know how you think SPNHC can help, or any ideas, thoughts, or issues you may have around the society.
Julian Carter
president@spnhc.org
Julian Carter is Principal Conservator, Natural Sciences, at the National Museum Wales.