It's swift season! Find out what's happening at the Museum

Museum of Natural History Newsletter

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In this newsletter we've got the latest what's on listing, links to our rebooted swiftcam (live streaming from the nesting site in the Museum tower), we've got a podcast from a Museum talk on how what you eat affects how you feel, we've got an exciting Exhibitions Officer job vacancy and a call for your pictures to feature on our Instagram. Enjoy!

It's swift season!

Each year since 1948 we've monitored the activity of a colony of swifts who use the Museum tower as a nesting site.
This year we've spotted twelve swifts around the tower - check out our live steam of the nesting site and our swift diary; tracking the different swift activity year in, year out.

View the Swiftcam live stream

Check out the Swift Diary

Museum of Natural History on Instagram

Have you got striking images from your visit to the Museum? We'd love to see what caught your eye and post your stories to our Instagram (crediting you as photographer of course!). If you'd be interested in being featured on our Instagram, send us your images to website@oum.ox.ac.uk

View Museum of Natural History on Instagram

Podcast: How does what we eat affect how we feel?

For Brain Awareness Week (and part of the Bacterial World exhibition programme) Dr Phil Burnet (Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford) spoke about how the gut microbiome can affect mood and mental health.

Listen now

Would you like to be the Museum's Exhibition Officer?

We're recruiting for an Exhibitions Officer (Maternity Cover)
Full Time (0.8 FTE would be considered)
Grade 6: £28,660 - £34,189
Deadline: Thursday 23 May; noon. Interview date: 13 June.

We are recruiting an experienced exhibitions officer to work within our exhibitions team during an exciting year. The Exhibitions Officer will be involved in working with the Public Engagement Manager to develop the Museum’s masterplan for redisplay of the main court.

Find out more and apply

What's on: May to August

Our new what's on May to August is live on our site and available for download. It's another jam packed season.

Eager; the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter

Thursday 6 June, 6.30pm to 7.30pm

Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb discusses the subject of his latest, award-winning book 'Eager', the Beaver and how its reintroduction is benefiting the world’s ecosystems.’ Part of Festival of Nature.
Free, but must book.

The Unexpected Truth about Animals with Lucy Cooke
Friday 7 June, 7pm to 8pm

Zoologist and television presenter Lucy Cooke (Springwatch and Curious Creatures) dispels the myths and reveals the scientific truths about some of the world's most and least popular animals in this animated talk.
£10-12. Book here.

The Cambrian Explosion and the Origin of Animals
Thursday 18th July, 7pm to 8pm

Professor Paul Smith looks at the beginning of animal life, through the prism of the Sirius Passet fauna of North Greenland - an exceptionally preserved fossil deposit.

Free, but must book.

From Worms to Stars
Tuesday 13 August, 6.30 to 7.30pm

Dr Imran Rahman charts the evolution of echinoderms - starfish, sea urchins and their relatives - from worm-like animals to star shaped ones.
Free, but must book.

See our full events listing: www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/events

Searching for gift ideas?

Looking for a Natural History themed gift? Check out our online store for some inspiration!

View store

New art collaboration on display in the community case: Beautiful Bacteria

Our Public Engagement team worked with Iffley Academy, a school for students with special educational needs and disabilities in Oxford. The students spent two days with artist and puppet-maker Georgina Davy, who gave them the chance to experiment with a variety of textiles and techniques, including Japanese shibori dyeing, fringing, plaiting and knotting. The children even created latex faces to ‘personalise’ the bacteria.