OUMNH | Palumbo Conservation

'Once in a Whale'

I acted as Project Manager for the 'Once in a Whale' project undertaken at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. This project encompassed the complete conservation treatment of several whale skeletons suspended from the museum roof.The project was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ at the 2014 Museum and Heritage Awards and the specimens featured on the BBC Four series' Secrets of Bones'. More information and images from this project, can be found at the project blog 'https://onceinawhale.com/'.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc_KoX6Yk5Q

Preventive Conservation

Duties included leading and developing other institutional policy such as those required for museum accreditation. This includes Integrated Pest Management, which I designed and implemented throughout the museum in 2013. I also designed new formats for recording and sharing conservation records and associated data.

Throughout my time at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, I prioritized the continuous improvement of the quality of collection stores, upgrading environmental monitoring systems and moving and repacking collections into conservation-grade materials.

Collections storage, before and after re

Touchable exhibition 'Sensing Evolution'

My role for this exhibition was to source and prepare specimens for touchable display. Specimens included taxidermy, replica models, bone material and fossils. Conservation included preparation, cleaning, making replicas, and continuous monitoring and repair when required.

'Once in a Whale'

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Preventive Conservation

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Touchable exhibition 'Sensing Evolution'

My role for this exhibition was to source and prepare specimens for touchable display. Specimens included taxidermy, replica models, bone material and fossils. Conservation included preparation, cleaning, making replicas, and continuous monitoring and repair when required.