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Publications and papers


• R. Newberry, B. Palumbo, and F. Ritchie (2016) Beyond “No food and drink in the gallery”: Writing a best practices document for food management in museums. SPNHC Collection Forum: Fall 2016, Vol. 30, No. 1-2, pp. 111-117.


• B. Palumbo (2014) ‘Into the Light: The re-emergence of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History’. The Jour-nal of the Oxford University Biochemical Society: Issue 18, Trinity Term 2014.


• B. Palumbo, G. Aboe, N. Crompton (2013) ‘Once in a Whale: the conservation treatment of historic cetacea at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History’. Presented at the European Taxidermy Federation Meeting, Finland, 2015; the SPNHC Conference, Cardiff, 2014; and the 1st International Conservation Symposium-Workshop of Natural History Collections, Barcelona, 2013.


• Sybalsky, J.; Palumbo, B.; Nunan, E.; Levinson, J.;Elkin, L (2012) ‘Innovation through interdisciplinary exchange: Restoration of the North American mammal habitat dioramas’. SPNHC Conference Yale 2012.


• B. Palumbo (2012) The Restoration of Colour to Avian Taxidermy Mounts. SPNHC Collection Forum: Spring 2012, Vol 26, No. 1-2, pp. 50-59

'Whale Weekender' Grant Museum, UCL, 2017

This outreach project, based at UCL invited members of the public to help conservators clean and rebuild a Bottlenose Whale skeleton which had been in long-term storage. Using my knowledge of bone conservation and whale anatomy, I assisted the team, teaching visitors how to clean and identify the pieces of bone. The project was awarded 'Best Project on a Limited Budget' at the 2018 Museum and Heritage Awards.

Conservation of Bone, Cleaning Workshop 2015

In 2015, the Natural Sciences Collections Association held a workshop titled 'Bone Collections: Using, Conserving and Understanding Osteology in Museums'. This was hosted at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology. For this workshop, I designed and co-hosted a bone cleaning session, teaching the basics of conservation cleaning. Attendees practiced these techniques on real specimens under the guidance of conservators.

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'Capybara Construction' 2014

Hosted at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 'Capybara Construction' was an outreach project, consisting of the rebuilding of a Capybara skeleton in the museum court. The conservation team and evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod answered questions from the public whilst reconstructing this skeleton. This event was part of the week-long 'Reactions' festival - an exploration of science and the arts at the University of Oxford Museums.

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