Extinction and the Museum: skeletons and other remains in our cupboards

The second podcast in our Biodiverse Objects series is about extinction and the role of collections and museums. This ranges from the good - researching causes for extinction and preserving evidence, to the bad – contributing to extinction or damaging populations and environments through over-collecting, to the ugly – the legacy of regarding and displaying extinction as “deserved” in the “survival of the fittest. We will also explore “the spirit of conservation” – methods of preserving animal remains.

About Biodiverse Objects
This series of three epic (length-wise ;-)) podcasts takes a close look at some fascinating and surprising objects in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It is a kind of fringe-event to go hand in hand with the major redisplay happening at the Museum in 2022. Each podcast is a journey of discovery through the nooks and crannies of the Museum, talking to researchers and experts on the way.

We will seek out the rarely seen or heard-about enigmatic objects in the Museum and their stories – scientific, historical and personal. These objects can be specimens, natural objects, artefacts, tools, or even museum interna such as conservation fluids. What they all have in common is that they speak to us about ecology and biodiversity. Both terms are linked – without constantly evolving ecological relationships there is no biodiversity. Is there such a thing as “biodiverse objects”?