Image: Offshore core storage in the British Geological Survey’s National Geological Repository at Keyworth
by Cara Kitima, Joanna Dunster, David Selway & Natalie Rowe
Over the past few months, the AHRC DiSSCo UK team has visited independent research organisations (IROs) across the UK to engage with partners as part of the DiSSCo UK programme. These visits have given us valuable insights into current practices, challenges, and opportunities across the sector, informing the development of the business case for the DiSSCo UK Research Infrastructure. This funding opportunity marks the first national effort to digitise natural science collections at scale with the aim of unlocking knowledge that supports a more sustainable future for people and nature. A key priority throughout this process has been early and meaningful engagement with the community and this has been consistently reinforced during our sector-wide conversations. Building strong relationships with both potential bidding organisations and the wider community has helped us ensure that the business case is grounded in real needs and reflects the voices of those who will ultimately benefit from the project. With that in mind, we wanted to share some reflections on what we’ve seen on our visits, what we’ve learned, and how these experiences are guiding our next steps!
Liverpool World Museum & Manchester Museum – Jo
The team visited Liverpool World Museum, the city’s oldest museum (established 1853), where we toured the basement housing botanical and entomological collections, taxidermied birds, and even a jar of pickled spiders! We then explored Manchester Museum (established 1867), part of the University of Manchester. They had rooms filled with pressed plants and meticulously pinned insects, each carefully arranged and annotated by generations of dedicated collectors and researchers. Both institutions proudly showcased their digitisation stations, which were crowded into corners or a wider length of corridor, and featured equipment so coveted it was often locked away after use. It was clear that both institutions deeply value the DiSSCo UK programme, not only for enhancing access to their own collections but also for supporting the wider cultural heritage and research communities. They view their role not only as expanding sustainable access to their own collections, but also as strengthening the sector’s capacity to safeguard the nation’s natural science heritage.
British Geological Survey (BGS) - Jo
Our visit to the British Geological Survey (BGS) began with a tour of their laboratories which feature AHRC CapCo funded equipment! Here, scientists and technicians support visiting researchers from around the world to study BGS’s collections. These collections span a remarkable range – from thin rock slices, polished to just 0.03mm thick, to impressive 1.5-metre-long cores. Their digitisation equipment and workflows are sophisticated, incorporating photography, 3D scanning, x-ray and CT imaging, along with detailed elemental and mineralogical compositional analysis. The core stores are vast warehouses housing global rock samples that contain vital information about the composition of Earth’s surface. These cores help scientists better understand the Earth’s formation, guiding sustainable land use, water sourcing, sites of carbon capture and sequestration, and deposits of the minerals that power industries. The team at BGS conveyed a strong commitment to their mission: to acquire, store and make this material available for research and industry. They would also like to see the remit of DiSSCo expanded to include non-living material, so their data can be integrated with biodiversity information and deepen our understanding of the conditions that support life on our planet.
Oxford Museum of Natural History – David
Outside of the Oxford Museum of Natural History I was greeted by casts of a Megalosaurus’ footprints, set in the ground, and the dazzling aerial displays of its modern-day cousins – the very famous colony of Swifts nesting in the museum tower, part of the world’s longest running ornithological study. The museum has a specific staff member to look after them titled ‘the keeper of swifts’! One of the key highlights of the visit was the sheer volume of the entomological specimens. The cabinets house millions of entomological specimens, representing centuries of research and collection. The Huxley Room in particular stores 600,000 lepidoptera! Equally impressive were the fossilised remains of a Cetiosaur, a sauropod dinosaur that lived in Oxfordshire in the Middle Jurassic period. The collection includes a full row of shelving, and several large bones displayed along the wall, including a 5ft 6 thigh bone! Only 40% of the skeleton has been recovered, and digitising the specimen represents significant logistical challenges.
Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) - Natalie
I went to Cardiff with David and Cara to visit Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) and colleagues from their partnering organisations at National Botanic Garden of Wales, and Bristol Museums. We toured their collections, exploring existing equipment and the intricate specimens they would be looking to digitise. This ranged from miniscule insects in tubes to large, delicate preserved plant specimens. A standout detail was the potential hazards from historic preservation methods or materials like arsenic, and the strict safety protocols: no face-touching and thorough handwashing! It was interesting to see how multiple organisations were planning to work together, incorporating the smaller museums in Bristol with the larger collections at Amgueddfa Cymru and National Botanic Garden of Wales. One of the aims of DiSSCo UK is to make digitisation accessible to all collections, ensuring smaller, local or niche collections aren’t overshadowed by larger institutions. Everyone involved – from students to seasoned staff – shared a deep passion in their work and a strong belief in the programme’s far-reaching benefits for researchers across disciplines.
Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum Wales) – Cara
My visit to Amgueddfa Cymru with David and Natalie marked my first community engagement visit as an intern! We had the opportunity to explore the botanical and entomological collections and meet the amazing team responsible for their care. A real highlight for me was seeing a Victorian book disguised as poetry for a female audience but secretly filled with preserved plant specimens and scientific notes. It hinted at a quiet but determined engagement with science in an era where women were excluded from formal scientific study. This was significant for me as it highlighted the complexity of the DiSSCo UK programme. This programme of mass digitisation goes beyond scientific documentation; it also involves preserving the historical, cultural and sociological contexts that give these materials meaning. The trip also taught me a lot about how community engagement is being thoughtfully cultivated in the DiSSCo UK programme. This isn’t merely outreach, but a sustained and reciprocal relationship between AHRC and the consortium, grounded in a shared commitment to mass digitisation and the advancement of research.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – David
I visited Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with Alex. Kew have already undertaken a major digitisation programme and have digitised almost their entire herbarium of around 7 million specimens! They bring extensive expertise in plant digitisation. Although the more complex parts of their collections are yet to be tackled, their involvement in the programme is driven as much by a commitment to sharing knowledge and best practices as by the goal of digitising their own collections.
A particular highlight was viewing the Cordyceps, which happens to be the fungus that inspired the HBO television series The Last of Us. The photo above shows a Tarantula in the early stage of infection, and then the result once it has been consumed by the fungus. How gruesome!
Reflections
Our recent visits have highlighted a deep shared commitment to the DiSSCo UK programme across institutions, with the programme being seen as essential for expanding access and preserving the UK’s natural science heritage. These visits have also allowed us to build strong relationships with both potential bidding organisations and the wider community. Whilst our colleagues at NHM had strong pre-existing relationships within the consortium, at AHRC, we did not. These visits have provided invaluable insights into current practices, challenges, and aspirations across the sector. They’ve reinforced the importance of early, meaningful dialogue and helped ensure our business case is rooted in real needs and shaped by the voices of those who will benefit most.