Many people know about the importance of conserving coral reefs to protect marine biodiversity, but here at the museum we also need to conserve the corals that are in our collections. These specimens provide a valuable picture of the diversity of life in the ocean, and document changes seen over time, which is more important than ever. So it’s essential that our conservation team make sure these corals are in the best shape possible. Stefani Cavazos, an intern from UCL’s MSc in Conservation for Archaeology and Museums, tells us how they’re going to do it.
As part of the ongoing effort to improve the museum’s collections storage we decided to give our soft corals and sponges a bit of TLC through some repacking and reorganisation.
This collection – a mix of old display material and specimens not formally accessioned to the museum collection – isn’t currently stored as well as it could be and there is a danger of breakages and damage. The specimens are packed in non-conservation grade materials, such as cardboard boxes, which are notorious for creating acidic gases that can damage delicate specimens.
So a new project, Kelp our Corals, will focus on two areas of improvement.
First, we’ll remove all old packaging and repack using new bespoke storage boxes made from conservation grade materials. At the same time, specimens will be photographed, catalogued, and given accession numbers.
The goal is not only to rehouse the coral and sponge collection, but to also make it more accessible to the public for use in teaching and for research. We don’t have a lot of documentation for these corals, so hopefully the project will help us fill in some gaps: Where did these specimens come from? What can they tell us about life on a reef?
Would you like to kelp, er, sorry – help? We are looking to recruit volunteers to help us with the work. We’re aiming to start in mid-February and finish by May this year. If you are interested in gaining some museum and conservation experience, or like to work with your hands, please do get in touch at volunteering@museums.ox.ac.uk.
Credit for image at top of post: USFWS/Jim Maragos via Creative Commons
More Than A Dodo 
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