Events – More Than A Dodo

a summer of insect activities

We are open! After months of being closed due to the pandemic, Oxford’s Museum of Natural History finally reopened in May, and we are absolutely loving the fact that the museum is once again full of life, laughter and learning.

If you live near Oxford, or are planning a trip to this part of the world, remember to visit us this Summer. We would love to see you! We have over 7 million historical and modern specimens, of which around 5 million are insects. So, if you are interested in insects then this is the place to come!

Visiting the museum is FREE, but please book your tickets here Visit us | Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Why not try our Incredible Insects Trail?

Help yourself to a copy of this trail in the main museum court and journey round some of the highlights of our entomology collection.

Take your completed trail to the front desk, mention that you heard about it here at crunchyontheoutside.com and you will receive a certificate and an Inspired by Insects badge.

Remember to keep an eye on our website for information about other FREE Summer family activities in the museum. Events | Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Find us out and about in Oxfordshire

This Summer, we will also be out and about at the following events in Oxfordshire:

Out and About with Insects – Tuesday 17th August, 11am – 3pm, Princess Diana Park, Banbury

Finds us at Oxfordshire Play Association’s Play and Activity Day to learn more about insects and have a look at some of our magnificent specimens close up. Out and About with insects – Princess Diana Park, Banbury | Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Wychwood Forest Fair – Saturday 22nd August, 11am – 5pm, Foxburrow Wood, Witney

Come along and visit our stand where you will find a range of insect-related activities, including insect collecting using specialist equipment. Find out more at: Wychwood Forest Fair | Wychwood Forest Trust

We would love to see you over the Summer, whether in the museum or out and about at an event. Have a fantastic Summer!

Drawn to Nature

By Chris Jarvis, Education Officer

With lockdown and the long winter nights shuffling the nation’s emotions like a ham-fisted magician with a damp deck of cards, we have no doubt all suffered from a case of the winter blues at some point recently. While the Museum and its inspiring specimens have been closed to visitors we have tried out some new approaches to bring you the solace and creative inspiration that nature can provide.

events manager Laura is seen leaning over a lighting set-up that is shedding light on a table with specimens. — Events manager Laura hard at work on a lighting set-up for a *Drawn to Nature* live stream.

Drawn to Nature is a new series of online events designed to lift people’s spirits with a combined art and science activity. Originally planned as a wellbeing event to take place in the Museum, the online version was created in response to the last lockdown. We start each session with a short talk by a member of the Museum’s collections or research team, who share their passion for a selection of favourite specimens. The talk is followed by a chance for viewers to explore their creative sides by drawing the specimens, while learning more by about them through some Q&A.

It’s not an art lesson as such, but more a chance for people to find inspiration from some of the jewels of the natural world held in our collections. We hope it helps people to relax, find inspiration, immerse themselves in a creative activity, and learn a little natural history at the same time.

Click the gallery images to zoom and see credit information.

Our first session came from Life Collections manager Mark Carnall, who talked us through the natural history of Nautiloids, the fascinating shelled molluscs that are related to other cephalopods such as squid and octopus. Lit and arranged beautifully by our Events Manager Laura Ashby, their intricate chambered shells and 100 tentacles proved a challenging subject, but one that resulted in an array of wonderful artworks in a variety of styles and media shared on social media.

Following Mark’s talk, we explored some of the wonderful specimens from our entomology collections with our expert speaker Zoe Simmons, Head of Life Collections. Zoe picked out some of the most beautiful flies from our five million-plus insects. Using microscopes, specialist lighting, and careful placement, the specimens were a real hit and again followed by some inspired artworks posted online by attendees from across the world (‘best night of lockdown yet!’ enthused one attendee).

Click the gallery images to zoom and see credit information.

And there’s more to come. Tomorrow evening (Wednesday 10 March), Earth Collections Manager Dr Hilary Ketchum introduces the strange-looking carnivorous marine reptiles of the Jurassic – the plesiosaurs. We hope to bring you yet more of the inspirational well-being the natural world has to offer.

You can watch the Drawn to Nature streams online in the playlist on our YouTube channel:

To sign up for our next event, visit www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/events

Top image: Artwork by @CatherineRRye