Chambers Street
EH1 1JF Edinburgh
GB
info@nms.ac.uk
Chambers Street
EH1 1JF Edinburgh
GB
info@nms.ac.uk
Nick Fraser
|
| staff total | 36.0 |
| scientific staff (permanent) | 9.0 |
| scientific staff post doc (non permanent) | 4.0 |
| scientific staff collections (permanent) | 7.5 |
| scientific staff associated | 7.0 |
| staff collection managers technicians (permanent) | 7.0 |
| staff administrative (permanent) | 1.0 |
| staff exhibitions (permanent) | 0.5 |
The research programme at NMS is divided into four major sections: Earth Systems, Palaeobiology, Invertebrates and Vertebrate Biology, Biodiversity and Conservation are two major strands connecting all research programs in the zoological disciplines, with specific research reflecting expertise of the staff and the taxonomic breadth of the collections.
History of collecting runs across all disciplines with noted natural historians such as Louis Dufresne (1752-1832), Robert Jamieson (1774-1854), Hugh Miller (1802-1856), Matthew Forster Heddle (1828-1897) and J.A. Harvie-Brown (1844-1916), and their contributions to the collections of National Museums Scotland.
Invertebrate research centres on the taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of a range of marine and terrestrial groups with global distributions, while also retaining some Scottish focus. There is particular expertise in fungus gnats, hoverflies, Mayflies, parasitic wasps, carrion beetles, mud-snails benthic copepods, and polychaetes. DNA biomonitoring and environmental DNA programmes are in development.
The Earth Systems collections have a major strength in Scottish minerals and ongoing research programmes into rock fault genesis, Pb-rich ore minerals and deep-sea vent mineralisation, erosion processes (terrestrial and Martian), and tectonic geomorphology and uses of minerals in paints and pigments.
Scotland’s Palaeozoic rocks represent important windows through which crucial stages in the early evolution of life on Earth can be viewed. Our Palaeozoic collections are renowned worldwide for specimens of eurypterids, plants, fishes and early tetrapods. They are central to our research on early vertebrate diversity and evolution, the reconstruction of evolutionary pattern and process, and uses of fossils and systematic methods in evolutionary developmental biology.
Taxonomic expertise in arthropods, brachiopods, and “enigmatic” Palaeozoic fossils sits together with fossil birds, dinosaurs and marine reptiles. There is also a focus on amber deposits including a growing collections of Burmese amber which is a joint programme with Invertebrates.
Core research within Vertebrate Biology looks at hybridisation between native and introduced mammal species, geographical variation and the effects of captivity on mammal and bird skeletal morphology, including ageing and pathology. Other research strands focus on molecular evolution and the biogeography and archaeology of Eurasian mammals, especially rodents and cetaceans.
Link of the Research page : Research page
Link of the Annual report : Annual Reviews
National Museums Scotland is part of the Edinburgh University doctoral training partnesrship |