X Close

UCL Culture Blog

Home

News and musings from the UCL Culture team

Menu

Hello! I’m the new Grant Museum Curator

By ucwepwv, on 6 November 2015

My name is Paolo Viscardi and I’m the new Curator of the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL.

PV_Case19

I have a background in biomechanics and comparative anatomy, with a particular fondness for bones, which I’ve been writing about since July 2009 on my personal blog Zygoma. In my spare time I am Chair of the Natural Sciences Collections Association (NatSCA) and I run the science communication event Science in the Pub (or PubSci for short). My passion for communicating science also keeps me busy giving talks and getting involved in all sorts of events and performances, from immersive theatre to providing a scientist’s response to art.

Before coming to the Grant I was the Deputy Keeper of Natural History at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, where I had a great time, despite being mildly tortured in the line of duty during my stint as the Extreme Curator. However, the amazing collections and dynamic team at the Grant lured me away and now I have a new and exciting challenge, with even more opportunities to help bring natural science collections to life for students and the public. I can’t wait!

5 Responses to “Hello! I’m the new Grant Museum Curator”

  • 1
    Roger S Wotton wrote on 6 November 2015:

    Welcome to the Grant Museum, Paolo!

    Interesting to see that you are involved with the responses of a scientist to art. I have several references to this topic on my blog (http://www.rwotton.blogspot.com) and will be giving a talk at the National Gallery in January: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/calendar/friday-lates-29-january-2016-18-30 I gave the Grant Lecture on a similar topic a few years back.

  • 2
    ucwepwv wrote on 6 November 2015:

    Thanks Roger!

    I think it’s great that there’s more of a dialogue forming between art and science, rather than art being seen as nothing more than a mechanism for making science more engaging. Your upcoming talk looks really interesting – I’ve been involved in a project at the Tate Britain where I discuss something very similar and explore the taxonomy of dragons and wyverns to clarify their distinguishing features. Much fun!

  • 3
    Jennie Brigham. Nee Thompson wrote on 6 November 2015:

    Have a lovely time. I worked in the Grant Musuem in yhe 1970s with Rosina Down the curator at the time. Loved it and miss it.

  • 4
    NatSCA Digital Digest | NatSCA wrote on 12 November 2015:

    […] Our very own Paolo Viscardi has moved to the inner belly of London to join the team at the Grant Museum of Zoology as their thirteenth Curator. This shift will at some point inevitably create a faunal interchange of curators amongst the natural sciences collections of the world, so keep your ears to the ground future Deputy Keepers of Natural History… […]

  • 5
    The Grant Museum’s Fifth Birthday | UCL Museums & Collections Blog wrote on 15 March 2016:

    […] happened this year is that we employed the 14th Curator in the Museum’s 190 year history, Paolo Viscardi. Number 13, Mark Carnall left in August 2015 to care for the amazing collections at the Oxford […]

Leave a Reply