International Women’s Day at the Booth Museum of Natural History: Women in Science Spotlight

Kerrie Curzon

Kerrie works for Natural England in the Protected Sites team. Her role involves surveying sites to monitor their condition and working with other organisations to improve landscape-scale nature recovery. She can often be found out and about, sheltering under a sunhat or waterproofs, and peering at plants. Learn about some of the techniques and equipment she uses and try it out on Booth’s dioramas or take outside to your nearest park.

Laura Vaughan-Hirsch

Laura comes from a background in Science and education. Having completed a degree in Biology at Royal Holloway University she went on to become a Science Teacher and Middle Leader in a school in Sussex for 10 years.

From there, Laura has been leading the White Stork Project, based at the Knepp Estate and in collaboration with wildlife conservation organisations and private landowners.

Laura’s main interests include anything biological but particularly related to wildlife and conservation, with a special love for British birds. Her passion for engaging young people with wildlife and giving them an opportunity to learn stories about nature recovery has led her to her role within the White Stork Project, which has a broader aim to reconnect people with nature.

Jazmine Miles-Long

Jazmine is a taxidermist, artist and educator. Taxidermists preserve animals’ bodies for display or study. As well as working with artists, producing private commissions and renovating existing natural history collections within museums, Jazmine works with museums creating new displays within historical collections and preserving rare species used for scientific research.

She says, “I create my own artwork that I hope respects the animal and focuses on the beauty of living things, giving the viewer the chance to explore nature up close. Creating taxidermy for both the gallery and museum context has led my own work to sit between the realms of art and education. I explore the role of the ‘museum’ and the hidden intricacies of the craft of taxidermy itself. I only create taxidermy using birds and mammals that have died from natural causes or as the result of a road collision. I run taxidermy workshops and lectures in museums, schools and galleries. I aim to give an insight into the processes of taxidermy and to inspire and promote a good ethical practice.”

Please note that Jazmine Miles-Longs’ event may include live taxidermy with animals that have died of natural causes. This will take place in the Butterfly gallery with an experienced taxidermist.

Quiet time- what is it? Is the Museum closed?

We expect this event to be busy- busy events don’t always make everyone feel comfortable or welcome. We want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable at the Booth Museum. In order to offer this special event to as many audiences as we can we are trialling 2 quiet times. Please be patient with our staff as we trial this, this is new to us too.

The Museum will be open all day on Saturday 9 March- but those without a quiet time ticket will be able to visit the museum between 10.30am-3pm.

• Between 9.30 am- 10.30am Please only those with tickets (or those wanting to enquire about quiet time tickets still available). Please be aware there are limited spaces.
• Between 10.30pm- 3pm Everyone without a ticket is welcome and no need to book.
• Between 3.30pm-4.30pm Please only those with tickets (or those wanting to enquire about quiet time tickets still available). Please be aware there are limited spaces.

If you are attending the Quiet time sessions, we hope to offer you a quieter museum experience due to less visitors in the building. We offer a range of SEND accessories such as ear defenders, fidget toys, torches and weighted toys. These are available each time the museum is open. We will also have calm spots to take a moment and sit.