Kate Santry interview

[Pete Eeles]

Hi all,

On Monday I'll be interviewing Kate Santry, Head of Archival Collections (i.e. the library!) at Oxford Uni. Museum of Natural History. As input to that, if any members would like certain questions asked then please let me know in this thread.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Jack Harrison]

The obvious questions which you must already have thought of:

Are some of the supposedly genuine early specimens of species now extinct in Britain thought to be genuinely British?

Is any DNA of old specimens sample to research (if this is possible, I'm no DNA expert) into changes, habitat requirements, foodplants, etc, today compared to earlier times? I have as an example that fact that the Comma would today seems to favour nettle as larval food but 100 years ago, it was hop (I think I am correct) and this perhaps is one factor in its steady expansion of range (also, presumably, in response to climate change but I am not talking about that here).

Jack

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Jack,

Kate is in charge of the various books, articles etc., not the collections themselves. The obvious questions are oldest / rarest / most-demanded publications etc., and I also intend to discuss value of the archive, how it's used by researchers etc. etc.

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

It'd be really interesting to know which is the oldest article they possess that specifically relates to UK butterflies. I guess there must be a few written in Latin lurking within those walls.

[Jack Harrison]

Kate is in charge of the various books, articles etc., not the collections themselves.

My misunderstanding.

Jack

[Pete Eeles]

Interview now posted:

http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/reports_katesantry.php

Cheers,

- Pete

[David M]

Thanks, Pete. That Aurelian book looks positively spellbinding. You and Mark must have been like kids in a sweet shop.

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks, Pete. That Aurelian book looks positively spellbinding. You and Mark must have been like kids in a sweet shop.

Looking through shelves upon shelves of books I could never afford and getting access to the most inaccessible of works is really quite something. So yes, kids in sweets shops is good analogy!

Cheers,

- Pete