Adrian Plant continues his fieldwork in the Amazon in collaboration with Jose Albertino Rafael and Josenir Camara from INPA (Brazil’s national Amazon research organisation) in Manaus.

So far two field-trips to remote corners of the Amazon have been successfully completed. The first was to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira high up the Rio Negra not far from Brazil’s borders with Colombia and Venezuela and the second to a major tributary of the Amazon along the border with Peru at Benjamin Constant.

The forests of the Amazon Basin are flood forests; they become seasonally inundated by the flooded river and the waters bring with them many of the nutrients essential to the forests great productivity throughout the region. This year the forest remains unusually wet for the time of year which has caused a few practical problems for field entomology.- it is an acquired pleasure to slosh around in deep mud and water searching for new and interesting insects under a constant plague of biting mosquitoes. Yet, to an entomologist this is more or less a definition of “fun”!

The biodiversity is amazing of course and many of the insects seen and collected are undoubtedly new to science but will require much study in more comfortable surroundings after returning from the field. Meanwhile, Adrian will shortly be setting out on a third fieldtrip, this time to a little known area  between the mouth of the Amazon river and French Guiana where many exciting discoveries will undeniably be made.

Os oeddech chi yn ymweld â Llundain yr wythnos diwethaf mae’n siŵr eich bod chi wedi sylwi bod yr awyr yn llawn llwch – fel edrych drwy gwmwl brwnt! Ond beth yw mwrllwch, a beth yw’r gwahaniaeth rhyngddo â niwl?

Beth yw niwl?

Cwmwl ar y llawr yw niwl! Llawer o ddiferion dŵr mân yn hofran yn yr awyr yw niwl ac mae’n rhan naturiol o’r tywydd. Mae niwl yn helpu i ddyfrio planhigion ac yn ddiogel i chi ei anadlu i mewn.

Beth yw mwrllwch?

Llygredd aer yw mwrllwch. Mae’n cael ei gynhyrchu wrth i niwl gymysgu â mwg a nwyon cemegol ceir a ffatrïoedd ac mae rhai o’r cemegau yma’n wenwynig! Mae’n niweidio planhigion ac anifeiliaid a gall fod yn beryglus ei anadlu i mewn.

Mae’r mwrllwch diweddar yn Llundain yn gymysgedd o niwl, llygredd a thrydydd cynhwysyn – tywod o’r Sahara! Anialwch anferth yn Affrica yw’r Sahara ac mae peth o’r tywod yno yn fân iawn, iawn fel llwch. Weithiau bydd stormydd gwynt yn codi’r llwch a’i chwythu filoedd o filltiroedd i’r DU. Dyna siwrnai hir!

Yn anffodus, mae’r gymysgedd o niwl, llygredd a llwch yr anialwch yn golygu bod mwrllwch Llundain yn niweidio’r ysgyfaint, ac mae wedi gwneud rhai pobl yn sâl. Mae mwrllwch yn un rheswm da iawn pam y dylen ni i gyd geisio lleihau llygredd aer!

Beth alla i ei wneud i leihau llygredd aer?

Meddyliwch am lygredd aer… beth sy’n ei achosi? Allwch chi feddwl am 3 pheth y gallech chi ei wneud i leihau llygredd aer? Trafodwch yn y dosbarth cyn gwirio eich atebion yma (gwefan Saesneg).

Let me introduce myself, my name is Mar Mateo Belda, I’m a paper conservator and after working in different cultural institutions in Spain, Nicaragua, Cuba and the United States, I’ve got a traineeship at the National Museum of Wales.

The purpose of this traineeship is to carry out conservation of the 66 lithographs from the portfolio “Efforts and Ideals” in 1917 that will be exhibited at the beginning of August 2014 with the title “The Great War: Britain’s Efforts and Ideals”.

Let’s get the show on the road!

I’m sure that for most of you, paper conservation sounds like interesting and weird all at the same time and for that reason you need to watch this space to find out what it is and what I’m doing.

The first step we follow before carrying out the conservation treatments of the works is making a condition report to assess the conservation condition of each of them. The next step is to photograph them all to capture the initial condition of the prints.

Gan Kath Slade

Mae’r tîm wedi dychwelyd o’u gwaith maes morol yng ngorllewin Iwerddon gyda digonedd o sbesimenau i’w cadw’n brysur, gan gynnwys gwymon. Amserwyd y gwaith i fanteisio ar sawl llanw isel iawn oedd yn ein galluogi i gasglu sbesimenau ymhell i lawr y traeth sydd heb addasu i gyfnodau hir allan o’r dŵr. Er hyn, dim ond tua dwy awr a gafon ni i samplo tra oedd y dŵr ar ddistyll.

Mae sawl gwymon coch i’w gweld ymhellach i lawr y traethau, fel y Gwymon Cochddail (Delesseria sanguinea), Gwymon Crychog Mânwythiennog (Cryptopleura ramosa) a Gwymon Bachog Bonnemaison (Bonnemaisonia hamifera).

Roedd tipyn o waith prosesu i’w wneud yn syth wedi’r casglu gan nad yw gwymon yn para’n hir allan o’i gynefin naturiol ar lan y môr. Cafodd nifer eu harnofio mewn hambyrddau dŵr môr er mwyn lledu’r ffrondiau (neu ddail), cyn eu trosglwyddo i bapur codwm cadwraeth a’u gwasgu. Cafodd y sbesiemau eu pentyrru gyda phapur blotio rhwng pob planhigyn i amsugno’r dŵr cyn eu gwasgu mewn gweisg planhigion mawr, fel y rhai a ddefnyddir i wasgu blodau. Cai’r papur blotio ei newid bob dydd er mwyn tynnu cymaint o ddŵr â phosibl. Wedi dychwelyd i’r amgueddfa gosodwyd y gweisg mewn peiriannau sychu i gyflymu’r broses ac atal y gwymon rhag pydru.

Mae’n anodd adnabod rhai gwymon o’u nodweddion allanol yn unig. Casglwyd darnau bychain o rai rhywogaethau a’u gosod mewn gel silica. Mae hyn yn sychu’r gwymon yn llawer cynt ac yn cadw’r DNA mewn cyflwr gwell er mwyn gwneud gwaith moleciwlaidd yn ddiweddarach. Cadwyd sbesimenau eraill mewn formalin, sy’n tynnu’r lliw o’r gwymon ond yn cadw manylion y celloedd a strwythur 3D y planhigyn. Bydd gwaith adnabod pellach yn cael ei gynnal yn ôl yn yr Amgueddfa.

Mae’r holl waith paratoi yn ein galluogi i gadw gwymon ar gyfer astudiaethau gwyddonol yn y dyfodol.  Cedwir y sbesimenau ym Mhlanhigfa Genedlaethol Cymru (casgliadau planhigion) yn yr Amgueddfa, ac mae pob un yn brawf o’r gwymon oedd yn bresennol ymhle ac ar ba bryd. Mae’r broses wasgu mor effeithiol nes y gall sbesimenau bara am gannoedd o flynyddoedd.

Collections reviews are a hot topic in museums these days, and for good reasons. Reviews form an integral part of collections management. Last October on this blog, I introduced a number of recent reviews of natural science collections. Now it’s time to talk about the Welsh Museums Federation’s approach.

Methodology

The dry bit first: we developed a methodology that reflects the constraints of the project. And they are pretty tight: we needed to undertake 20 reviews with an average time allocation of two curator days each. This means getting an overview of holdings, assessing their significance, and identifying any collections needs in a single day. We adapted UCL’s significance toolkit rather than using the more recently published CyMAL assessment. We felt that this better reflected the questions we were asking and the constraints of the project. If you want to know more about the methodology, please get in touch with the 'Linking Collections' project manager.

‘Linking Collections’ was conceived because natural science collections up and down the country are, generally speaking, relatively neglected and in need of TLC. We have found that this really is the case. In some cases, specimens were lovingly repackaged in acid free tissue in good boxes – and then not checked for ten years because of lack of specialist curatorial expertise, sometimes with spectacular results. If you work in a museum you know all about this; you are likely to have seen things no mortal eye should ever have to witness.

Process

Let’s focus on the review process itself. It’s quite simple really. A pre-review questionnaire sent to partner museums early last year collected information about scope and approximate size of collections. This then formed the basis for a decision on how many and which curators (reviewers) to send to each museum.  Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales very kindly provided ‘Linking Collections’ with expertise in the form of specialist curators; the National Museum is now the only museum in Wales with specialist natural science curators.

The project manager acts as the match maker and organises the (review) dates. At the museum, each reviewer is paired up with a local member of staff or a volunteer – in either case somebody who either already is, or will be in future, working with the natural science collection. In this way, the reviewer benefits from local knowledge of physical access to the collection. At the same time, the local staff/volunteers get hands-on training in object handling and a deep insight into their collection from the reviewer. This way of working not only speeds up the process of working through a collection; it also forms an important part of the training element of ‘Linking Collections’, as one of the main aims of the project is to improve the local understanding of natural science collections.

While the reviewer assesses the objects, the assistant fills in the EXCEL data matrix on a laptop. The data matrix asks for a definition of a ‘review unit’ as well as its size (a unit can be a single specimen or an entire cupboard full of specimens); information about provenance, the collector, collection date. We then record any information about local relevance and historic notes, as well as a simple indication of conservation state, documentation, quality of packaging and any potential health and safety issues. Then there is a block of columns with significance assessments, on a traffic-light-scale, regarding different levels of importance (local to international) and value (scientific, historic, educational, …). Finally, the reviewer also records an initial recommendation for potential use of the review unit.

Results

The information we get from this assessment helps determine the potential of each collection. It will also enable to identify gaps in collections that could be addressed, in the future, through the museum’s collecting strategy. And because the approach is consistent between 20 museums it will be possible to compare these collections directly, and see how they complement each other, or whether there are similar problems affecting them. This last point is particularly important in the context of establishing the Distributed National Collection in Wales, which is what this project is all about.

Follow 'Linking Natural Science Collections in Wales' on Twitter @LinkinCollWales or Facebook.