Talk: Bringing the dead alive
This event is part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition 2025.
Many think of natural history museum collections as relics from the past – the bones and stones of our planet, specimens whose value diminishes once they have been identified and deposited in these biological vaults but this is very far from the truth.
Dr Erica McAlister, entomologist and Principal Curator for Diptera and Siphonaptera at the Natural History Museum, London joins us to share the value of museum collections, focusing on the most important animals, the flies, and how we are not only opening the collections for wider research opportunities but also utilising new and novel methods to ask more from the specimens themselves. These specimens are helping us not only understand the past but also our future, from understanding important vector species to UK nature recovery to climate change, this talk will highlight the value of collections and those much-maligned species, the flies.
Attending the event
This talk will be held on Friday 4 July 2025, 5pm – 5.30pm.
- Free to attend, no ticket required
- The room has limited capacity, so we recommend that visitors arrive at least 10-15 minutes before the talk. We operate a first-come, first-served policy
- This talk will take place in person at the Royal Society and will also be livestreamed on the Royal Society YouTube channel
- Live subtitles will be available in-person and virtually
- Suitable for everyone
- Travel and accessibility information and details on planning your visit - contact us directly to arrange any specific accessibility requirements
- Food and drink will be available for purchase at our onsite café
For all enquiries, please email us.