12/9: before and after shots of work on the fabulous Caudipteryx zoui

My name is Millie and I am an intern at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Conservation Department.

What does that mean?

A museum conservator's job is to preserve, fix, and protect museum collections, including displays, specimens, archives and the building itself.

For me, I spent this semester on my hands and knees cleaning the dinosaur exhibits.

"So you get to clean the dinosaurs?"

No, that's not what I said. Me and another intern clean everything except the bones. We clean the floors, the glass, the leaves, the trees, and the walls. Yes, it's a long process. Yes, it's tedious. Yes, I love it.

Maybe it's only because I work twice a week and I'm best friends with the other intern, but my time at the museum has been nothing less than exciting. I feel incredibly lucky to spend time working within an elegant building with a rich and fascinating history, surrounded by interesting objects and passionate experts.

How did I end up in Conservation?

Honestly? Luck.

Growing up, I've always been curious and weird. I've always had special interests and could always be found outside. I had trouble containing myself in the classroom, and was labeled the chatty kid in my classes. But, because I did well enough, my impending ADHD diagnosis flew under the radar.

High school was where I saw some of my troubles start. I had trouble sitting in the hour-and-a-half long block periods, I would work at home because I was too distracted to do it in class, I fell behind in group projects, and I had my seat switched... a lot.

I applied and enrolled to the University of Pittsburgh with high hopes of going to medical school to become a medical examiner (the ones who look at dead people). I faced my weed-out courses head on as a first-year microbiology major, but soon COVID hit, and we went home.

During my all-virtual sophomore year, I realized I did not want to go into STEM. I liked learning about science, but not to the level of detail taught in many STEM courses. I think organic chemistry and biochemistry are interesting, but I don't want to learn where a bromide ion would attach onto a polycarbon in an SN2 reaction. It just wasn't for me.

At the same time, I had joined my school newspaper and quickly climbed the ladder. I realized I was not only good at writing, but that I actually loved it, and I entered my junior year as an English Writing major.

Through my transition, I met Jeff, an English professor an advisor at Pitt who also held the same niche interests as me: honey bees, death, medical anatomy, botany, museum studies, and taxidermy. I took some classes with him and he mentioned the opportunity of working at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. I had no idea of what kind of work I'd be doing, but I immediately agreed. He set me up with my boss, Gretchen, and I joined the museum's Conservation Department a few weeks later.

Conservation is like writing: It's an avenue to explore my interests and curiosities.

Writing gives me the flexibility to write and learn about my wide vast of interests. I can write a research paper on COVID-19 related health disparities in urban/rural areas while also writing a news report on Joe Biden's speech in Pittsburgh, while also writing a personal piece about the complexity within a father/daughter relationship. Writing is the most centralized thing in my life.

Conservation gives me the flexibility to write and learn about my wide vast of interests. I can spend time dusting a geode from the hall of gems and minerals while also spending time looking at the ornithology's department's moldy files, and spending my afternoon cleaning leaves next to the Stegosaurus.

.

This week the UK’s Museums Association held their conference in Brighton. They live-streamed all of the sessions from the main room, including the keynotes (alas not the session “Are toilets the eyes to the museum’s soul?”). 

You can watch the videos on their facebook page. Click the link above! 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09548963.2018.1503797?needAccess=true

https://books.google.com/books?id=KkotXT-UCd0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011416644&view=1up&seq=23

https://archive.org/details/essaysonmuseumso00flowrich/page/n7

1. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00078668/00001/135x

2. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00039414/00001/9x