Meet the Team

“The Cole Team of staff and students are simply the best, and the collection is stunning and endlessly fascinating”.

Professor Amanda Callaghan has been the academic curator of the Cole Museum since 2005 and led the redesign, reinterpretation and move of the museum to the Health and Life Sciences building. She can be contacted on a.callaghan@reading.ac.uk, and on Twitter @ACallaZoo.

“I specialise in the care and conservation of fluid-preserved specimens. I also teach a team of students the diverse range of skills needed for working with fluid collections.”

Claire has years of experience working with the Cole Museum’s diverse and often challenging fluid collection. She is also undertaking a PhD in the preservation of colour in fluid-preserved zoological museum specimens. Find her on Twitter @wetconservatrix.

“The Cole Museum collections formed the basis of teaching during my time studying at Reading, and I am very excited to be back and helping to look after them and show the public what a wonderful and fascinating place our museum is!” 

Emma studied BSc Zoology and MSc Wildlife Management and Conservation at Reading, where she first volunteered and worked with the museum collections. She has now returned in this diverse role to assist with the care of the collections and promote awareness of the museum.

“The move of the Cole Museum is a huge and complicated undertaking, as the collection consists of many complex and fragile objects. It is a privilege to utilise and stretch my own skills to make this into the success it deserves.”

Fred has worked as conservator for the University collections since 2006. He is responsible for some of our  largest, most complex and challenging specimens, and the ongoing museum move could not happen without his expertise!

“Apart from assisting with the Cole Museum packing, fundraising and specimen conservation, I have helped to redesign specimen cases and write new content to make the new Cole Museum even more inspiring and exciting for our students and visitors!”

Tara continues to be involved with many aspects of the museum. Find her on Twitter @TaraPirie.

Dr Graham Holloway is our expert in museum pest management. An expert entomologist with over 40 years of experience, Graham has worked for the British Museum as a consultant investigating insects on their new green roof.

Graham is an international expert on Dermestid beetles and is the national recorder of Dermestidae. He specialises in identifying dermestid species in both museum collections and from specimens collected in the field and has described several new species, including Anthrenus amandae, named after our curator Amanda Callaghan.