Natural Science Collections Facility - NSCF

13/10/2026

🦴 Collections Assistant Internship — McGregor Museum, Kimberley

The National Science Collections Facility (NSCF) is funding an exciting 5-month internship with the McGregor Museum's Zoology Section.

You'll help image and mobilise the museum's zoological collections — starting with the Mammalogy Collection — gaining hands-on experience in specimen documentation, biodiversity data management, imaging, Specify software and GBIF.

📅 1 Nov 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 (5 months) 💰 R11,000/month stipend 🏠 Basic accommodation available for relocating interns 🎓 Master's degree in Zoology, Biological Sciences, Biodiversity, Conservation Biology or related field

Suited to a Master's graduate keen on natural history collections, museum science or biodiversity informatics. Applications welcome from across South Africa.

📩 Apply to Debbie Winterton: [email protected] Subject line: Application: Zoological Collections Assistant Internship – McGregor Museum 🗓️ Closing date: 19 October 2026

13/10/2026

Some of South Africa's most valuable scientific knowledge walks out of the door when a curator retires.

Across our natural science collections, nearly 30 million specimens in 19 institutions, the sector is facing a quiet capacity crisis: staff shortages, no clear succession planning, and institutions working in silos.

At SPNHC 2026 in Cape Town, Fulufhelo Tambani presented the NSCF Emerging Leaders Programme: a leadership journey that invests in people, not just systems. It develops emerging leaders at every level, from technicians to early-career researchers.

The full talk is now on YouTube, free to watch.

Watch the talk and tell us in the comments: what kind of leader do collections need most?

🎥 Watch here: https://youtu.be/2RfC8LLLP-M

Proud of the NSCF team building this. 🇿🇦

NSCF Emerging Leaders Programme: Growing Strong Leaders for Natural...

24/09/2026

Happy Heritage Day, South Africa 🇿🇦 This year's theme is "Celebrating Our Living Heritage: Strengthening the Ties That Bind Us", and it marks 31 years since Heritage Day was first celebrated in post-apartheid South Africa.

Heritage is the braai on the fire, the stories we tell, the languages we speak, the knowledge passed down. But there's a part of it we often forget: the natural world itself. The plants that heal, the animals in our stories, the species that shape the landscapes we call home.

South Africa's natural science collections hold the record of that living heritage: an estimated 30 million specimens across 19 partner institutions, from museums to herbaria to universities. Each one carries a label: what it is, where it was found, whose hands collected it, and when.

And more than 1.5 million of those specimens are already digitised, and will soon be searchable through the virtual museum. Soon you'll be able to explore the record of our natural heritage from your phone.

The national celebration takes place in KwaZulu-Natal this year, but heritage is everywhere. Visit a partner institution near you, and watch for the virtual museum.

What's on your Heritage Day fire, and do you know its story? Tell us in the comments. 👇

10/09/2026

So proud to see the NSCF family together at SPNHC 2026!

SPNHC 2026 — the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections international conference — was held this week at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, and the NSCF network showed up in force.

The NSCF coordinates over 30 million preserved plant, animal, and fossil specimens across 19 partner institutions in South Africa. This group photo represents just some of the people who make that work happen — curators, herbarium and collection managers, technicians, emerging leaders, researchers, and programme staff.

Across the conference, the NSCF network presented on topics including:

— Natural history collections as global knowledge infrastructure (Dr Fatima Parker-Allie, plenary) — Reimagining natural history museums in Africa's knowledge future (Dr Wayne Florence, plenary) — The NSCF Emerging Leaders Programme (Fulufhelo Tambani) — Incorporating orphan collections at the Bews Herbarium (Christina Potgieter Curry) — Digitising SANParks' four herbaria (Nikisha Singh) — High-resolution imaging of aquatic collections (Siphamandla Mceleli & Zinzi Somana) — Mass herbarium digitisation (Maxine Manickum) — The NSCF Collections Assessment tool (Shanelle Ribeiro & Shaun Pieterse) — Specify implementation across South African collections (multiple presenters)

Iziko Museums of South Africa South African National Biodiversity Institute University of KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal Museum South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Makhanda, Eastern Cape

It's a privilege to work alongside people who care so deeply about South Africa's natural heritage. Congratulations to everyone who presented!

09/09/2026

Five collections were about to disappear. Then the Bews Herbarium stepped in.

Today at SPNHC 2026 — the international conference for natural history collections, held at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town — Christina Potgieter presented "Lessons learnt from incorporating five 'orphan collections' at the Bews Herbarium (NU)."

An orphan collection is a group of specimens that has lost its institutional home. Sometimes a curator passes away. Sometimes funding dries up. Sometimes an institution changes direction and the collection is left behind. Without intervention, these specimens — irreplaceable records of South Africa's biodiversity — can deteriorate or disappear entirely.

Over eight years, the Bews Herbarium at the University of KwaZulu-Natal incorporated five such collections, with support from the National Science Collections Facility (NSCF). The herbarium grew by over 7,000 specimens, now housing 250,000 — the fourth largest in South Africa — and expanded from a regional herbarium to one with national geographic coverage.

Christina's talk shared practical lessons: the importance of 99-year loan agreements, creative space planning, freezing incoming material to prevent pest damage, and a thoughtful integration approach that preserves each collection's original identity while making everything accessible in one place.

It's a story about what happens when institutions choose to care for collections that aren't their own — and the unexpected benefits that follow: stronger university partnerships, student training opportunities, and a herbarium that researchers across the country now want to visit.

Congratulations, Christina — a wonderful contribution to SPNHC 2026!

Read more: t.ly/FDeP6

08/09/2026

Representing Durban at the international stage!

Today at SPNHC 2026 — the international conference for natural history collections, held at Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town — Zama Mwelase from the Durban Natural Science Museum presented "From Collections to Compliance."

The talk covered the growth, challenges, and transformation of the Mammalogy Department at DNSM — from scaling collections to meeting national compliance standards. It's honest, practical, and relevant to every institution navigating similar changes.

Congratulations to Zama on a great presentation! 🇿🇦

08/09/2026

We are so proud of Fulu!

Today at SPNHC 2026 — the international conference for natural history collections, held right here in Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town — Fulufhelo Tambani presented on the NSCF Emerging Leaders Programme.

The programme is about one thing: growing strong, confident leaders for natural science collections. It's people-centred, it spans all levels from technicians to mid-career professionals, and it has evolved over several years based on what participants actually need.

What started as a management engagement, then a manual became a Collections Management Course, which became the Emerging Leaders Programme. Along the way, cross-institutional friendships and collaborations have formed that now stretch across 19 herbaria, museums and universities.

Natural history collections don't sustain themselves. Programmes like this ensure the people who care for them are as resilient as the specimens they protect.

Congratulations, Fulu — we are proud of you! 🇿🇦

24/08/2026

Our very own Shanelle Ribeiro is in the Sunday World, and there is a plant named after her.

In its Heroic Women feature this weekend, Sunday World honoured Shanelle, Project Manager right here at the Natural Science Collections Facility (NSCF).

The honour recognises her work securing South Africa's biodiversity history collections, and her role overseeing a national network of 19 herbaria, museums and universities that care for millions of preserved plants, animals and fossils. Even a plant found only in the Eastern Cape, Crassula shanelleae, has been named in her honour.

Perhaps the best part? "I didn't plan to go into science," she says. She studied international relations and started at South African National Biodiversity Institute in a project coordination role. Proof that the path into science can start anywhere.

Congratulations, Shanelle Scheun Ribeiro we are proud to have you guarding South Africa's natural heritage.

Join us in congratulating her in the comments.

Clipping: Sunday World, 23 August 2026.

20/08/2026

Every museum label tells a story. Most visitors read the species name, the collector, the date. They rarely see the names of the people who made the science possible.

Nosiphiwo Goci worked as a research assistant in the Natural History Department of the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town for over 17 years. She processed bulk insect samples, sometimes thousands from a single collecting event, and separated them into distinct taxonomic groups. She helped digitise the museum's entomology collection, securing baseline biodiversity data for future research.

Ten years ago, following her passing, a newly described parasitoid wasp species; Lissonota goci, was named in her memory. In taxonomy, a species name is permanent: peer-reviewed, published, and written into the scientific record.

The NSCF coordinates over 18 million specimens across 19 partner institutions. The people who make that science possible are rarely the ones whose names appear in journal bylines.

Her name is on the label. It should be in the story too.

Read the full article: https://nscf.org.za/2026/08/20/her-name-on-the-label-nosiphiwo-goci/