Ornamentum Lecture Series Presents |
| Poisoned Pages and Persistent Residues: Hazards, Histories and Decisions in Natural History Collections Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM via Zoom. This talk explores the oft-overlooked presence of hazardous materials in natural history collections, with a focus on recent research into toxic pigments in rare books. Building on work from the Poison Book Project (Winterthur Museum), it examines how nineteenth-century bindings can contain arsenic, lead, and mercury, materials historically valued for their colour, but now understood as potential health risks. Rather than focusing on books alone, the talk situates these findings within the broader context of natural history collections, where hazardous substances are not unusual but often inherent, whether from preservation practices, specimen preparation, or historical pest control. Drawing on current research and practical experience at the Canadian Museum of Nature, the talk considers how we identify, assess, and manage these risks while maintaining access to collections. It ultimately asks how conservation practice can balance care, curiosity, and caution when the materials we preserve are not entirely benign. |
| BIOGRAPHY Erika Range is one of two conservators at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, which cares for over 14 million specimens. Erika’s research interests are vast, and include the use of modern materials like plastics in collections, 3D-printed materials and their integration into museum collections, hazardous materials in collections, and new and innovative approaches to the treatment and stabilization of natural-history specimens.
Erika’s past conservation work has included Ingenium Canada- Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, the Canadian Conservation Institute, the Geological Survey of Canada and the National Capital Commission. |
