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Oliver Weeks

Oliver Weeks
Abridged CV

Yorkshire Natural History Museum/
Neo Jurassica

May 2023 - April 2024

Curator

  • Archiving of Earth and Life Sciences collections

  • Digitally cataloguing collections

  • Designing long-term display cases to showcase the evolution of life in the local area

  • Monitoring environmental conditions and creating reports for the museum

Palaeo-Technician

  • Running Neo Jurassica public labs

  • Conservation of Pleistocene bone material, consolodating bone and tusk

  • Gained fossil preparation skills working mostly with Whitby Mudstone material

  • Experience with following pneumatic tools: Zoic Palaeotech Balaur, Bronto, Chicago, Microraptor, T-rex, Trilobite, Hardy Wrinkler 322 and 70, and Ken Mannion TT, SL and DG grinder. 

Field Work
Cerney Wick, United Kingdom
August - September 2023

  • Supervisor of excavation team

  • Slot excavation of subfossil mammal Pleistocene bones

  • Plaster jacketing of mammoth tusks

  • Conservation and consolidation of Pleistocene and Jurassic fossils

Outreach

  • Scheduling guest speakers for the museum's weekly public lecture series

  • Running the livestream for the lecture series

  • Presenting for the lecture series

  • Tour guiding of the museum exhibits

  • Running workshops for school and scouting groups on fossilisation and evolution

  • Taking school groups on fossil walks to the Carboniferous rocks of the Rivelin Valley

University of Bristol
MSci Palaeontology and Evolution (2:1)

September 2016 - June 2020

Tutored by Prof. Philip Donoghue

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Master's Project

Functional Adaptation in the Evolution of Cetacea​

  • Morphofunctional study of cetacean jaws using elliptical Fourier analysis and 2D FEA modelling to test functional optimality through their evolution

  • Supervised by Prof. Emily Rayfield, Prof. Phil Donoghue and Dr. William Deakin

Analytical Project

  • Performed a deep dive literature review on the inference of feeding ecology in the fossil record in the style of Trends in Ecology and Evolution

  • Produced a mock grant proposal for a 3-year research project based on the literature review

Lab Skills

Biology - Dissection, chromatography, photospectroscopy, viral inoculation, electrophoresis

Geology - Microscopic and macroscopic petrology, soil processing

Field Skills

  • Geological mapping skills, implemented on the Isle of Arran and the Lune Valley near Tebay

  • Sedimentary logging skills, implemented on the Jurassic Coast and the Isle of Wight

Technical Skills

  • Coding in R, MATLAB and UNIX

  • Competent in performing analyses in programs such as R, SPSS and MATLAB

  • Experience with phylogenetics coding in UNIX, with programs such as MrBayes, PhyloBayes and BEAST, and tree formatting using FigTree

Research

Rhaetian Microvertebrates

  • Research internship supervised by Prof. Michael Benton

  • Picking and identifying microfossil specimens under a microscope

  • Focus stacking photography of specimens to produce publication quality image plates

 Master's Project

  • Extending the analyses performed during master's project

Additional Skills

Lab Skills

  • Extensive qualitative and analytical chemistry skills through A-level in Chemistry

  • Familiarity with COSHH standards particularly in a biohazards and corrosive substance contexts

  • Experience with aseptic technique

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