Erika Range

Ornamentum Lecture Series presents Poisoned Pages and Persistent Residues: Hazards, Histories and Decisions in Natural History Collections with Erika Range (@conservatorrange ) Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 3 pm ET 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 @winterthurmuse ), 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. ☠️ Regiser at link in bio ☠️ -- Image Details - Hg contaminated Herbarium sheet. Image courtesy of Canadian Museum of Nature (@museumofnature ) - Arsenic on book spine. Image courtesy of Canadian Museum of Nature (@museumofnature ) - Three brightly coloured rare books. Image courtesy of Canadian Museum of Nature (@museumofnature )

Another cutie in the lab today as we get ready for exhibit! This Leopard was a gift from Kenya’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (post colonial rule) to Canada’s Governor General Roland Michener in 1967 for Canada’s centenary! She’s a diplomatic leopard and a scientific specimen! Also missing a few whiskers…..

What do you do why you need to see inside a 100+ year old muskox specimen? You call a large animal vet of course! Today I got to work with Dr. Weins from Renfrew Animal Hospital to X-ray our lovely Muskox which has a bit of a wobbly head. Using X-ray is a great way to see inside without damaging the specimen and we can learn so much about its construction! #thisisconservation #conservation #naturalhistory #muskox #taxidermy

This was a very satisfying little project this week! A repair on a cast of a Bothriolpis fossil! #B72totherescue #conservation #naturalhistoryconservation #fossil #fossilrepair #bothriolpis

Finished! So much cleaner and more stable. You can finally see the true colours of the scales of this longnose gar. Fins have been repaired with Japanese paper and Jade 403 (watered down) and toned with water colours. #naturalhistory #naturalhistoryconservation #longnosegar #thisisconservation #conservation #artconservation #science #biology

Love a good half way clean photo! 🥰 Longnose gar - freeze dried. Mechanical removal of acids/fats/proteins that have crystallized on the surface. Very gentle aqueous cleaning after. This friend will be on display soon! #conservation #naturalhistory #naturalhistoryconservation #longnosegar #cleaning

Had my arsenic loving (and always dressing for the occasion) friend @arsenic.threads in the lab today to XRF some books and hunt for toxic pigments. Most toxic book was one of my favourite Catherine Parr Traill books (Canadian Wildflowers 1868) copper acetoarsenite endpapers and pigment used throughout. So pretty! #bibtox #bibliotoxicology #arsenic #toxicpigments #conservation #thisisconservation @jelgilman

Had a little field trip over to @cdn_agriculture @agriculture_can and the #canadiannationalcollectionofinsects to test some newly acquired historic slides from the 1870s that had some suspicious green pigment! 🕵️‍♀️. Some beautiful slides and our favourite arsenic containing emerald green pigment made an appearance- plus just an amazing collection (18 million insects, arachnids and nematodes) 🤯. #conservation #naturalhistoryconservation #arsenic #parisgreen #copperarsenite #entomology #microscopy #historicslides

I had the absolute pleasure of giving the lunch time lecture for my @natsca_official colleagues in the UK. It was dark and early for me (thanks time zones 😴🥱) but so fun to share our work with our colleagues in natural history collections care! #thisisconservation #outreach #mercury #NatSCA #historicpesticides #herbaria #botany

This is a picture of a beautiful @jessicalafrancehwang and disheveled me, on the last day of the magical 50th @cac_accr conference! Thank you to the bigger conference committee which really pulled the entire conference off. Am I glad it’s over? Yes. Did I have fun? Yes.

Remember this Gold Bug project from a while ago? @coleswansonart and I did a little collaboration and it’s finally published!! It’s in Collections Forum (SPNHC journal) so email me if you want a copy and you don’t have a SPNHC membership! #naturalhistory #spnhc @spnhc_ #conservation #artscience #naturalhistoryconservator #naturalhistoryconservation #sem #gilding #ipm