Steve Etches
Dr Steve Etches MBE - Ask a Palaeontologist
This month we chat to Dr Steve Etches MBE, from The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life, Kimmeridge, Dorset
- Name: Dr Steve Etches MBE
- Job: Collector, Curator and Preparator
- Location: The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life, Kimmeridge, Dorset
What inspired you to become a scientist?
I am not a scientist.
What inspired you to become a palaeontologist?
From my passion for collecting fossils from the Kimmeridge Clay.
Describe your work/job.
Curator, collector and preparator – I continue to collect fossils and am responsible for the conservation and cleaning/preparation of new and existing specimens at the Museum and as custodian ensuring that the collection is maintained at the right humidity, stored safely and correctly, new fossils are logged accordingly and managing access to the collection for study.
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What’s the best part of your job?
All of it, I enjoy every aspect!
What other jobs have you done?
Plumber until 2016 which is when the Museum opened and I started my role managing the collection. Before the fossils were donated to the Museum they resided in a converted garage/private museum at my home in Kimmeridge.
What were your favourite subjects at school?
English, Mechanical Engineering.
Where did you study geoscience/palaeontology?
All self-taught.
What hobbies do you have outside of palaeontology?
Walking and using my Labrador dogs for country sports.
What is your favourite fossil?
Ammonite eggs as they were the first ever to be discovered.
What’s your favourite place that you have travelled to study palaeontology?
Kimmeridge of course!
Why is it important for us to study palaeontology?
To learn from the past and not for the human race to become extinct fossils themselves!
What advice would you give to somebody interested in becoming a palaeontologist?
To do it as a hobby/interest as there are so few jobs in the field of palaeontology within academia or in museums.