Mr Mark Adams
Senior Curator, Birds
Division: LS Vertebrates Division
Team: Douglas Russell, Hendrik Van Grouw, Joanne Cooper, Judith White, Mark Adams
Summary
I have been a bird curator at the NHM since 1990. I have been responsible for or had experience working in all of the bird collections (skins, skeletons, spirit, eggs & nests) though my predominant role and interest lies with the skin collection for which I have been responsible since 1995.
Collection Responsibilities
- Responsible for NHM bird skin collection – contains c.¾ million specimens representing c.95% of extant known species
- Manage bird Type collection
- Manage bird specimen loans programme
- Manage bird collection databasing
- Handle avian enquiries and identifications
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons), University of London, United Kingdom
Degrees
Employment history
- Senior Curator, Natural History Museum, Bird Group, United Kingdom, 2008 - ongoing
- Curator (previously Scientific Officer), Natural History Museum, Bird Group, United Kingdom, 1994 - 2008
- Assistant Scientific Officer, Natural History Museum, Bird Group, United Kingdom, 1990 - 1994
Academic
Publications
Adams M, Prys-Jones R, Russell D (2019) THEFT FROM THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM’S BIRD COLLECTION - WHAT CAN WE LEARN?. Alauda, 87 (3) : 73 - 82.
Rawlence NJ, Paul Scofield R, Spencer HG, Lalas C, Easton LJ, Tennyson AJD, Adams M, Pasquet E, Fraser C, Waters JM, Kennedy M (2016) Genetic and morphological evidence for two species ofLeucocarboshag (Aves, Pelecaniformes, Phalacrocoracidae) from southern South Island of New Zealand. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 177 (3) : 676 - 694. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12376
Adams MP, Woods RW (2016) Mid-Holocene Falkland Islands bird bones from a peat deposit, including a new species of caracara. Emu - Austral Ornithology, 116 (4) : 370 - 378. doi: 10.1071/mu15129
Paredes UM, Prys-Jones R, Adams M, Groombridge J, Kundu S, Agapow P-M, Abel RL (2012) Micro-CT X-rays do not fragment DNA in preserved bird skins. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 50 (3) : 247 - 250. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0469.2012.00657.x
Quillfeldt P, Masello JF, McGill RAR, Adams M, Furness RW (2010) Moving polewards in winter: a recent change in the migratory strategy of a pelagic seabird?. Frontiers in Zoology, 7 (1) : 15 - 15. doi: 10.1186/1742-9994-7-15
Dean WRJ, ADAMS M, Frahnert S, Milton SJ (2009) William John Ansorge’s bird collections in Guinea-Bissau: an annotated list. Malimbus, 31 : 75 - 108.
COOPER JH, ADAMS MP (2005) Extinct and endangered bird collections: managing the risk. Zoologische Mededelingen (Leiden), 79 : 123 - 130.
SABIN RC, ADAMS MP, VALENTINE CA (2004) Elephants in the attic. :
ADAMS MP, COOPER JH, COLLAR NJ (2003) Extinct and endangered (‘E&E’) birds: a proposed list for collection catalogues. Why Museums Matter: Avian Archives in an Age of Extinction. (eds Collar, N. J., Fisher, C. T. and Feare, C. J.). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 123A : 338 - 354.
Herroelen P, Louette M, Adams M (1999) A reassessment of the subspecies in the owl Glaucidium tephronotum, with notes on its biology.. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club, 119 (3) : 151 - 162.
Adams MP (1997) Sub-fossil Bird Bones in a Falkland Island Peat Bog.. The Warrah, Newsletter of Falklands Conservation, 11 : 6 - 7.
Adams MP (1994) The Reorganisation of the Natural History Museum’s Avian Spirit Collection.. Biology Curators Group Newsletter, 6 (4) : 41 - 42.