London's Natural History Museum, which cares for about 80 million specimens and uses them in research and public galleries at South Kensington and Tring.
The Natural History Museum looks after one of the biggest collections of living and Earth-science specimens in the world, described by the museum as more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years. Visitors know it for its dinosaurs, minerals and the blue whale skeleton called Hope in Hintze Hall, but behind the galleries it is also a working research institution. Scientists and curators study the collections to understand things like how life has changed over time and how people can protect nature today. It also runs a library and archives, learning programmes for schools, and a policy unit that links research with decision-makers.
The museum's modern story begins with the palaeontologist Richard Owen, who became Superintendent of the natural history departments in 1856 and argued for a museum of its own. The Alfred Waterhouse building in South Kensington opened on 18 April 1881. Hans Sloane's collection, the same one that founded the British Museum, formed the basis of the museum. Its stated vision is "We are creating advocates for the planet", and staff describe a future where people and the planet both thrive. The museum also says that diversity is one of its critical values. Its patron is the Princess of Wales.
In the UK, the museum works from two public sites. The main one is on Cromwell Road in South Kensington, London. The second is the Natural History Museum at Tring, in Akeman Street, Hertfordshire, a site built by Lionel Walter Rothschild that the museum took over in 1938. Collections are also stored at a site in Wandsworth, and a new collections, science and digitisation centre is being built at Shinfield in Berkshire, with building work reported to have started in 2025 and completion expected in 2027. The museum says it welcomes more than seven million visitors a year, and Wikipedia reports 7,116,929 visitors in 2025, which would make it the most visited attraction in the UK.
The museum's own pages put its workforce at about 900 people, while Wikipedia says about 850, so the exact number is unclear. What is clear is the range of jobs. Its pages describe curators who care for and study specimens, research staff working in themed areas, a policy unit, a press office, learning and schools teams, visitor services and facilities teams, and business services that handle publishing, touring exhibitions, film locations, venue hire and licensing. Fundraising, membership and corporate partnership teams support the work, and volunteers help too. Doug Gurr is named as director on Wikipedia.
For a young person, this means a creative and cultural institution where science, storytelling, design, teaching and business all meet. Exhibition designers, educators, digital teams, scientists, collections managers and commercial staff all help turn specimens into something the public can understand. If you enjoy nature, history, communication or how big organisations run, the museum's website is the place to look at current teams and roles.
Website: www.nhm.ac.uk
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