FCPD Dino

Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Trustees and Management Board

Trustees

We have a set of trustees, who are responsible for financial oversight and executive governance:

Management Board

Friends also operates a management board. This meets meets on a regular basis to co-ordinate our many projects and our month-to-month activities. We are all volunteers.

Elinor Michael – pic by Nik Strangelove

Ellinor Michel (Chair)

I am a taxonomist and evolutionary biologist at the Natural History Museum. My research focus is on African freshwaters, especially the species radiations in ancient lakes of the East African Rift.

I’ve always had a strong interest in the history and philosophy of science; that, combined with my commitment to making a difference to my local community, made it pretty clear that the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs would become a focus for my efforts. The ‘Dinos’ are stellar for a range of reasons – their construction heralded a major paradigm shift in the history of science, as they were the first life-sized reconstructions of extinct animals; they were ground-breaking for the history of public engagement, as the first big scale edu-tainment on natural history; and they are also just incredibly beautiful and stunningly cool as sculptures. When you walk among them you feel like you are living ‘Where the Wild Things Are’.

By preserving these Grade 1 heritage assets and building an educational engagement programme around them, we hope to convey excitement about key ideas in natural science for generations to come.

nhm.academia.edu/EllinorMichel | [email protected]

Adrian Lister

I am a palaeontologist specialising in the fossil mammals of the Quaternary ice ages.  I taught palaeontology and evolutionary biology at UCL for many years before joining the Natural History Museum in 2007.  For several years I have researched the fossil mammals discovered by Darwin in South America, that were subsequently studied and named by Richard Owen in the 1830s-1840s. This has led to a fascination with this critical period in the history of palaeontology and Owen’s part it in, a period preserved in time, as it were, in the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.

As a mammal specialist I am also at pains to point out that some of the statues are only honorary ‘dinosaurs’, including the giant sloth Megatherium, with Owen’s interpretation of it (then new, but still considered valid) as supported on a tripod of its hind legs and tail; and the ‘Irish Elk’ Megaloceros, with its magnificent antlers, which has special meaning for me as it was the subject of my PhD work. These treasures have to preserved –  and that is our commitment as the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.

nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/staff-directory/adrian-lister.html

Anthony M R Lewis

Anthony M R Lewis

I’m a tour guide for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and English Heritage; a voiceover artist for Travel Channel and Sony; and an online documentary maker featuring on londonist.com. While producing my ‘Lost Valley of London‘ adventure series, I became utterly enamoured with the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. To me these sculptures represent everything unexpected, mysterious and exciting about London heritage: the thrill of discovery, the wild-ride of history and the inspiration of human endeavour. I am honoured to join the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and promote these magnificent beasts’ conservation.

Erica Brackenbury

I work in postgraduate medical training and sporadically as a freelance journalist. I am a huge fan of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and love that they are a snapshot in time and an incredible insight into the history of scientific thought.

Jennifer Crees

Jennifer Crees (Webmaster)

I have a background as a researcher, primarily at ZSL and the Natural History Museum, working on late Quaternary mammal extinctions. The various sculptures that make up the Crystal Palace ‘Dinosaurs’ have therefore always been a source of fascination, in particular the perhaps lesser-known Ice Age mammals: the extinct giant deer Megaloceros giganteus and giant ground sloth Megatherium americanum. The importance of these Grade-1 listed sculptures as the first life-sized reconstructions of extinct animals in the history of science, education and entertainment cannot be over-stated.

More personally, I grew up in and around Penge, and Crystal Palace Park and its Dinosaurs have been a captivating and comforting backdrop for weekend walks with friends and family, attempts to keep fit and nearly every day pushing my young son around whilst on maternity leave.

I am thrilled to form part of a dedicated team to help protect, promote and conserve them.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/departments-and-staff/staff-directory/jennifer-crees.html

Jeremy Young

I am a palaeontologist working at University College London, although the fossils I study, coccoliths, are rather too small to end up as sculptures in the park. I have strong interest in history of geology and of London. The Crystal Palace sculptures are a wonderful piece of that heritage, and it is good to be able to help ensure their future. In addition to my palaeontological background I have experience as a trustee of other charities, including the Camphill Village Trust and I am leading a substantial project, Mikrotax, which is putting data on microfossils on the web.

researchgate.net/profile/Jeremy_Young5

Jonathan Armistead

Jonathan Armistead

I have been a resident of Southeast London since 2015 when I moved from the Canadian Prairies. It was love at first sight when I first visited the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. They remind me so much of roadside monumental sculpture back home. I have a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Fine Art with majors in Ceramics and Sculpture. My masters degree at Carnegie Mellon University focused on collaborating with audiences and communities outside the art world and also strongly encouraged relationships between arts and science. My own practice and research focuses on combining traditional and digital skills to make either miniature of large scale works. Prior to and during my education I worked in retail for over 10 years, in sales, management and display.

I currently work for University of the Arts London (UAL) across 3 colleges as a Technical Operations Manager. My remit is to manage all the 3D workshops and the staff within them to help make sure they operate reliably and safely for students and staff.  These workshops include foundries, moldmaking, metalwork, ceramics, woodwork, plastics, and digital fabrication.  My remit also extends to include serviced resources such as digital print, equipment loan store and AV support. 

I hope to use the skills I’ve gathered to help ensure the ‘Dinosaurs’ have the care, protection, admiration and popularity they deserve.

Natasha Almeida

Natasha Almeida

As the curator of meteorites at the Natural History Museum, I usually answer questions about how the dinosaurs became extinct, but as a proud Penge resident, I’m thrilled to be contributing to the conservation of my dino neighbours.

I’ve got a background in scientific research and museum studies, and I am passionate about the role of museums and cultural sites in society – I think a scientifically literate, collaborative, and inquisitive society is crucial to our species. These sculptures spark curiosity and open up an opportunity to talk about how science works, as well as being such an important historical anchor in natural science communication. Not to mention, they are just absolutely endearing, full of personality, and brighten up every trip to the park.

Neil Leaver

Neil Leaver

I have worked in London and it’s Boroughs for 45 years on its Listed Buildings, Bridges and Structures, including the Dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park. My clients have mainly been in the public sector, which has given me valuable experience of their processes and procedures. I have worked with Joint Ventures and created innovative collaborations to deliver term contracts in Building Maintenance, Highways, Bridges and Social housing.

Having been a London Borough of Bromley resident for 24 years I am also very familiar with Crystal Palace and its surroundings from a personal perspective. I am now retired and living in Westerham, Kent.

Sarah Jayne (Social Media lead)

I’m a local resident with an enthusiasm for history, and for volunteering within the community. Both sets of grandparents lived in Sydenham and Penge so the dinosaurs have been a part of my life since birth.

I am keen to help the charity expand upon the ways in which we can bring greater understanding of the historical significance of the Dinosaurs to a wider audience. I want to convey excitement about the statues in a way that inspires others to investigate for themselves.

One of my favourite things about the Dinosaurs is imagining the impact they must have had upon a society that had not yet been exposed to any notion that such creatures had existed. Richard Owen (the man who gave us the name dinosaur) realised the sculptures were a way to bring scientific knowledge to the masses. I like to think of an unsuspecting member of the public, going for a wander in the park and finding pre-historic beasts lurking in the trees!

The fact that the Dinosaurs are anatomically incorrect makes them all the more charming, and highlights the speed at which scientific development moves.

I am utterly thrilled to be a part of this important charity, and I wholeheartedly accept the challenge of assisting to preserve and promote the distinguished, delightful, divine Dinosaurs!

TriSarahTops

Stefan Bort (Treasurer)

I have lived most of my life in south London, and can remember visiting the dinosaurs as a child. I now live very close to the Crystal Palace park and am a regular dog walker there, enjoying both the dinosaurs and café. Despite studying Environmental Science at university, my professional life has been focussed on corporate governance, and it is those skills that I bring to bear as treasurer and trustee of the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. I love the mixture of local history, past environments and history of science that these unique statues bring to us.

View past board members and trustees

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