The Geology Collections
Breaking News!
On Friday, May 31st, the Rock Room will play host to a special one off pop-up exhibition staged by the Graduate Sculpture students from the Slade School of Fine Art.
'Habits, cleavages and fractures' will feature the artists own work alongside the permanent displays and Geological Collections.
The format is experimental and the artists have been given free reign to use their work to interpret the Rock Room space. The exhibition will involve a number
of objects and actions being inserted, tested and tried out within the Geology Collection.
Staff, students and members of the public are encouraged to visit the Rock Room from between 1-5 to view the works and meet some of the artists involved. From 4 -5 the room will host a special discussion between the artists and members of UCL staff, drawing upon the space, collections and art works.
Introduction to the Collection
Learning with objects has been an integral part of geological study at UCL since the first half of the nineteenth century. Today, the collection includes not only rocks, minerals and fossils collected over the last 175 years, but also individual collections of historical importance. The highlights include the Johnston-Lavis Volcanological collection, the Planetary Science Collection (Regional Planetary Image Facility) and the internationally recognised Micropalaeontological collections.
Highlights
Representatives from the collections are on show in the Rock Room, the South Wing 1st floor corridor and in the Regional Planetary Image Facility. For further information please visit the collections page.
Listen to a UCL News podcast interview with UCL teaching collections curator Nick Booth about revamping the collection, its history and some of the collection’s most impressive objects:
History of the Collections
The Geology Collections are one of UCL's accredited museums and have a history stretching back to at least 1855. A Museum of Geology was founded then, some 14 years after the first Professor of Geology, Thomas Webster, had come to office.
The Collections have been housed in their present location, the Rock Room, since 1908. For further information please visit the collections page.
