PEOPLE: TOM GREENWAY

Meet Tom Greenway, Junior HOPE Collections Assistant.

Tom plays a crucial role in the HOPE for the Future project.  He is one of a team of five who are carefully preserving our amazing British insect collection for future generations. 

“The coolest thing about my job is getting to see

all the weird and wonderful specimens we have in the collection!” 

Tom hasn’t always worked in museums.  He studied music production and performance at college and then worked in a record store for 13 years where he organised events with acts such as Mcfly and We are Scientists (do you think the names of these acts were trying to tell you him something about his future?!). After leaving the record store, Tom had lots of different jobs including touring with a band in Europe, playing festivals and recording albums! 

Tom saw an advert for an apprenticeship on the HOPE project and thought this would be a great chance to work in a museum.  He didn’t have a background in science or nature but has always loved museums and is passionate about environmental issues. He sees his work as an important contribution in helping us and future generations understand the effects of human actions on our planet, including climate change, habitat loss and industrial agriculture.  Tom has recently been promoted from Apprentice to Junior HOPE Collections Assistant in recognition of his excellent work on the project.

“I think the most surprising thing is learning about the classification of organisms that shows evolutionary relationships between species that you would not expect to be related. I’ve also enjoyed learning about the history of entomology and the history of the classification of insect species.”