Mrs Lu Allington-Jones
Senior Conservator
Division: Conservation Centre
Summary
I began my professional career as an archaeological illustrator and finds processor in Cambridgeshire and then worked on various projects at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.
I started work in the Department of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum as a conservator in 2004.
I have also undertaken freelance work at the Horniman Museum and volunteered in the Bristol University preparation laboratory, in the NHM Department of Zoology and with 5 Archaeological Teams.
In 2014 I became a Senior Conservator within the Conservation Centre.
My current role includes remedial and preventive conservation of a range of natural history specimens but I specialise in Earth Science materials. I am also a member of the Geological Curators' Group Committee and an Associate Editor for the journal Geological Curator.
Qualifications
- MA Principles of Conservation, University College London, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2011
- MSc Museum Studies, University of Leicester, United Kingdom, 2003 - 2006
- MSc Palaeobiology, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, 2000 - 2001
- BSc (hons) Geology, Durham, United Kingdom, 1996 - 1999
Degrees
Committees
Member, Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation, 2020 - on going.
Other, Geological Curator's Group,
Memberships
Member, NatSCA, Natural Sciences Collections Association.
Editorships
Editor, Geological Curator, Geological Curators Group, 2021 - on going.
Associate editor, Geological Curator, Geological Curators Group, 2019 - on going.
Events
Conference Attendance
Attendee/participant, #IconTC 2017, (Conference),
Organisation
Organising committee, SPPC 2022, (Conference),
Organising committee, Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation, (Conference),
Organising committee, Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation 2021, (Conference),
Organising committee, Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation 2022, (Conference),
Organiser, Pyrite Oxidation: where are we now?, (Seminars),
Publications
Allington-Jones L (2022) Safeguarding earth science collections in wooden drawers. Presented at GCG AGM and SMMP Symposium 2022.
Allington-Jones L (2022) Utilising dewetting to remove “insoluble” resin coatings. Presented at Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation.
Allington-Jones L, Montgomery W (2022) The Case of the “Asbestos” Dinosaur
Martin-Silverstone E, Unwin D, Cuff A, Brown E, Allington-Jones L, Barrett P (2022, 17 2) A new pterosaur from Skye, Scotland and the early diversification of flying reptiles. bioRxiv
Allington-Jones L (2021) Something About Meteorites: When Corrosion Prevention Causes Corrosion. Presented at Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation.
Allington-Jones L (2021) Epopast 400 Specimen Mounts: The Movie
Díaz-Cruz JA, Alvarado-Ortega J, Ramírez-Sánchez MM, Bernard EL, Allington-Jones L, Graham M (2021) Phylogenetic morphometrics, geometric morphometrics and the Mexican fossils to understand evolutionary trends of enchodontid fishes. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 111 : 103492 - 103492. doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103492
Allington-Jones L (2021) Six Questions for a Geological Conservator
Allington-Jones L, Miles K, Petrera L, Fenlon A (2021) Burn notice: a practical solution for labels damaged by pyritic specimens. Collection Forum,
Allington-Jones L (2021) Chill Out: A Cautionary Note On The Use Of Aqueous Treatments On Taxidermy
Allington-Jones L, Bailey R (2021) Treatments for Lipid Oxidation in Taxidermy and Impact on DNA Recovery. Studies in Conservation, 66 (8) : 463 - 476. doi: 10.1080/00393630.2020.1855858
Allington-Jones L, Clark B, Fernandez V (2020) Fool's gold, fool's paradise? Utilising X-ray micro-Computed Tomography to evaluate the effect of environmental conditions on the deterioration of pyritic fossils. Journal of the Institute of Conservation, 43 (3) : 213 - 224. doi: 10.1080/19455224.2020.1810091
Allington-Jones L (2020) X-ray micro Computed Tomography as a tool for measuring deterioration: a case study on pyritic fossils. Presented at 29th Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation (SPPC) 2020.
Allington-Jones L (2020, 1 10) “Hope” is the thing with feathers: how useful are cyclomethicones when cleaning taxidermy?. NatSCA Notes and Comments 18
Petrera L, Allington-Jones L, Miles K (2020) Large reptiles, localised solutions: investigating alternative delivery systems for the treatment of oversized pyritic specimens. Geological Curator, 11 (3) : 213 - 216.
Allington-Jones L (2020) Weep no more: conservation of an iron-nickel meteorite from Canyon Diablo, Arizona. Journal of Natural Science Collections, 7 : 83 - 91.
Allington-Jones L (2020) Orange is the New Green: Giving a Makeover to the Fossil Tree in the Garden of the Natural History Museum London
Allington-Jones L (2019) There and back again - safeguarding research loans. Presented at Geological Curators' Group 46th Winter Seminar and AGM.
Allington-Jones L (2019) Counting the costs (of low-oxygen storage projects). The Geological Curator, 11 (1) : 27 - 31.
Graham M, Allington-Jones L (2018) The air-abrasive technique: a re-evaluation of its use in fossil preparation.. Palaeontologia Electronica, 21 (2) : 1 - 9. doi: 10.26879/815
Allington-Jones L (2018) The costs of pyrite oxidation re-storage projects. Presented at Pyrite Oxidation: where are we now?.
Allington-Jones L (2018) Mastodon and on and on…a moving story. Journal of Natural Science Collections, 5 : 110 - 114.
Allington-Jones L, McKibbin C (2017) Here Comes the Sun(Fish): Conservation and Restorage of an Extraordinary Natural History Specimen. Collection Forum, 31 (1-2) : 53 - 69. doi: 10.14351/0831-4985-31.1.53
Allington-Jones L (2017) Tackling Pyrite Oxidation at the NHM. Presented at GCG AGM.
Allington-Jones L (2017) Cleaning Minerals: practical and ethical considerations. Geological Curator, 10 (8) : 473 - 479. doi: 10.55468/gc252
McKibbin C, Allington-Jones L, Verveniotou E (2017) Giant Sequoia: an extraordinary case study involving Carbopol® gel. Solvent Gels, 1610 10 - 16 10 10Solvent Gels in the Conservation of Art Archetype Publishing Ltd : London. 172 - 176.
Allington-Jones L, Trafford A (2017) The Airless Project. Presented at NatSCA AGM.
Allington-Jones L, Trafford A (2017) Conservation in a Barcode Age: A cross-discipline re-storage project for pyritic specimens. ICOM-CC 18th Triennial Conference, 49 9 - 4 9 9Linking Past and Future
Trafford A, Allington-Jones L (2017) Construction of Anoxic Microenvironments: Project Airless
Trafford A, Allington-Jones L (2016) Combining digitisation and sustainable conservation: The Airless Project. Green Museum - How to Practice what we preach SPNHC 31st Annual Meeting, 206 6 - 20 6 6SPNHC : 185 - 187.
Sendino MC, Cuadros J, Allington-Jones L, Barnbrook JA (2015) Chemical Analysis of the Dust on a Historically Important Collection. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, 11 (4) : 291 - 303. doi: 10.1177/155019061501100403
Graham MR, Allington-Jones L (null) Challenges encountered during acid resin transfer preparation of fossil fish from Monte Bolca, Italy. Palaeontologia Electronica, doi: 10.26879/540
Allington-Jones L (2015) The Clacton Spear: The Last One Hundred Years. Archaeological Journal, 172 (2) : 273 - 296. doi: 10.1080/00665983.2015.1008839
Allington-Jones L, Bernucci A (2015) Scanning electron microscope hypsometry as a tool for evaluating the impact of surface treatments: A case study on sub-fossil bone. Studies in Conservation, 60 (1) : 55 - 64. doi: 10.1179/2047058413y.0000000123
Bernucci A, Allington-Jones L (2015) Conservation of James Sowerby’s Fungi Models. Journal of Natural Science Collections, 2 : 35 - 40.
Allington-Jones L (2014) Digitising Historic Conservation Records at the Natural History Museum, London. Presented at SPNHC 29th Annual Meeting, 22-27 June 2014, Cardiff, Wales.
Allington-Jones L, Sherlock E (2014) Snagged setae: Evaluating alternatives to cotton wool bungs for liquid-stored specimens. Collection Forum, 28 (1-2) : 1 - 7. doi: 10.14351/0831-0005-28.1.1
Lu A-J (2014) Preserving carbonatite lavas. Geological Curator, 10 (1) : 3 - 8. doi: 10.55468/gc29
(2013) The Phoenix: The Role of Conservation Ethics in the Development of St Pancras Railway Station (London, UK). Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies, 11 (1) : 1 - 1. doi: 10.5334/jcms.1021205
Allington-Jones L (2013) Applying glass conservation techniques to a mineral vase. Geological Curator, 9 (10) : 497 - 500. doi: 10.55468/gc48
ALLINGTON-JONES L (2012) Albert the Anaconda: Investigation and Cleaning of a Historic Snake Skin. ICOM-CC Natural History Collections Working Group annual newsletter, 14 - 18.
ALLINGTON-JONES L (2012) Going to The Other Side – Acid Preparation of Dinosaur Bones from Atherfield Bay. Poster.. Presented at 21st meeting of the Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation, 10-14 September 2012, Oxford.
ALLINGTON-JONES L (2012) Bad Influence - Acetic Acid Preparation of a Pterosaur in Metamorphosed Limestone. Poster.. Presented at 21st meeting of the Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation, 10-14 September 2012, Oxford.
VERVENIOTOU E, BERNUCCI A, ALLINGTON-JONES L, McKIBBIN C, GRAHAM M, COLLINS C (2012) Building Conservation-Grade Support Systems for the Long-Term Storage of Fossil Vertebrates (poster for Mountmakers Forum, Chicago)..
Allington-Jones L, Bernucci A, Collins C, Cornish L, Verveniotou E (2011) Trouble in the gallery: balancing display needs with conservation requirements to provide a sustainable solution to building based environmental problems at the Natural History Museum, London. Presented at SPNHC 26th Annual Meeting.
Allington-Jones L, Collins C (2011) Review of the use of oxygen-free environmental enclosures at the Natural History Museum, London. (poster for SPNHC).
Allington-Jones L, Verveniotou E, Bernucci A (2011) Building Conservation-Grade Support Systems for the Long-Term Storage of Fossil Vertebrates SPPC/GCG 2011.
ALLINGTON-JONES LU, BRADDY SJ, TRUEMAN CN (2010) Palaeoenvironmental implications of the ichnology and geochemistry of the Westbury Formation (Rhaetian), Westbury-on-Severn, south-west England. Palaeontology, 53 (3) : 491 - 506. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00947.x
ALLINGTON-JONES L (2010) Do objects have biographies and careers…or do they evolve?. 2 : 2 - 2.
Allington-Jones L (2008) A New Method for the Restoration of Palaeontological Specimens Mounted in Canada balsam. NatSCA News, 14 : 28 - 32.
Allington-Jones L, Sherlock E (2007) Choosing a microscope slide sealant: a review of aging characteristics and the development of a new test, using low oxygen environments. NatSCA News, 12/13 : 12: 28-32 - 13: 11-13.
Allington L (2006) Investigation into the Deterioration of Palaeontological Specimens Stored in Glycerol. Studies in Conservation, 51 (3) : 199 - 204. doi: 10.1179/sic.2006.51.3.199
Allington-Jones L, Miles K, Petrera L, Fenlon A (null) Burn Notice: a practical solution for labels damaged by pyritic specimens. Collection Forum, 34 (1) :
Contributed Publications
Martin-Silverstone E, Unwin D, Cuff A, Brown E, Allington-Jones L, Barrett P (2022, 17 2) A new pterosaur from Skye, Scotland and the early diversification of flying reptiles. bioRxiv
Courses taught
Short course: Fundamentals of Natural History Conservation
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
11/2017.
Short course: Fundamentals of Natural History Conservation
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
11/2016.
Invited and keynote speaker
While the public’s away, the conservators will play: cleaning gallery specimens during lockdown, Geological Curators Group AGM: 30/11/2021.
Well puffed: conservation of 2 porcupine fish for an exhibition, NatSCA Conservation Twitter Conference 2021: Twitter, 19/1/2021.
Controlled exsiccation of fossilised remains in waterlogged marl: Slowly Slowly Dryee Squiddie, 28th Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation: Dinosaur Isle Museum, 11/9/2019.
Skin deep: the use of cyclomethicones in the conservation of taxidermy, NatSCA Caring for Natural Sciences Collections Conference: Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 17/10/2018.
Giant Sequoia: an extraordinary case study involving Carbopol® gel, Solvent Gels in Conservation conference - International Academic Projects (IAP): Tate, London, 17/10/2017.
Us against the atmosphere: a conservation, re-storage and digitisation project for pyritic specimens, Collections Seminar Series: Natural History Museum, London, 28/9/2017.
Conservation in a Barcode Age a cross-discipline re-storage project for pyritic specimens, ICOM-CC triennial conference presentation: Copenhagen, Denmark, 8/9/2017.
Challenges Encountered During the Preparation by Acid Resin Transfer of Fossil Fish from Monte, Bolca, Italy, The Symposium of Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation 2014: York, United Kingdom, 1/9/2014.
Guest lectures
Friends with Benefits: join the Geological Curators Group, Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation: 6/9/2021.
Moving the Mastodon - gallery tour, International Mount Maker's Forum: Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom, 26/9/2018.
Invited speaker, Enormous Aussie fish preserved in London museum, ABC Australia Science Show (radio) with Robyn Williams: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/enormous-aussie-fish-preserved-in-london-museum/7872366, 24/9/2016.
Project Airless - Drawing the breath out of pyritised collections, Axiell European Users Conference: Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1/6/2016.