Specialist day about insect pests

For the second time, the conservation and preservation services ”Bevaringstenestene, MuHo”   and Bergen Museum jointly organise a Specialist Day.  This time, insect pests and prevention are the main subject areas. The course is open to all interested parties. This is a day with an inspiring programme with a number of interesting speakers.

Place: Bryggens museum, the Auditorium

Time: Friday 14 January from 10 – 15.30

Registration at post@muho.no

Do not miss this opportunity to upgrade your skills in collection management!

PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS

Specialist day about insect pests - Attacks and Counter-attacks

Safe management of collections requires know-how within different areas of preventive conservation. A specialist day about insect pests will be valuable for all who manage collections and buildings of cultural and historical interest of various kinds. It is an issue that institutions and their staff need to take a proactive approach to. A large number of insects may damage the objects in care.

Various sides to the issue will be highlighted, like for example: Our most common pest insects in the collections and storage spaces, types of damage, preventative measures, restoration and research. By adopting an active attitude to the problems connected to insect pests, one will be contributing to a sound collection management.

To eradicate pest insects one has to eliminate them without causing any damage to the objects or exposing people to health risks. Future spreading in relation to global climate changes will also be addressed on Specialist day 2011.  

We are proud to present the following speakers:

Reidar Arne Mehl

- is a Norwegian biologist, zoologist, and entomologist. Mehl has a cand.real.degree (MSc) in Zoology and has worked at the Department for pest control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He is a specialist in insects and vermin, and is considered one of the best in his field in Norway.

Monika Åkerlund

- is a biologist with a speciality in insect pests in collections. She conducts research on, among other things, the brown carpet beetle (Attagenus smirnovi) in the ”the Attagenus smirnovi project”. Monika is employed at the Swedish Natural History Museum in Stockholm and secretary of PRE-MAL (Pest Research and Education - Museums Archives). She has written several books about pests in museum collections, among others, ”Ängrar finns dem?” (Dermested beetles - do they exist?) and ”Från silverfisk till hälsorisk– Skadedjur och åtgärder i samlingar” (“From silverfish to health risk” - A book on Intergrated pest management including risks for objects and health risks in museums). [In Swedish]

Nalini Sharma

- is a conservator at Økern, a large storage facility at the UiO: Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. She and her colleagues use freezing and heat treatment as poison-free pest control methods. We will learn more from their experiences during the two-year period of their work in the collections at Økern

Rentokil by Arne Nese

Rentokil is a business that works with pest control. Among other things, they offer the CAT - Controlled Atmosphere Technology, which is an environmentally friendly method of pest treatment, using either Nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide. Infested items are placed into airtight, laminated aluminium bubbles into which one of the gases is pumped. The method is efficient, gentle, and non-toxic and may be used locally. Arne will also present various traps, which ones should be used at what time, etc

Effecta AS by Kent

Effecta AS is a firm that offers pest control and humidity control. These are closely connected. Kent will provide information on eradication through humidity control and poison-free treatment. Effecta AS has currently a service agreement with the University of Bergen.