University of Reading Community Festival 2025

Tiny Fossils from the Ice Age

On Saturday 17th May 2025, University of Reading held its third annual Community Festival at Whiteknights Campus. It was a beautiful sunny day and the event was a massive success with over 8000 visitors on campus, engaging with the university and local partners.

A team from the Partnership funded Unlocking NHM field samples for fossil vertebrates project was there to lure visitors into sorting micromammal fossils out from NHM field samples – a real hit with the community, especially the under 10s who loved using the microscope and looking at the tiny fossils. Well over 400 people were counted but the team were so busy the clicker couldn’t cope…

The team of Juliette Kent (QUEST UoR placement student), Neil Adams (NHM Curator, Fossil Mammals) and Hester Crothers (QUEST Palaeoecological and Geoarchaeological Technician).