Telford zoo hires full-time palaeontologist as owner eyes up museum status
A zoo in Telford has taken on its first full-time paleontologist as the owner seeks to expand its natural history provision.
At 26 years old, Tom Moncrieffe might only be young, but he's already making a name for himself in the world of palaeontology.
Educated at the University of Edinburgh under Jurassic World's palaeontology consultant Steve Brusatte, Tom might hold the record for the youngest curator of a major museum after taking on the role at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in the USA aged 24.
And now, he's back on our side of the pond to take on the natural history museum at Telford's Exotic Zoo, as the business seeks to expand its own reputation in the world of research.
Originally from north Wales, Tom said he's been fascinated by the natural world for as long as he can remember, and fell in love with dinosaurs through TV and film.
Following his studies, Tom spent a couple of years working as an ecologist and volunteering at universities and museums around the country, when he stumbled across an advert for an internship "digging up dinosaurs" in Wyoming.
Within just a few months, Tom has completed his internship, secured a more permanent position and quickly given the role of curator at the dinosaur museum.
"It is one of the best museums in the world, it's a little lesser known because of its location but its one of a very small number of museums with active dig sites," he said.
"It's very, very rare that such a rich fossil-containing area is anywhere near a town. For someone so early in their career, it was such an incredible opportunity."
After his visa expired, Tom returned to the UK where he spotted the advert for an in-house palaeontologist at the Exotic Zoo in Telford.
Between Tom and self-confessed "dinosaur nerd" zoo owner, Scott Adams, the pair have grand visions for the town park-based attraction.
In 2023, Scott opened a new natural history museum on site - which displayed an array of real and cast dinosaur bones and fossils.
Scott said: "It was always the plan, as the museum grew under my leadership, to hand it over to someone professional in the field to help it go from strength to strength.
"We're keen for it to be an integral part of the zoo and of Telford, so we're doubling the size of the museum and adding a lab, which Tom will be working out of.
"We want to build a museum quarter and rebrand to the Telford Natural History Museum with official museum accreditation."
The lab, Tom explained, will be one of two publicly accessible paleontology labs in the whole of Europe.
Tom added: "We're looking at collaborations with universities, exchanges of volunteers and students, as well as fossil and research materials.
"I'll be able to provide teaching on site, as well as look into some local fossil sites with Telford itself.
"We want to bring palaeontology to the people of Telford, not just here in the museum and the lab but also out and about around the town too."
