Quaternary Entomology Lab

The facility supports teaching and research, as well as processing fossil insects and other palaeoecological material.

Photograph showing a dirt sample under a stereomicroscope. A gloved hand can be seen inspecting the sample with a small brush.

Contact and location

Contact

Dr Eva PanagiotakopuluEva.P@ed.ac.uk​​​​​ Senior Lecturer

Location

Address: Rooms 1.01 and 1.03 Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, 1 Drummond St, Edinburgh EH8 9XP

Please note that parking on campus is strictly by permit only, and parking spaces are subject to availability. Commercial and external users should contact our staff about parking arrangements.

Quaternary entomology is the study of fossil insects, preserved in natural or archaeological sediments, in order to reconstruct past environments and climate. 

The research which takes place in the Quaternary entomology laboratory involves the study of fossil insects and other invertebrates and compatible palaeoecological research. 

The facility also hosts the Osborne Insect Collection which consists of over 10,000 beetle specimens.

The lab is open to all students as well as research and academic staff.

The laboratory houses extensive insect collections which are used for identification of both fossil and modern material. ​​​​​​

The equipment includes:

  • Two Leica S6E stereomicroscopes, other stereomicroscopes and a digital camera on one of the Leica microscopes. 
  • Various materials for laboratory research.

There is also an Optical Microscope Laboratory at the King's Buildings campus, which is around two miles (3km) north of Edinburgh city centre.

Photograph of the lab bench in the Quaternary Entomology facility. There are sample tubes of various sizes containing insects.

The processing lab is open to all students as well as research and academic staff. 

The facility is suitable for processing sediment samples for palaeoecological material, insects, plant remains, molluscs etc.

The equipment includes:

  • Sinks for washing samples
  • Sieves
  • Buckets and other materials for sample processing
Photograph showing a gloved hand pouring a soil sample into a petri dish.

The Osborne Insect Collection

The collection consists of over 10,000 specimens of beetles.

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