Ann Molineux
Ann Molineux
Ann Molineux
Curator & Collection Manager
Ann Molineux was the Curator and Collection Manager at the Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory in the Jackson School Museum of Earth History, University of Texas at Austin. She employed digital tools to enhance collections management and usability.
Ann was born in Sussex, a region in the southern part of England. She was interested in geology from a young age. She attended Cambridge University for her bachelor’s degree, followed by a master’s degree in geography in 1965. She later worked as a cartographer, including in early digital mapping. She got married and had two children. The family moved to the United States, where she earned a Texas Certificate of Education in 1989.
Ann earned a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in 1997. For her Ph.D. research, she studied calcified demosponges from the Caribbean. Afterwards, she became Collection Manager for the Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory (NPL) in the Jackson School Museum of Earth History, UT Austin. She later also held the positions of Curator and Director of Museum Operations. As Collection Manager and Curator, Ann continued to do research, focusing on sponges, corals, and rudists (rudists are an odd group of extinct reef-building mollusks). Nevertheless, she may be most remembered by professional colleagues for her interest in promoting collections. She wanted to make collections accessible to a variety of users, not only for research but also for education and exhibits. She was known as a “true visionary” for her adoption of digital tools in collections management at UT Austin.
Ann passed away in early 2018. In tribute to her contributions to the NPL, a room in the Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory at UT Austin has been named the Ann Molineux Paleontology Laboratory. A student research fund, the Ann Molineux Excellence Fund for Student Research and Curation at the NPL collections, UT Austin, was also established to provide support for students and postdocs to do research in the NPL collections.
Daring to Dig Interview
In this interview, Ann discusses her early interest in geology, her education, and her interest in using digital tools to bring collections into the 21st century. She also talks about the representation of women in the various fields of geoscience. This interview was recorded in 2014.
Selected technical works by Ann Molineux
McCall, L., J. Sprinkle, A. Molineux, and C. Garvie. 2012. An undescribed fauna from the Upper Cretaceous ‘Pyroclastic Zone’ of the Austin Group at Pilot Knob, Central Texas. Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, 2012: 287–301. Link
Molineux, A., R.W. Scott, R.A. Ketcham, and J.A. Maisano. 2007. Rudist taxonomy using x-ray computed tomography. Palaeontologia Electronica 10.3.13A (6 pp.). Link
Molineux, A., R.W. Scott, J. Maisano, R. Ketcham, and L. Zachos. 2010. Blending rudists with technology; non-destructive examination of the internal and external structures of rudists using high quality scanning and digital imagery. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences 19: 757–767. Link
Zachos, L.G., and A. Molineux. 2003. Eocene echinoids of Texas. Journal of Paleontology 77: 491–508. Link
Zachos, L.G., and A. Molineux. 2007. Echinoid fauna from a late Oligocene (Chattian) reef at Damon Mound, Brazoria County, Texas. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 243: 79–91. Link
Selected papers about collections by Ann Molineux
Karim, T.S., R. Burkhalter, Ú.C. Farrell, A. Molineux, G. Nelson, J. Utrup, and S.H. Butts. 2016. Digitization workflows for paleontology collections. Palaeontologia Electronica 19.3.4T: 1–14. Link
Molineux, A., L. Zachos, K.E. Criswell, and T. Risien. 2012. GIS, the key to collections management of a large research archive. Collection Forum 26: 60–69.
Further reading
Ann Molineux. History, Jackson School Museum of Earth History, Non-Vertebrate Paleontology. Link
2016. Digital workflows: Authors. Palaeontologia Electronica. Link
2018. Amateur Spotlight: Linda McCall. Interview of Linda McCall by Jennifer Bauer. Link
2018. Jackson School mourns passing of longtime NPL director. Texas Geosciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 27 March 2018. Link
2018. Memorials, December 7, 2018. Texas Geosciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin. Link
Video & audio content
utexasCNS: Origin stories: Ann Molineux. Video, 2 October 2013, via YouTube. Link