Scott Billings, public engagement officer at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, gets ready for a wild fortnight with the Oxford Festival of Nature

I have witnessed the gasp on many occasions: the first time people walk through the doors of the Museum of Natural History in Oxford the view can really take your breath away.

For children, the sight of a gigantic Tyrannosaurus rex looming beneath the skeletal ironwork of the architecture is enough to draw an uncontrolled yelp of excitement.

The dinosaurs are always a hit, but there are many other things in there of astonishing age and variety.

A slab of extinct sea creatures known as trilobites looks for all the world like a collection of giant woodlice, although trilobites are actually more closely related to spiders and scorpions. Above your head hangs a parade of whales – five in all, arranged in size order from the largest, a Northern Bottlenose Whale, to the smallest, a Dolphin.

Then there’s the famous Oxford Dodo. It’s the museum’s logo, and rightly so, for in the collections resides the only soft tissue of a Dodo remaining anywhere in the world. Dead as a Dodo indeed – a symbol of man-made extinctions that resonates with the state of wildlife around the world today.

That’s why natural history museums are so important. They connect us to the rich history of the planet – its life and its geology – and help us to study the evolution of creatures and understand their dependence on one another to form a healthy and diverse natural environment.

Of course, wildlife needn’t be ancient, fossilised and Jurassic to be exciting. The natural world all around us is hugely interesting and important. So at the museum we work with local wildlife groups to help share knowledge and enthus-iasm for nature where we live today.

In the next two weeks the Museum is one of the key venues for the Oxford Festival of Nature, run by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust. It promises to be a two-week extravaganza of events taking place in several locations across Oxford, culminating in the Wild Fair at the museum on Saturday, June 13.

Our Spotlight Specimens under T. rex is already a regular highlight in the museum. Every Monday to Thursday at 2.30pm an expert brings out a specimen from the collections, and we have a fascinating show-and-tell with lots of interesting questions to keep the curators on their toes.

The museum is renowned for its collections of insects, and on Sunday June 7, we are looking forward to Bugs and Beyond, an exciting afternoon with Dr George McGavin talking about the amazing creepy-crawlies, bats, primates and other wildlife he’s encountered in his intrepid journeys for the BBC’s Monkey Planet and Lost Land series.

The Wild Fair will be a whole day of wildlife activities both inside and outside the museum. Get up close to live creatures, meet people from different wildlife organisations, grab a bite to eat, and enjoy the museum’s collections all at the same time.

There will be a chance to learn about the swifts that live in the museum’s tower, just back from their annual winter migration in Africa; live crocodiles will be on site courtesy of Crocodiles of the World, of Brize Norton; and with games, crafts and a few minibeasts to handle too there will be something for everyone.

Events like the Wild Fair connect the museum to the important educational and conservation work that wildlife organisations are doing throughout the county.

Later in June, you can also ‘hook up’ with top TV wildlife explorer and president of BBOWT, Steve Backshall, by downloading our forthcoming Sensing Evolution mobile app. Along with Professor Alice Roberts, Steve presents videos in a treasure-hunt style exploration of the museum’s displays to learn more about evolution – which, as Steve says, “must surely be the most important idea in human history”.