Dr Becky Martin

Portrait of Becky Martin
Project Researcher

About

Becky is Project Researcher on the AHRC-funded project Making the Museum at the Pitt Rivers Museum, the first major research project in an ethnographic museum to investigate maker identities and agencies across a museum's collection.

Becky has a background in the History of Science and Medicine. Her doctoral work explored the role of anatomical models in nineteenth-century medical teaching, focussing specifically on the intersection of their use and visual development with ideas around racial hierarchy. As a Caird Fellow at the National Maritime Museum, she led community engaged research work uncovering histories of individuals previously hidden or forgotten within collections. In her recent projects she has investigated the photographic record of the 1872-76 HMS Challenger Expedition, the colonial history of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the development of healthcare systems in colonial Nigeria. Before taking up the post of Project Researcher, she previously worked as Research Project Officer and Website Migration Officer here at the Museum.

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Publications

Rudy; Unknown Maker; Unknown Maker; Poulsen, Oscar S.; Ablard, C.; Utreras, Julia; Manuel, Frankie; Glacey, Jack; Unknown Maker; OSCAR; Unknown Maker; Syed, Jia; Unknown Maker; Martin, Becky; Unknown Maker; Hodgett, B; Len; Thompson, Peter A.; Utreras, Gau; Unknown Maker; Rokib, Anisah; Hirst, Luca; Jackson, Susan; Bruce, Hannah; Arnold, Bettina; Unknown Maker; Muck, Alex; Campbell, Sam; Grieveson, Julia; Brown, Lizzy; Unknown Maker; Campbell, Holly; Unknown Maker. 2026. Makers and Fakers (The Zine): How Copies, Replicas, Casts and Fakes ‘Make’ Museum Collections, Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum. 

Hodgett, B., C. Gosden, R. Martin, C. Morton, and M. Thompson-Odlum. 2025. ‘Making the Museum’ and the Archaeology of the Pitt Rivers Museum Collection. Antiquity, 99 (406), e38. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.43.

Martin, R. 2025. ‘The new (white) normal: human anatomy and the naturalisation of white bodies in Britain, 1860-1910’, Social History of Medicine, 38 (1), 127–153. https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkae049

Martin, R. 2024. ‘Putting names to faces’, Royal Museums Greenwich: Stories, available at https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/challenger-expedition-photograph-albums-research

Wills, H., S. Harrison, E. Jones, F. Lawrence-Mackey, and R. Martin (Eds.). 2023. Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook (UCL Press)

Martin, R. 2023. ‘Sarah Emily Davies (1830−1921): A letter to Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (1873)’, in H. Wills, S. Harrison, E. Jones, F. Lawrence-Mackey, and R. Martin (Eds.), Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook (UCL Press), 295–300.

Martin, R. 2023. ‘Dissent in the archive: the power of peer review’, BSHS Viewpoint, 129, 9–10. https://bshs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/No-129.pdf​​​​​​

Martin, R., N. Nasir, A. Carusi, and W. T. P. P. Community of Practice. 2023. ‘Enhancing research culture through PhD training: a systems approach to identifying leverage points for policy formation’, [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. Wellcome Open Research, 8 (422), online. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.19567.1

Hirsch, L. A., and R. Martin. 2022. LSHTM and Colonialism: A report on the Colonial History of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (1899 – c.1960). Project Report. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London. https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.04666958 

Martin, R. 2022. ‘Reading between the lines’, Royal Society Blog: History of Science, available at https://royalsociety.org/blog/2022/10/reading-between-the-lines/

Carusi, A., R. Martin, N. Nasir, and W. T. P. P. Community of Practice. 2022. ‘From the Directors: A report on Wellcome Trust PhD Programmes’ Role in Improving Research Culture in PhD Training’, SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/z8wde

Carusi, A., R. Martin, N. Nasir, and W. T. P. P. Community of Practice. 2022. ‘Talking About Research Culture: A report on discussions about research culture in Wellcome Trust PhD programmes’, SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/rek2z

Martin, R. 2022. ‘Who was Sir Ronald Ross?: The man behind LSHTM’s Ronald Ross Medal’, Project Report, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. https://doi.org/10.17037/PUBS.04664790

Martin, R. 2022. ‘Diversifying medicine: teaching and practice’, Report based on consultation with Deans of Kent and Medway Medical School, SocArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/fm4bk