| In this issue:
Museum Hours
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed on Mondays
Visit
our website for more information and what's on at the museum.
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| Members Only Sneak-Peek Morning
Saturday, April 12 | 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Along with year-round admission to the museum and additional benefits, all Beaty Museum
memberships include access to members-only special events, including three sneak-peek mornings each year. Sneak-peek mornings give our members access to the museum before the public, and showcase special programming we've selected for our frequent visitors, including brand new programs and crowd favourites.
Doors open at 8:15 a.m.; programming starts at 8:30 a.m. and includes: - Complimentary coffee, tea, and snacks in the Niche Café
- Welcome from the museum's director, Dr. Eric Taylor at 8:30 a.m.
- Tour of the
Cowan Tetrapod Collection from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
- Eyeball dissection demonstration and hands-on activity from 9:15 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
- Early access to all public areas of the museum and daily programming
- Exhibition Launch for
Wondrous at 10:30 a.m.
Contact us or
visit our website for registration information. Remember to bring your membership card!
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| Volunteer at the Beaty Museum
Share your love of the natural world with others by joining the Beaty Biodiversity Museum’s volunteer team.
The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is a public museum dedicated to enhancing the public's understanding and appreciation of biodiversity, and making the research conducted by the scientists of UBC's Biodiversity Research Centre more accessible to the public. Volunteers play a vital role in helping the museum achieve this mission. We're recruiting! Applications for museum volunteers will be accepted until Monday, April 7, 2014.
Apply online today!
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| Expedition to the Galapagos of the North with Outer Shores Expeditions
July - August 2014 | 8 days, 7 nights Easily one of the most spectacular places on the planet, Haida Gwaii is a remote island archipelago located approximately 100 kilometres off the northwest coast of British Columbia. Perched on the edge of the continental shelf, isolation from the mainland for thousands of years and glacial refugia have made the “Galapagos of the North” a hotspot for endemic plants and animals, pristine ecosystems, stunning wildlife, and the traditional territory of the Haida Nation.
Join Outer Shores Expeditions this summer aboard the 70-foot classic wooden schooner Passing Cloud to experience this incredible region for yourself. Activities include sailing, sea kayaking, wildlife viewing, photography, interpretive shore and forest walks, and touring ancient village sites with Haida Watchmen, including the SGang Gwaay UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As a friend of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum you’ll receive 10% off any booked excursion when you mention the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. For more information please visit
outershores.ca.
Photo credit: Russell Markel
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| Become a Member
A Beaty membership means joining and supporting a lively community of people inspired by biodiversity, engaged with the natural world, and dedicated to conservation.
The best way to enjoy everything the museum has to offer is through membership. Benefits include year-round admission to our world-class museum, with over 500 permanent exhibits, rotating art exhibits, tours, activities, crafts, and more. - See more at: http://beatymuseum-dev.webi.it.ubc.ca/join#sthash.X1whOhOq.dpuf
The Beaty Biodiversity Museum membership program offers great benefits to our supporters, including year-round admission to our world-class museum, with over 500 permanent exhibits, rotating art exhibits, tours, activities, crafts, and more. The best way to enjoy everything the museum has to offer is through membership. A Beaty membership also means joining and supporting a lively community of people inspired by biodiversity, engaged with the natural world, and dedicated to conservation.
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The
Beaty Biodiversity Museum strives to inspire an understanding of biodiversity, its origins, and importance to humans through collections-based research, education and outreach. As Vancouver’s natural history museum, we work to promote a greater sense of collective responsibility for the biodiversity of British Columbia, Canada, and the world. The unique combination of world-class research, paired with beautiful, compelling exhibits, strives to make the research conducted at UBC more accessible to the public.
Explore the university’s spectacular biological collections, with 20,000 square feet of exhibits showcasing over 500 permanent exhibits. Among our two million treasured specimens are a 26-metre-long blue whale skeleton suspended in the atrium, the third-largest fish collection in Canada, and myriad fossils, shells, insects, fungi, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and plants from around BC and across the world.
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| Dear Museum Supporter...
Have you wondered about how to get more involved in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum? This month, our newsletter features a host of opportunities that will allow you to meet new friends, delve deeper into research and exhibits, explore Haida Gwaii, and help out your museum community.
Remnants closes on April 20, but there is still a chance to meet Dana Cromie, Artist in Residence at the UBC Botanical Garden on April 6. This happens on the same day as a
Way Cool Biodiversity lecture - we hope to see you at both! Becoming a Beaty Biodiversity Museum Member means joining and supporting a lively community of people inspired by biodiversity, engaged with the natural world, and dedicated to conservation. On April 12, we are featuring our first
Sneak-Peek morning, where members can mix and mingle, participate in special activities, and visit the museum before the general public. We are also launching our newest exhibition,
Wondrous, the same day. Stop by and meet some of the people behind the exhibit. If you would like to contribute even more to the museum community, consider applying to volunteer with us.
Volunteers help educate our visitors about biodiversity. As always, your feedback is a huge contribution to our mission - feel free to
email us if you have comments about your most recent visit. Thank you for your ongoing support!
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| Wondrous: The Forest and Sea of the Great Bea
April 2-July 27, 2014
Stunning photographs and sounds of nature will transport you to the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the most spectacular and pristine ecosystems on earth. This region of the BC coast, where coastal temperate rainforest meets teeming cold-water seas, is one of our planet’s most productive and most spectacular ecosystems. Come experience the sights and sounds of this extraordinary place. Wondrous: The Forest and Sea of the Great Bear is a collaboration of Dr. Andrew S. Wright, Science World, and the World Wildlife Federation. For more information on Wondrous
click here.
Events
All events related to Wondrous are free with entry to the museum. Exhibition Launch
Saturday, April 12 at 10:30 a.m.
Join Dr. Andrew S. Wright (exhibition producer and contributing photographer) and Darcy Dobell (conservationist and associate producer of the exhibition) in the launch of Wondrous at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Hear about their experience travelling in the Great Bear Rainforest, followed by a tour of the exhibition.
Ground Truth
Sunday, April 20 at 1:00 p.m.
Wondrous transports viewers to the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the most spectacular and pristine ecosystems on earth. Come hear from Dr. Andrew S. Wright (exhibition producer and contributing photographer) and Darcy Dobell (conservationist and associate producer of the exhibition) about their experience travelling and exploring the watersheds along the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route, seeking their own ground truths.
Shining a light into the cold, dark seas: The biodiversity of the northeast Pacific Ocean
Thursday, May 22 at 12:00 p.m.
Join Jackie Hildering as she shares her photography and research on everything from humpback whale feeding strategies to nudibranch egg masses. Jackie is a contributing photographer to Wondrous, but better known as “
The Marine Detective”, a biology teacher, cold-water diver, and underwater photographer who works to increase awareness and appreciation of the astounding biodiversity hidden in our cold, dark waters.
This is a child-friendly presentation.
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| Way Cool Biodiversity Series
First Sunday of every month | 1:00 p.m.
The popular Way Cool Biodiversity Series runs the first Sunday of every month. This series is appropriate for visitors of all ages and backgrounds, and is included with admission or membership. Keep notes! We will ask you to pick your favourite at the end of the year.
New Zealand flax is way cool because…
Sunday, April 6, 2014 at 1:00 p.m.
With leaves that can reach two metres long and a flower stalk that can grow to a soaring five metres high, this is an impressive plant; however, the life that flourishes on and around the plant makes it even more remarkable. New Zealand flax provides food and shelter for a variety of organisms and the raw materials for textiles and medicines. This plant plays an important ecological and cultural role in New Zealand and has been transported around the world because of its functional and ornamental features. Jackie Chambers, Education and Outreach Manager of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, will guide you through the importance of this amazing plant.
Did you know that grasslands make up only 1% of British Columbia but are comprised of over 30% of the province's rare and endangered vertebrates, many rare plants, and a host of rare and captivating insects? BC grasslands might be small in area but they are big on diversity. From western meadowlarks to badgers, prickly pear cactus to bluebunch wheatgrass, and black widow spiders to ground beetles and ants – grasslands are full of interesting species each with its own unique place in the wide variety of grasslands found in BC. Join Bill Harrower, PhD Candidate in the Botany Department and Biodiversity Research Centre at UBC to learn more about the species that make up this fascinating part of our province.
Click here for more information on the Way Cool Biodiversity Series.
Photo credit: Jackie Chambers
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| Remnants: A Visual Survey of Human Progress
Dana Cromie, Artist in Residence at UBC Botanical Garden
January 31-April 20, 2014
April is your last chance to see this fantastic exhibition of work by Dana Cromie, UBC Botanical Garden's Artist in Residence.
This series of portraits is Cromie's reaction to the ongoing reduction by human activity of natural habitat. Built using the small pieces of the contemporary viewing pane, these collage quilts pay homage to traditional home economics and to the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century.
Meet the Artist
Sunday, April 6 | 12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Stop by for a chance to meet and chat with Dana Cromie, UBC Botanical Garden Artist in Residence 2012-2014 and the artist behind Remnants: A Visual Survey of Human Progress.
Click here for more information on Remnants: A Visual Survey of Human Progress.
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| A Window into the Collection...
Specimen of the Moment: The European Fire Ant
What does it mean when two museums in Vancouver feature the same species at exactly the same time? People are interested.
Since they were first identified in North Vancouver in 2010, this invasive ant has been found in about a dozen cities across southern BC. These small ants (4-5 millimetres in length) like to live in lawns and gardens and will swarm and sting if disturbed. Although their stings are usually mild like nettle stings, some people can experience painful swelling, and an infestation of this invasive species can render a backyard or campground unusable.
Do you think you might have a European fire ant infestation?
This great site created by Professor Robert J. Higgins can help you verify the identity. And if you have them, get to know your neighbours, because
creating and placing bait containers effectively will take coordination from everyone in your area.
Photo credit: Dr. Robert J. Higgins, Assistant Professor, Biology, Thompson Rivers University
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