Join us for FestEVOLVE 2017 – the celebration of Charles Darwin and the evolution of life.
Thursday, February 16 | 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Come by for a night at the museum!
Every month, the museum will stay open late with admission by donation between 5:00-8:30 pm, offering family-friendly activities. This month features special guest Dr. Robert Anderson from the Canadian Museum of Nature. A cash-only bar will be available, selling beer and cider for $5 each.
- 5:15 pm: Raising Big Blue showing in the auditorium
- 6:00 pm: Dr. Anderson’s presentation Scraping the Surface: Hunting beetles in Central America
- 7:00 pm: Guided Museum Tour
- All evening: Hands-on activities where you can learn more about specimens in the museum and our current exhibitions
Scraping the Surface: Hunting beetles in Central America
“I feel like an old warhorse at the sound of a trumpet when I read about the capturing of rare beetles.” Charles Darwin wrote in a letter to botanist J.D. Hooker in 1858, endearing him to the hearts of coleopterists (people who study beetles) ever since.
As a coleopterist, nothing gets Dr. Robert Anderson’s heart racing like news of successful field trips in which rare or new species of beetles were caught. An expert in the weevil family, Bob’s 28 year career has included a range of field work in exotic and often dangerous locales. His work on beetles has been used in identifying hotspots of biodiversity, in conservation planning and in work on endangered species.
Join Bob as he recounts his journeys across Latin America, New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Specifically, Bob will share results from the Leaf Litter Arthropods of MesoAmerica (LLAMA) project (2008-2011). Funded by the National Science Foundation, and involving some 40 students and scientists from 5 Central American countries, the project collected over a million specimens of arthropods, most of these new to science. See how successful field work is carried out and review some of the exciting new beetle discoveries made during the project that suggest we are really still just scraping the surface of insect diversity.
Thursday, February 16
4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, judging begins at 5:00 pm
It’ll be survival of the fittest at this annual evolution-themed cake contest. Bake and decorate a cake in an evolution or ecology theme to celebrate Charles Darwin’s birthday, dazzle the crowd, and impress scientists from the past and present. FREE and open to all competitors and spectators. Prizes and bragging rights will be awarded. Please bring a plate and fork. See our Flickr page for inspirations from past contests.
While the judges deliberate, participate in a friendly game of cake bingo to win the first slice of your favourite cake!
Please note: Set up can start as early as 4:30 pm. All of the cakes are prepared by volunteers; therefore, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum has no control over and takes no responsibility for taste, contents, or food-safe handling procedures.
Daily, February 11 – 19
Evolution-themed interactive activities, museum tours, and more!