Thank you for considering a contribution to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Your support helps ensure that our mission of preserving the rich natural biodiversity not only in British Columbia, but worldwide, will continue to flourish for many more years
Roman Polanski’s classic film Chinatown (1974) depicts some of the seedier consequences of the “water wars” that have accompanied much of California’s development. More recently, the thirst for water by California’s Central Valley for the agricultural
March 6, 2014, 7:00 p.m.UBC Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture TheatreDick CanningsBird population trends are one of the best indicators of ecosystem health. Take flight with Dick Cannings on a Canada-wide assessment of the country’s birds, the first time this had ever been done for any major group of animals.
Looking for activities to do with your family and friends over Spring Break? The Beaty Biodiversity Museum has planned a suite of biodiversity programming from March 15-30, 2014. Every day during Spring Break, the Beaty Museum features a different acti
The conservative government of Stephen Harper introduced several profound changes to Canada’s environmental legislation in its budget bill (C-38) of June 2012. Amongst these were changes to the federal Fisheries Act (FA), Canada’s longest serving and much envied1 piece of environmental legislation. Here, I will outline the history of the Fisheries Act, how it has been changed by the passage of Bill C-38, and what it means for Canada’s freshwater fish biodiversity. I focus on freshwater fishes because the key change to the FA involves habitat protection, and habitat loss and degradation are much more series threats to freshwater fishes than for marine fishes2,3. In addition, while there is often much focus on the diversity of marine fishes which is, undoubtedly, spectacular, consider that almost 40% of all fishes (some 33,000 species and counting) occur in freshwaters yet freshwater habitats make only 0.8% of the total surface area of the Earth! Per unit area, diversity of freshwater fishes is unmatched.
March 2, 2014, 1:00pmEric TaylorDive in with Dr. Taylor for an exploration on why fishes are so diverse and an illustration on some of their truly amazing adaptations.Included with museum admission or membership
February 12-23, 2014Join us in celebrating the theories, the people who introduced the world to these concepts, and the evidence of evolution through the fossil record. Museum tours, activities, and crafts will have an evolutionary focus, including creating your own fossils, DNA extraction demos, and touring our neighbour, the Pacific Museum of Earth.
The Beaty Biodiversity Museum hosted the 6th annual “Bake a Cake for Darwin” contest on February 12. This year, we encouraged participants to bake a cake for Wallace as well. There were 9 wonderful entries, and over 60 hungry spectators. Click through for the winners and links to photos.
Wayne Maddison (professor of Zoology/Botany and former BBM director) is conducting field work in Jalisco, Mexico (west central part of the country) collecting and observing all sorts of wild and wonderful insects and spiders. Click through for the link to his daily (almost) blog online!
February 2, 2014, 1:00pmChris StinsonJoin Chris Stinson, Curatorial Assistant of Mammals at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, as he uncovers his favourite group of mammals; weasels and their fellow group of mustelids. Included with museum admission or membership
