Way Cool 100

Our Way Cool Biodiversity Series is turning 100!

We’re not quite there in years just yet, but since 2011 we’ve had an amazing 99 monthly talks led by 81 different scientists, researchers and educators exploring and celebrating our natural world!

Come join us to celebrate our 100th Way Cool Talk, where we’ll learn from a variety of past speakers. Expect short talks from the guests below, and some surprises, too!

Join us for a slice of cake afterwards in the Biodiversity Courtyard, mingle with researchers, and meet some new museum friends!

Included with museum admission or membership

Cake and fruit will be available on a first come, first served basis in the Biodiversity Courtyard after the talk. In case of inclement weather, we will be in the café. If possible, please bring a small reusable container to help us reduce waste!

Our speakers include:

Dr. Kirstin Brink is a palaeontologist interested in the evolution and development of teeth. She is currently a Banting postdoctoral research fellow in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia. Kirstin delivered our 95th Way Cool talk on dinosaur teeth, and explores how comparisons between fossils and living animals can help understand the diets, lifestyles, and evolution of extinct animals.

 

Bridgette Clarkston is a phycologist and science educator interested in seaweed biodiversity, and a faculty member in the Botany department at the University of British Columbia. Bridgette first spoke way back at our 22nd Way Cool talk! She’ll showcase seaweeds’ weird and wonderful shapes, colours and habits; the ways seaweeds have informed us about the natural world; how we use them in our everyday lives, and how their beauty can inspire us artistically.

 

Colin MacLeod, UBC Postdoctoral Fellow and Curatorial Assistant at the Beaty’s Marine Invertebrates collection reminds us that parasites are everywhere! We often don’t see them, many people don’t like them, but they are a weird, wonderful, and beautiful part of the natural environment. Marine parasites, like all marine organisms, are being exposed to a rapidly changing environment, from global warming to ocean acidification, but how will they respond? Colin gave our 84th talk!

 

SFU Doctoral researcher Nicola Smith, host of our 85th talk, takes us to coral reefs, mangrove creeks, estuaries, and shipwrecks across three oceans, and explains why lionfish are such effective predators in their new Atlantic habitats, and how her research is helping to limit their growth, spread, and impact to protect native fishes. Never judge a book by its cover, or a fish by its stripes!