Events and News
// News and Events
The museum is on summer hours:
Open Monday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm.
Be sure to check out our full online calendar of daily and special programs!
All of the events listed below are included with museum admission or membership, unless stated otherwise.
ONGOING DAILY PROGRAMS
Create biodiversity crafts, learn at activity stations, explore the Allan Yap Discovery Lab, participate in biodiversity themed scavenger hunts, and watch films in the Allan Yap Theatre. Our schedule may change so be sure to check online calendar of daily and special programs!
Weekday Schedule | Weekend Schedule 10:15 a.m. Museum Tour 11:00 a.m. Puppet Show 12:00 p.m. Museum Tour 12:45 p.m. Extreme Eyes (Activity) 3:00 p.m. Museum Tour 3:30 p.m. Story Time All day: Crafts and activities |
[a]drift
Edith Krause
May 9 - August 25, 2013
“If we are to protect the world’s multitude of places and creatures, then we must know them, not just conceptually, but imaginatively as well.”
- Wendell Berry, Life is a Miracle
In this visual art exhibition by Edith Krause, [a]drift presents human life-sized images of microscopic marine creatures. Merging the worlds of art and science, Krause chose portraiture, an art form traditionally reserved for humans, as her medium to showcase individual organisms while carefully avoiding the scientific habit of splaying them out for identification. She worked with them as characters in the actual poses she observed. While the images are mimetic, these enlarged portraits convey their ecological importance, reveal forms that are unfamiliar and fantastic, and make visible the invisible.
Artist Talk by Edith Krause
Saturday, August 10, 2013 | 2:00 p.m.
Join Edith Krause, the artist presenting our exhibition [a]drift, as she explores the inspiration and process behind her work.
Biography
Edith Krause is a printmaker, currently living in Langley, British Columbia. She began her art studies at Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design and recently completed her MFA at the University of Alberta. Previously, she studied and worked in the fields of marine biology and aquatic ecology at the University of British Columbia and earned a Masters of Science degree in Zoology. Her interest in biology has been a major influence on the subject matter of her artwork and her current art practice consists of an interdisciplinary exploration of ecosystems, employing scientific methodology to collect images and data, and art to express her findings.
Extreme Adaptations
Starting May 22, 2013
As humans, we are drawn to the extreme – the grotesque, exciting, adorable, implausible and incredible. Organisms on this earth are equipped with extreme adaptations, capable of achieving amazing feats, while inhabiting and surviving in the seemingly impossible.
The diversity of life encompass the unfathomably small and incredibly giant, along with everything in between. Size isn’t the only extreme: every organism on our planet is adapted to survive and exploit the world around it. There are extreme and fascinating examples from every branch on the tree of life. What are these extreme adaptations? How do they arise? How do we study them in extreme parts of the earth? At the museum, we will help satiate your extreme curiosity about the world around you.
Our new museum programming features:
- Museum Tours: Let us guide you through extreme organisms throughout our collections
- Discovery Lab: Learn about two extreme biodiversity researchers from UBC. How do they adapt to extreme environments to study extreme animals? Become a scientist and try out their research techniques.
- Crafts: create useful tools for your scientist kit
- Extreme Eyes Activity (12:30 p.m. weekdays, 12:45 p.m. weekends): get up close to the eyeball, an extremely fascinating adaptation. This activity involves a dissection demonstration.
- Extreme Trivia: blow your mind with extremely cool facts about interesting organisms
- Puppet show: discover extreme adaptations in the animal kingdom, including the blue whale
- New scavenger hunts
- And more!
UBC Alumni Weekend 2013
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Alumni Weekend 2013 is a chance for the public and UBC Alumni to explore the campus.
At the Museum, we will open our doors with free general admission for registered Alumni Weekend participants and celebrate biodiversity with family programming, museum tours, puppet shows, and more.
At the Allan Yap Theatre, Dr. Andrew Trites, Director of the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit, will talk about marine mammals in BC, uncovering their fascinating lives – one bone at a time. Also learn about other skeleton articulation projects and enjoy photos and stories of Dr. Trites’ adventures. Before his talk, catch a screening of the documentary, Raising Big Blue.
Note: The Museum, parking, and UBC campus will be busy on May 25. Please plan extra time for your visit.
Click here for more information and to RSVP for UBC Alumni Weekend 2013.
Way Cool Biodiversity Series
First Sunday of every month | 1 p.m.
Come listen to a family-friendly lecture each month as a different biodiversity researcher competes for public affection for their group.
Mussel glue is way cool because…
Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.
Marine mussels secrete amazing glues that allow them to stick to rocks and other surfaces while powerful ocean waves crash over them. These underwater glues can be coated onto the inside of human blood vessels; the glue is so sticky, they stay stuck even while blood is flowing! Materials based on the chemistry of mussel glues are being developed to treat blood vessel diseases. Join Christian Kastrup, an Assistant Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, in exploring an example of how the materials engineered in nature can be applied toward human medicine.
Metal-munching plants are way cool because...
Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 1:00 p.m.
Did you know that some plants like to eat metal? Over 1,000 species of plants are known to gobble up and store heavy metals, including a host of toxic elements such as nickel, cadmium, zinc, arsenic, and selenium. There are even some plants that store gold. Some of these plants store enough metals to make them toxic to animals like cattle, and a few of them are even mined for the metals they contain. Post-doctoral researcher Dylan Burge will take you on a tour of the world's metal-munching plants, and explain how his research is helping to unravel how metal-storing plants evolved, and why they engage in this strange and way cool behaviour.
Raising Big Blue Documentary
You can now watch our featured film in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum's Allan Yap Biodiversity Theatre!
Mark Miller Productions and the Discovery Channel present this documentary feature following the story of our blue whale skeleton from PEI to Victoria to Vancouver. See the behind-the-scenes drama involved in recovering, cleaning, and restoring the skeleton of the largest creature on earth. Find more information about the film, along with a teaser here.
Daily showings at 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.
Note: Please check our online calendar for the latest updates on show times.
Run time is approximately 45 minutes. Parental accompaniment is required; please note that some imagery may be overwhelming for sensitive or squeamish visitors. Please note that schedule may change please look at our calendar to confirm screening times.
