Collections

Every day at the museum is a good day, but when a new object-specimen gets added to the collection, it is a great day.  It was a particularly stellar day in Earth Sciences when we were able to acquire this lovely princess cut, 23.24 carat peridot from Myanmar (Burma).

They organized extravagant spectacles, each more lavish than the next. They built imposing monuments, ever larger to outdo their predecessors and rivals. Over centuries, the Maya leaders elevated themselves far above their subjects. Yet in the end, these all-powerful rulers were caught in a trap of their own making.

Join us Thursday, December 1 from 11 am to noon EST as we live blog from the ROM during the launch event for the Burgess Shale Virtual Museum of Canada. This online exhibition is the most current and comprehensive resource for knowledge on one of the world’s most important fossil sites.

Originally published in the Summer 2010 edition of ROM Magazine.

Bluecheek Silver grunt

Well, at least, some serious insight into life on Earth…

Where do we come from? What was the world like long before the dinosaurs?

Written by Stephanie Allen, ROM Registration Coordinator

There is an incredible amount of work that happens behind-the-scenes in preparing for every exhibition. Some of that work is eventually obvious to the visitors such as the design, mounts, graphics and labels but a lot of the work is largely invisible.

After three days of successful fieldwork on the chilly Grand Rapids Uplands, we return – toting a fresh batch of fossils – to The Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg. This is the home turf of my colleague, Graham Young, and almost a second home for me.

Question: It’s fall, why are all these bugs coming into my home? I’ve never seen them before!

Western conifer seed bug; copyright ROM images

I love sharing the cool secrets of the ROM with visitors, so it really made my day when our Name the Queen Bee Contest winner Kaitlyn visited the ROM with her mom and her brother Kynan (who also happened to be our third place winner).