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About the 'Explore Ontario's Biodiversity' Project

'Explore Ontario's Biodiversity' website is a public programming initiative of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum. The aim of the site is to provide Ontario citizens with access to the latest and most authoritative information about the distribution and status of Ontario's wildlife.

The ROM has been monitoring and studying wildlife populations in the province since the early 1900's, but until now much of this information has resided in technical reports and the research collections at the ROM in a form which was not readily accessible to the public. The ubiquity of personal computers with multimedia capabilities, coupled with the widespread access to the Internet, now allows the ROM to disseminate its huge wealth of information in new and exciting ways. It is anticipated that this site will allow the public to contribute their own observations about wildlife habits and distribution and thus play an active role in adding to our knowledge of Ontario's biodiversity and help in its conservation and management.

The 'Explore Ontario's Biodiversity' project has three main components: Ontario Field Guides; Ontario's Species at Risk; and The ROM Collections. Each of these components will be expanded and updated regularly. For specific details about each module, please refer to their specific 'About...' pages.

Credits

This project is being developed under the direction of Dr. Allan Baker, Head of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, with the assistance of curators, technicians and staff of the Centre. The project also depends on collaboration with other ROM colleagues: Outreach Services (Bill Baker, David Rinaldo and Laura Marshall); Education Programs (especially Ron Miles and Elizabeth McArton); the ROM Web Crew (especially Paul Reda, Gordon Howells, Julia Matthews, Debra Luneau, Gene Wilburn, Anne Longmore and Brad Millen). Much of the data collection and image manipulation for the initial phase of the project has been carried out by college and high school Co-operative education students: Nadina Geana (Yorkdale Secondary School and Adult Learning Centre, North York), Aneil Gokhale (L'Amoreaux Collegiate, Scarborough), Neil Khuu (Chinguacousy Secondary School, Brampton), Corey Lewis and Sheri Ross (Sir Sandford Fleming Community College, Lindsay) and Tommy Tu (North Park Secondary School, Brampton).

Co-op student participation in the development of this site was made possible by a grant from The Richard Ivey Foundation.

Project design, management and programming by ROM ITS Department. Additional Resources provided by Hopscotch Interactive Inc., Toronto, Ontario.


ROM logo This page has been produced in partnership between the
Royal Ontario Museum and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 		Ontario logo
About this Project   ::   Glossary
Please send your comments to bio-ontario@rom.on.ca

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