July 2011

Monthly Archive: July 2011

Five Questions for Noah Cowan

Posted: July 14, 2011 - 11:00 , by ROM

Fun fact about the TIFF Bell Lightbox: its Artistic Director started out as a box-office volunteer. As a teenager, Noah Cowan volunteered for the relatively young “Festival of Festivals”, now the Toronto International Film Festival. Since those humble beginnings, he has started Midnight Madness, founded the Global Film Initiative, curated major retrospectives on Indian and Japanese cinema, started a production company, been a film critic, Co-Directed TIFF and became Artistic Director of TIFF Bell Lightbox- but not exactly in that order.

From the Field: Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project 2011 – Visitors!

Posted: July 13, 2011 - 11:10 , by royal

July 6-8: Visitors

These past few days we have had some welcome visitors to Camp. First, some of our colleagues from the Montana State University and the Museum of the Rockies joined us for a day on July 6th. They are working the same series of rocks just a few kilometers south of us in Montana, and wanted to see what we are finding and where we are finding it on this side of the border. We also had a reporter from the Toronto Star join the crew to see ROM dinosaur field research first hand.

From the Field: Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project 2011 – Found a skull!

Posted: July 11, 2011 - 17:47 , by royal

July 3, 2011: The South Side Ceratopsian Quarry

A tortoise by any other name is…a new species.

Posted: July 11, 2011 - 13:47 , by Cathy Dutton

In 1861, American Physician and Naturalist James Graham Cooper described a new species of tortoise from the deserts of California, and a 150-year mystery began. He named this new discovery Agassiz’s Land Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), but the name was changed some years later to Desert Tortoise. Fast forward 140 years later to a review that was published in 2002 on the conservation of the Desert Tortoise and the status of existing populations. It summarized evidence that Gopherus agassizii was not a single species, but was actually two to four species.

From the Field: The Tell Madaba Archaeological Project…Crusader castles, ancient cities, and desert valleys!

Posted: July 9, 2011 - 13:08 , by royal

By Daniel Kwan, Gallery Facillitator and Volunteer

From the Field: Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project 2011

Posted: July 5, 2011 - 14:58 , by royal

We are back again in southern Alberta, to continue our palaeontological survey and excavation of the Milk River region and adjacent areas. This blog will document how this field season progresses, and will report on any new and exciting dinosaur discoveries from the field!

June 28, 2011: Home Sweet Home

From the Field: The Tell Madaba Archaeological Project…progress!

Posted: July 4, 2011 - 09:04 , by royal

By Daniel Kwan, Gallery Facillitator and Volunteer

After their first weekend off, the students have returned recharged and ready to dig! Despite the many bruises and sores that I sustained from my hiking trips, I felt more motivated than ever! Due to the progress that we had made in the previous week, precautions had to be made to ensure that the students (and myself) could enter our excavation safely. We have a fantastic group of local Jordanian workers who assist us, many of them have worked with with me during my previous excavation last summer.

From the Field: The Tell Madaba Archaeological Project… Weekend Off!

Posted: July 2, 2011 - 20:00 , by royal

By Daniel Kwan, Gallery Facilitator and Volunteer