Research

Monthly Archive: December Rese

Hopping Their Way to Your Heart

Posted: September 29, 2015 - 15:06 , by ROM
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a toad sits patiently in the hand of a naturalist who holds it out for a young person to explore

Guest Blog written by 2015 Environmental Visual Communication student Lian Jong

Lian sat down with ROM Herpetology technician Amy Lathrop to get some insight into the museum's vast Natural History collections, in particular, its reptiles and amphibians.

Blue Whale Update: A Whole Lotta Heart

Posted: September 23, 2015 - 19:22 , by ROM
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Jacqueline Miller, Robert Henry and Paul Nader putting plugs in the major vessels of the blue whale heart. Photo by Sam Rose Phillips

Guest Blog written by 2015 Environmental Visual Communication student Sam Rose Phillips

 

ROM in the Field: Bats, Barcoding, and a Baby

Posted: September 8, 2015 - 16:15 , by ROM
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A tube-nosed bat (Murina cyclotis) in flight. Photo by Vincent Luk

ROM Biodiversity (@ROMBiodiversity) is in the fields and forests of Sri Lanka for an intense four weeks doing the first comprehensive survey of bats and other small mammals in close to 80 years. Follow the South Asian adventure on social media with #ROMSriLanka, and join Burton Lim and the Team LIVE from the field on September 10 at noon: https://www.rom.on.ca/en/activities-programs/events-calendar/hangout-with-our-rom-biodiversity-team-in-sri-lanka  

Our Darling Dermestids - A Visit to the ROM's Bug Room

Posted: July 29, 2015 - 22:22 , by ROM
A photo of the sign posted outside the door of the ROM's dermestid beetle colony quotes Dante's Inferno, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here"

Guest blog written by 2015 Environmental Visual Communication student Robert Elliot

How does the Royal Ontario Museum get their Skeletons so clean without compromising their integrity? A well-kept colony of hide beetles cleans every crevice of the various cadavers in the ROM’s bug room with incredible efficiency. A steel walled, dark humid room filled with corpses; a veritable beetle heaven is home to these hard working bugs. Follow EVC student ROM into their domain to get a unique perspective on the ROM.

Bug Hunting with Bed Sheets

Posted: June 25, 2015 - 15:44 , by Nicole Richards
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3 people in silhouette look for insects attracted to a light

What would make a couple of insect-keen naturalists lug a car battery, a mercury vapour lamp and a white bed sheet into a forest around midnight? A BioBlitz of course!

The Monastery of St Moses, Syria: The Prehistoric Remains

Posted: December 1, 2014 - 08:52 , by Robert Mason
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The largest corbelled structure, in fact a complex of three (Feature 56 - 58), with the Qalamoun mountains in the background.

Since 2004 I had walked the Qalamoun mountains around the monastery of Deir Mar Musa looking for archaeological features to record. In all that time I found one lithic, a stone tool from humanity’s prehistoric past. My colleagues back home that specialised in these objects would say that I just didn’t know what I was looking for. In the last days of the 2009 season, what turned out to be my last season at the monastery, I thought I would reconnoitre the southern part of the field area.

Unfrozen in Time: From the Erebus and Terror to the ROM

Posted: November 7, 2014 - 09:09 , by ROM
Watercolor of the grave of G.S. Malcolm A.B., who died of frostbite during the search for Franklin. Photo by Dorea Reeser

Today’s blog post is a glimpse of a tale that is largely untold. It is the story of the exploration of the Canadian Arctic, as seen by Adam White in his botanical scrapbooks. These scrapbooks were donated to the University of Toronto, and came to the ROM together with what is now the ROM’s Green Plant Herbarium. What do these scrapbooks have to do with Franklin, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror? It’s a fantastic story! 

Blue Whale Update: Where is it Now?

Posted: October 20, 2014 - 14:43 , by ROM
A beached blue whale on the Newfoundland coast, strapped up and ready to be  transported to Woody Point for recovery. Photo by Jacqueline C. Waters

Guest Blog Posting by Environmental Visual Communication (EVC) student, Nila Sivatheesan

Visiting a Family Heirloom

Posted: October 1, 2014 - 16:40 , by Deepali Dewan
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The dagger was a wedding gift in recognition of the military traditions within the family of the donor, who then gave it to the museum in order to preserve this special object for future generations. In October 2010, his daughter contacted the museum about seeing this family heirloom and then returned with the next generation of family members in tow to revisit this meaningful piece. Because of her efforts, the museum now has a fuller history of her family’s connection to this artefact, which is now part of its permanent record. Written by Deepali Dewan

Collection Highlight: Sikhs in Canada

Posted: September 25, 2014 - 10:52 , by Deepali Dewan
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