Biodiversity

Monthly Archive: December biod

Finding a Safe Passageway Across the 401

Posted: January 26, 2015 - 15:55 , by ROM
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Two small, striped snakes touch snouts while wound about a person's hand.

Ecologists working together to ensure the safety of wildlife along some of Canada's busiest highway.

ROM Photographer of the Year 2014: Recap

Posted: January 20, 2015 - 15:34 , by ROM
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A group of antelope gather on a grassy plain.

A look back at the top photos from our 2014, in-house photography contest!

Sustainable development in the Caribbean: beer and biology

Posted: January 16, 2015 - 15:20 , by ROM
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A man & a woman in bathing suits pose on a small catamaran on a sun-lit, white sand beach

Dr. Burton Lim and colleagues are off to study bats and other island mammals in the sun!

A Spotlight on Illegal Pelt Trading, and What the ROM Has to Do With It

Posted: December 25, 2014 - 17:03 , by ROM
Tags on confiscated furs within the ROM Collections. Photo by Matt Jenkins

Guest blog post by Environmental Visual Communication alumnus Matt Jenkins. 

Celebrating its centennial birthday this year, the ROM has always stood as a place of education, family enjoyment and research. That is why I found it surprising that the ROM identifies nearly one quarter of its roughly one thousand pelts as ‘seized’ or illegal. Fear not though, as I learned, they are at the museum with the proper permits and have actually played integral roles in assisting the prevention of illegal pelt trading.

Roads, Roads, Roads - Road Ecology in Canada

Posted: December 5, 2014 - 12:35 , by ROM
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Road Ecology experts stand with bright fluorescent safety vests next to Terry Fox Drive in Kanata, Ontario

November 27-28 brought 110 of the top Canadian road ecology minds together for a conference in Ottawa that started the conversation about this emerging science at a national scale.

Photography in the Field: equal parts business & pleasure

Posted: November 19, 2014 - 09:10 , by ROM
A large white bird (a giant petrel) comes in for a landing on a rough, rocky ridge; another such bird sits nearby.

Guest blogger Thomas Cullen shares his thoughts on photography in the field.

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! 

What exactly is a LOT?

Posted: November 1, 2014 - 11:31 , by Nicole Richards
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Several fish in a jar

In the past 100 years, the Ichthyology section at the ROM has amassed over one million fish specimens from around the world in one of the largest fish collections in North America. These specimens are preserved, sorted into LOTS, identified, catalogued and shelved like books in a library.

Are you Afraid FOR Bats This Halloween?

Posted: October 30, 2014 - 20:53 , by ROM
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two little brown bats fly in a twilit sky over Rouge Park during the 2012 Ontario BioBlitz. Photo by Stacey Lee Kerr

I love bats. There’s just something about them that gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside everytime I see one. Now I know what you (and to be honest, a lot of people I know) are thinking - how can she like such a creepy little mammal like a bat? Don’t they suck your blood/get caught in your hair/give you the heebie jeebies? First of all, the answer to those questions is no.

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