After one of her shifts at the Hands-on Biodiversity Gallery, ROM volunteer Helen Hatton said to her husband, “Honey, do you want to hear about the sex life of hissing cockroaches?” Her husband, whom Helen describes as “a delightful retired geek,” calmly replied, “Let’s have a drink first.”

He later observed that Helen and her colleagues at the ROM were all “a bit around the bend.” “He’s right,” Helen admits. “And that’s what I love!”