Climate Change

Brain coral specimen on a white background

"Every day I learn new things about our planet, the humans who inhabit it, and the multitude intricate ways that climate change and climate change solutions weave these things together. Above all else, I've grown to appreciate how rare, yet important, it is to simply be - having honest, human conversations about climate change".

- Dr. Soren Brothers, Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change

An Active Voice for Climate Hope

Climate change touches every part of our lives and is a deeply global story. At ROM we've seen the effects of it revealed in field and lab research, scientific study data, changing file expeditions, and much more. Dr. Soren Brothers is working with fellow curators and other knowledge professionals to raise the awareness of climate change. And we're committed to share the knowledge and insights from those findings with you.

These changes are not just for our time, and not always negative. Through exhibitions, gallery updates, programming, education, and special events, we invite you to take a closer look at the ways our climate is changing, how we can affect and are affected by those changes, and the actions - big and small - we can take to contribute to climate hope. Take a moment and visit, read, or watch as we move together in climate hope.

For Good: Designing Cities for the Anthropocene

As the impact of human activities continues to contribute to the changes in Earth’s environment, how can communities change and evolve in ways that are sustainable for us, the plants and wildlife around us, and the planet?

Close up, in morning light, of amber eyes of a male coyote framed within the black-tipped tail of a female.

Language, Land, and Lens: Indigenous Voices in Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Celebrate Indigenous artistry, language, and collective relationships with the natural world. This special event brings together a panel of Indigenous artists and language carriers whose contributions have enriched the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at ROM.

Arial view still of Crawford Lake taken from video

Exhibitions

Visit special exhibitions, like Crawford Lake: Layers in Time, that tell stories of our effect on the world around us.

Climate change and habitat destruction are just two factors contributing to species extinction. Learn about species that are threatened or have disappeared because of human influence – some of them from our own back yard.

Galleries

Learn more in galleries like Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity, the Willner Madge Gallery: Dawn of Life, the Critical Minerals, Critical Choices installation our Teck Suite of Galleries, and others, about the changing planet and our relationship with the natural world.

Engage

Take a guided Climate Change, Climate Hope tour, or pick up a Climate Change Hike the ROM during your Museum visit. Be sure to sign up for our enewsletter and be the first to learn about upcoming programs and events.

Urban park with a walking path, railway tracks on the left, trees, and a river flowing through the middle under a blue sky.

Article

The Stream that Shapes a City

How the Cheonggyecheon serves the culture and spirit of the community it runs through.

Image of a repurposed life jacket. Image taken on a white background.

Climate Futures And Rising Waters

Learn how the global textile and fast fashion industry plays a major role in climate change, social justice, water quality, and environmental degradation.

Article

“I hope people will take a look at their connection to clothing and maybe realize that they don’t need to buy more”

The global fashion industry is worth more than $1.5 trillion dollars—about as much as the annual gross domestic product of Australia. Any industry that big has a substantial impact on planetary wellbeing and sustainability–and on the wellbeing of its workers. Textile workers around the world, the majority of them in Asia, are systematically underpaid and exposed to dangerous, exploitative working conditions—especially in the lowest-paid positions, which are predominantly occupied by women.

Reading Nature's Record - The history of Crawford Lake reveals how environmental changes and human action influence the history our planet holds.

Climate Tips - Faced with multiple global tipping points, scientists are considering new ways of thinking and acting.

The Dawn of the Anthropocene - Sediment core from Crawford Lake shows evidence of how humans have substantially altered the Earth over a short period of time. Could it define the beginning of a new epoch in our world's history?

What Gives ROM’s Climate Change Project Coordinator Hope? - Former Coordinator, Sarah Kamau, on ROM’s green future and the little things that make a big difference.

Innovating Indian Chintz in the Face of Changing Environmental Conditions - The contemporary search for sustainable cotton, colour, and design.

Soren Brothers in front of new bridge consturction in Toronto, Ontario

We Can Stop Talking About Climate Change

We love talking about climate change. But sometimes, it can be challenging to bring up in conversations. What if there was a way to talk about climate change, without talking about climate change?

Rough, irregular mineral specimen with turquoise and white crystalline formations, shown next to a 5 cm scale.

Resource

The Plastic Age - How Plastics are changing our Planet's Geology

Explore how plastics have become a hallmark of the Anthropocene – the period during which humans have had a substantial impact on our planet – and a permanent part of Earth’s geology. Researcher Veronica Di Cecco invites us to explore plastiglomerates – rocks that consist of sedimentary grains and other natural debris – all held together by plastic. Through this research, we can begin to understand the role that plastics now play in ecosystems around the world. Hosted by Soren Brothers, we take a closer look at the role of plastiglomerates in defining how human actions have permanently altered

Image of the City of Toronto Port Lands project. Photo courtesy V. Ingelvics, R. Walker.

Resource

Our Changing Port Lands - Documenting Toronto's Journey to Climate Resiliency

Chronicling the momentous changes from the ongoing revitalization of Toronto’s Port Lands, artists Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker have spent years creating a photographic record of the changes in this corner of the city.

For these curators, climate change is personal - ROM’s curators on fast fashion, fieldwork, and sustainability.

Noelle Hamlyn: Lifers - Noelle Hamlyn speaks with Soren Brothers about the inspiration and motivation behind the Lifers exhibition.

Curator Conversations: Fast Fashion: Perspectives from Future Textile Leaders - Former ROM curator, Alexandra Palmer, chats with two emerging fashion industry experts about how they view the fashion industry’s responsibility towards society and the environment, and their thoughts on the future of sustainable fashion.

Curator Conversations: Sustainability for Healthier Oceans - Soren Brothers speaks with Samantha Renshaw of Ocean Wise Seafood about the small but meaningful ways individuals can make a difference to the world’s marine environments.

Curator Conversations: Reframing the Climate Crisis - Drawing on her interdisciplinary research and personal stories, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe speaks with ROM curator Soren Brothers as she makes the case for hope and healing as we face the greatest existential crisis in humanity’s history.

Curator Conversations: Climate Change Comedy - Experience how comedy bridges the gap between science and public audiences with ROM curator Soren Brothers and guest Rollie Williams.

Climate Change Literature - Balancing Anxiety and Optimism for Multi-Generational Audiences - Soren Brothers speaks with authors Chris Turner (How to be a Climate Optimist) and Mary-Lou Zeitoun (Jamilah at the End of the World) as they explore the use of literature to engage with the impacts of climate change.

Curators in Conversation: Lessons from the Past on Climate Change and Our Future - What can we learn from our past that will help us prepare for the enormous changes caused by the climate crisis?

Curator Conversations: Sustainable Fashion for a Greener World - With the future of planet Earth at stake, former ROM Curator, Alexandra Palmer, speaks with fashion insider Sarah Jay on her work to encourage both industry and consumers to shift their behaviour toward more positive social and environmental impacts.

Dr. Soren Brothers

Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change

In 2021, ROM welcomed its first Curator focussed on climate change. Born and raised in southern Ontario, Soren holds degrees in Biology and a PhD in Limnology (magna cum laude). As a limnologist (one who studies inland aquatic ecosystems, like our own Great Lakes) he researches the effects of climate change on lakes, and how they can help us better understand and predict global climate change "tipping points". He believes we are entering a moment of positive ecological awareness - a new tipping point - where constructive change will keep us moving forward, restoring more balance to our planet's ecosystems.

From visitor education to the appointment of Dr. Soren Brothers to essential ecological fieldwork, ROM is fighting to change the narrative on climate change. But to win, we need your help. Please consider donating today – and help us write the next chapter on climate change. Contact us at giving@rom.on.ca.