Wow, it’s been four years. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed. Stepping into the CEO role at the Manitoba Museum was and continues to be one of the most incredible privileges of my life…

May brings us later sunsets and shorter nights, making stargazing a late-night affair. With some bright planets, a meteor shower, and lots of interesting events, it’s well worth staying up for.

There’s a lot of buzz in the news right now surrounding the future of the Hudson’s Bay Company and their heritage collection, and it has brought up a lot of questions regarding the beloved HBC Museum Collection here…

One prevailing comment I hear about my job, whether in person or via social media, is “your job sounds so cool!” And you know what? It is. But I’m about to reveal the dark underbelly of my job…

Have you ever seen the beautiful moccasins in the Manitoba Museum galleries and wondered about their creation process? Who made them, who wore them, and where did they travel? Museums are filled with…

“April showers bring May flowers”, goes the saying, and it’s true that April does often have a lot of rain (or at least clouds) for Manitoba. On clear nights, though, we get a unique view away from…

Geologic time is truly staggering. It is hard to comprehend even for geologists, so we often rely on analogies to convey the vastness of time. If you could count one year per second, it would take…

The Manitoba Museum’s newest Planetarium show will take you to the edge of space and the bottom of the sea. Premiering Saturday, March 29, Voyage of the Stars: A Sea and Space Adventure is…

March brings the spring equinox, warmer weather, and the last chance to see the winter constellations. This year, March also hosts a pair of eclipses and a planetary line-up that is almost as good as it gets…

The A. and M. Hurtig Furriers shop is a new exhibit in the Winnipeg 1920 Cityscape at the Manitoba Museum, featuring authentic fur accessories and furrier tools from the early 20th century. The exhibit includes…

A birthday card, photograph, diary, or hand-written note – these little archival pieces can be some of the most treasured fragments of family history. Small and unassuming, paper objects tend to…

Tape might seem like a good option when it comes to quick repairs of torn papers or fast mounting of photographs in an album, however, they age badly …

The Manitoba Museum recently opened a “new” store in the Winnipeg 1920 Gallery, the Darbey taxidermy shop. Today, a taxidermy shop would be considered a minor player in our digital world…

Do you know how to tell the difference between a mammoth and a mastodon? Check out their smile!

February is an often-cloudy month in Manitoba, but for those clear nights there are lots of planets to watch, as well as the last chance to spot the winter constellations before they disappear into the longer days of spring.

Manitoba has a fascinating variety of rare plants. You might not think of sand dunes as the most hospitable of environments, but some plants know how thrive there!

A new exhibit has prowled its way into the Parklands Gallery and we can’t wait for you to see it! This exhibit showcases the cougar and shares the story of a specific cat named SK10…

When we have temporary closures, it gives staff like Senior Conservator Carolyn Sirett an opportunity to do maintenance on some of the most beloved aspects of the Manitoba Museum – the dioramas!

Hello Manitoba Museum friends, Happiest New Year. I wish you and your loved ones continued good health, happiness, and the fulfillment of your hopes and dreams in 2025 and beyond. As many of you know, …

The Manitoba Museum has a brand-new, permanent exhibit, and we invite visitors to pounce on the chance to see this exciting addition to our Museum Galleries.  “The Cougar – Manitoba’s Big Cat” is an extraordinarily in-depth look …

Cortney’s back to share some more iconic childhood dolls from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Will her ultimate artifact dreams come true? Watch to the end to find out!

Happy New Year, skywatchers! Although the “start” of our year is somewhat arbitrary, it’s a good time to look ahead at the events we will see during our next orbit of the Sun. We don’t have to wait long, though, for many of the year’s best events happen in January.

Did you know that some minerals glow under ultraviolet light? Join Dr. Joe Moysiuk in the collections storage to see four different glow-in-the-dark minerals, and learn why they glow under UV light.

Mornings in the Museum sometimes feel like the movie Night at the Museum. I cannot say that I have ever experienced anything coming to life when I am inside an exhibit or diorama, but when my colleagues walk by…

Did you know that museums don’t only collect really old things? Museums collect contemporary objects all the time in anticipation of future research, education, and exhibits well after we’ve all retired.

The Manitoba Museum is a place of discovery, and not only for our visitors! Our Curators travel far and wide to acquire specimens and artifacts for the Museum’s collection…

The Nonsuch is famous for its trip to Canada in 1668 to trade for furs in Hudson Bay. But, did you know that the Nonsuch Gallery at the Museum is not set in Canada, but rather in England after the Nonsuch’s return journey?

I often think back to my childhood after we arrived in Canada. It wasn’t quite as expected. Starting over in a new country, not knowing the language, struggling to make ends meet, and not having a community was very hard…

We’ve all had the experience of reading something when a word, a name, or a concept piques our curiosity and sets us off on a research quest. This often happens when I am working with…

Winter nights start early and last long, making them perfect for star watching. Except for the temperature… and the clouds… Catch a clear December night, though…

Cortney Pachet shares the love story of Private James Brady and Eleanor Geib, highlighting items in the James Brady Collection that were preserved by Eleanor and her family for over half a century.

First developed in 1974 as the “Urban Gallery,” this visitor favourite has undergone some major changes over the last four years. The gallery was always meant to represent…

This Veterans’ Week, as we approach Remembrance Day, we wanted to share a couple videos highlighting the Hong Kong Veterans Collection at the Museum. Learn a bit about the Hong Kong Veterans…

In profound sadness, we honour and remember Senator Murray Sinclair – “Mazina Giizhik” (the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky), a towering figure in history, whose legacy of courage, resilience, and fight for justice will endure for generations.

What do you think of first when you think of a museum specimen? A taxidermy bison? A pinned butterfly? The skeleton of an entire pliosaur? A museum could answer with…

It’s that time of year! People are buying, creating, or dusting off their Halloween costumes. In this video, check out some of the Halloween costume pieces in…

Eyes on the sky, stargazers! Manitobans have a chance to see a bright comet in our evening skies this week. In this video, find out how to spot Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS yourself!

By the time you read this, Earth will have not just one but two comets visiting our corner of the solar system. These objects remind us that our planet is part of…

Sometimes when Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson goes out in the field to research the wild plants growing throughout Manitoba, she encounters species that she can’t identify without equipment in the lab.

Manitobans will have a chance to catch a comet this October (2024). Comet C/2023 A3, a.k.a. Comet Tsuchinshen-ATLAS, will be visible in our evening sky beginning…

October is a great month for stargazing. Aside from the cooler temperatures and earlier sunsets, we have at least one reasonably-bright comet…

Did you know these fun facts about beavers? In this video, join Erin to learn some of the amazing adaptations that help beavers thrive.

Dr. Joe Moysiuk spent some time in the field this summer looking for fossils. Join us in this video for an “unboxing” of one of the fabulous specimens that he found!

Manitoba’s native prairies are endangered because most of them have been cultivated for annual crop production. As a result, some of the rarest species of plants…

As we approach the annual National Day for Truth & Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, folks maybe be curious about their role in Truth & Reconciliation. Many Indigenous leaders and community members have urged that truth needs to come before reconciliation, followed by action to create meaningful impact. Museums have a uniquely important role in changing past narratives and practices to move forward with ReconciliACTION.

The Criddle family had a wide variety of interests and talents, which some of them pursued as careers and others as hobbies. Meet some of the family who were very skilled artists.

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Grand Chief Cathy Merrick, and offer our sincerest condolences to her husband, children, grandchildren, her home community of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, and all her relations.

Have you ever heard of the killdeer? This bird has a clever way of keeping predators away from its nest of eggs.

Sometimes our Curators find unexpected items in donations to the Museum Collections. What at first may look like it falls under one discipline…

Can you get rocket fuel from water? Join Science Communicator Rhianna in the Explore Science Zone to conduct some hydrogen electrolysis and learn about rockets!

You may be familiar with large, round, vinyl records for playing music, but do you know what was used to play recorded music before that?

The Criddle family made money in all sorts of different ways, from farming, to community service, to handcrafts! In this video see some of the beautiful…

I lived in Yellowknife for ten years where the seasons are definitely pronounced. Downtown Yellowknife wraps around a small lake and I used to shop at stores on the other side. Shopping in winter was easier because I didn’t have to go around the lake – I could just walk across the ice. For the rest of the year, I faced a longer trek to reach my destination.

Spotting a shooting star can be a pretty exciting experience. Join Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young at our Space Rocks exhibit to learn about…

August brings the return of some planets to the evening sky, the most famous meteor shower of the year, and longer nights than we’ve seen…

Sometimes objects come in to the Archaeology lab that aren’t really artifacts, but are still interesting in their own right.

The Museum has a rich collection of Chinese-Canadian artifacts that have been donated over many decades.

A meteor (a.k.a. falling star, shooting star) looks like a bright streak across the starry sky that lasts for a second or two before fading away. Most people believe they are rare enough that you should make a wish when you see one, but they are surprisingly common if you watch the sky a lot. On any given night with no Moon, if you get away from city lights and watch the sky continuously, you’ll see up to a half-dozen meteors per hour. Any light sources – the Moon, city lights, you phone – will reduce that number to near zero.

Do you know the three things that are needed to make a rocket? In this video, join Science Communicator Rhianna to learn about rockets…

Have you ever heard of the Criddles of Manitoba? They immigrated to Canada in 1882, but they weren’t your typical farming family.

Manitoba has many wild plants that produce edible fruits. These can make for a nutritious snack while out on a walk or hike, and can also be a great addition…

In the 1800s the prairies of Manitoba had experienced limited settlement and looked vastly different to what we see today…

There are many plant species with edible fruit in Manitoba. Wild fruits make a nutritious snack when you are out hiking…

Adapting to life in a new city or country can come with many challenges and successes. This video with Dr. Roland Sawatzky looks at how the experiences…

Celestial events as seen from Manitoba for July 2024.

Sometimes archaeologists find things in Manitoba that seem like they shouldn’t be here. We don’t have volcanos – how did obsidian get here?

Cedar Lake amber is from the Cretaceous era, which means that dinosaurs were roaming through the forests at the time that it formed…

We’re thrilled to announce the new project, Anishinaabemowin with Amik, with the support of Telus Friendly Future Foundation….

Here in Winnipeg we love a good celebration! Coming together for festivals, sports, and cultural events help us share what it means to be Winnipeggers.

Throughout this important month, the Manitoba Museum celebrates the tangible and intangible heritage of the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit communities of Manitoba…

Sometimes the storage drawers and cupboards that contain the Museum Collection need a little TLC to ensure they’re keeping specimens and artifacts as safe as possible.

This week is Museum Week and today’s theme, Water, coincides with World Oceans Day! Join Mika in the Science Gallery as she shares…

Toad surveying, mummifying carrots, hosting conferences, researching artifacts and specimens, and more! It’s the first day of Museum Week..

Water has been a major influence on the development of Winnipeg throughout its 150-year history. Learn about our rivers, floods, and drinking water…

Pronghorns are sometimes called Antelope because of their visual similarities, but recent research shows they’re actually more closely related to Giraffes! In this video,…

Many Museum visitors will remember Madame Taro’s room in the Winnipeg 1920 Cityscape, but do you know how many artifacts are in this room?

Picture this: You’re working alone in the collections room, inspecting the insect collection for evidence of pests, when you hear a noise…

This amazing Chinese alcove bed was donated to the Museum about five years ago, and we recently had a chance to set it up and get some beautiful…

What is a “brood parasite”? Find out in this video with Learning & Engagement Producer Erin, as he tells us about a ‘piggybacking’ bird.

Last year the Manitoba Museum piloted a new program to provide community members increased access to Museum collections…

Canadian armed forces are part of the historical fabric of Winnipeg. Join Dr. Roland Sawatzky to learn about some Winnipeg veterans…

Tashina Houle-Schlup is the Head of Indigenous Programming & Engagement and we love having her on the Museum team! …

The Manitoba Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary at its current Rupert Avenue location in 2020, but did you know that collecting and preserving artifacts and specimens in Manitoba started in an official capacity around 1879?

Cedar Lake amber is from the Cretaceous era, which means that dinosaurs were roaming through the forests at the time that it formed…

Winnipeg citizens have been fighting inequality and racism for over one hundred years. Join Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery.

Are you cheering on the Jets as they hit the playoff ice again tonight? In part two of our peek into the Winnipeg Jets collection,…

The Winnipeg Jets are going to the playoffs! Skate back through their history in this video to see some of the neat artifacts in the Jets Collection…

Every year on April 22, we celebrate our home, the Earth, and all the wonderful things it provides us – from the food that nourishes our body, the shelter and clothing that keeps us warm, to the air and water that allow us to live and breathe…

This stone in the entrance to the Prairies Gallery is more than just a big rock. It represents the bison rubbing stones that are icons of the prairies…

There’s a solar eclipse that will be visible from Manitoba taking place on April 8, 2024 and you won’t want to miss it! …

Join Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery to see some of the artifacts newcomers to Canada and Winnipeg brought with them…

The tools that conservators use to fix, repair, and clean objects are pretty unique, in that many of these items come from different professions…

Did you ever grab a meal at the C. Kelekis Restaurant during its time as a Winnipeg staple? Check out some Kelekis memorabilia in the…

On April 8, 2024, viewers across North America will have an amazing opportunity to experience the motions of the solar system in real time…

The tools Conservator’s use to fix, repair, and clean objects in a Museum collection are pretty unique …

Join Science Communicator Adriana in the Science Gallery to check out one of our newest exhibits – the magnetic ball wall…

Join Curator of History Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery to learn some of the early history of the city of Winnipeg…

Trilobites tend to be well-preserved in the fossil record, but some of the fossil trilobites in the Museum Collection look like pieces of their head are missing…

The many natural history specimens in our exhibitions are familiar to Museum-goers. The dioramas and displays introduce Manitoba’s incredible diversity of life…

Celestial events as seen from Manitoba for March 2024.

Details of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse as seen from Manitoba…

In Manitoba there are many different types of fungus, some of which are even parasitic! Meet a few of the species that can be found here…

Winter in Manitoba is not generally a time for animals to breed. Resources are scarce – many species have migrated and those that remain…

Animals today are mindbogglingly diverse, encompassing flies and flamingoes, elephants and earthworms, sharks and snails, and of course, ourselves.

Join Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery to learn about some of the history of Winnipeg as an Indigenous homeland…

Do you know the history of valentine’s cards? Learn more about Valentine’s Day and check out some unique valentines cards from…

As you trek across the snowy landscape in a (typical) Manitoba winter, one of the last creatures you might expect to be sharing the trail with is an insect…

Badgers and coyotes sometimes use their unique adaptations to work together in hunting small rodents like the Richardson Ground squirrel…

This year is the 150th anniversary of the City of Winnipeg. In 1874 it promoted itself from a small village nestled within the larger Red River Settlement…

February skies usually mark a transition point between winter and spring, with…

Long winter nights are perfect for sky watching! In this video, Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young will show you how to find the constellation Orion…

Did you know that vibrations and gravity can change the dioramas in the Museum Galleries? These dioramas are cared for by our Conservation team,…

The city of Winnipeg turns 150 this year, with today being the anniversary of the first meeting of City Council! Join Dr. Roland Sawatzky in…

As you travel through the Manitoba Museum, you’re transported to various places and times by the dioramas in the galleries. These dioramas…

You may have visited a museum and wondered why some spaces are a bit dark, or have motion sensor lights. it’s because…

Working with youth always fascinates me. Their enthusiasm, creativity, and eagerness to learn are contagious…

Before the HBC Museum Collection was donated to the Manitoba Museum, it was displayed elsewhere…

Here in Manitoba when our roads and sidewalks get icy in the winter, we may put down various kinds of deicer…

As the Assistant Conservator at the Manitoba Museum, one of my main duties is the preservation and maintenance of all the dioramas …

December features the best meteor shower of the year, as well as the return of the winter constellations to early evening prominence.

Are you doing any baking this holiday season? Learn about the four main spices that go into a classic gingerbread…

You may have heard of spear points or arrowheads before, but have you heard of atlatl dart points? Curator of Archaeology…

December is the time of year when people tend to eat desserts with lots of spices in them, including…

Giving Tuesday is the world’s largest generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.

A common human trait is to obtain and store our belongings. And, maybe without even thinking, storing them…

Does your house shift with the seasons? So does the Nonsuch! Learn how the Conservation Team tracks the expansion…

The Nonsuch is the largest artifact in the Museum and requires special conservation. Join Senior Conservator Carolyn…

Dearest Manitoba Museum friends, First, thank you for being here. I appreciate how much information we receive on any given day, and how overwhelming it can feel.

In 1973, the Nonsuch replica made its final resting place at the Manitoba Museum where it has become…

November brings colder weather, which quickly becomes the dominating factor for most sky observers…

The month of October is affectionately called ‘spooky season’ by many folks. While the word spooky…

October is when bats – or their silhouettes, at least – are hard to miss! You’ll likely come across multiple houses this month proudly displaying these winged wonders alongside jack-o-lanterns and witches. However, these fascinating flying mammals won’t be joining in on the fun of trick-or-treating. By the end of September, three of Manitoba’s bat species will have migrated south to find food, whereas the other three will be hibernating locally.

How do pulleys work? Join Adriana in the Science Gallery to learn about these simple machines exhibited in the pulley chairs!

On Saturday, October 14, 2023, worlds will align. The Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth…

With Orange Shirt Day (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) on the horizon, folks might be…

The Manitoba Museum is no stranger to cameras in our collection. We care for 103 of them, to be exact…

Have you ever seen the stars? Like, really SEEN them, from a dark place, far away from the lights of the city. If you have, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you are missing one of the great beauties of the natural world.

Walking into the Manitoba Museum’s Earth History Gallery, you see an enticing undersea scene in the…

Early in my days working with the human history collection, I was searching for a medical-related artifact in…

Fungi grow just about everywhere and yet we are usually ignorant of their presence until they produce mushrooms in our lawns…

My first day at the Manitoba Museum began with a guided behind-the-scenes tour through the research labs…

It’s almost Valentines Day and the flower that most people associate with that holiday is bright red.

I recently wrote a fun little article with some facts about Nonsuch for the local newspaper, but I…

This November, all of Manitoba is treated to a total lunar eclipse. Totally safe to view, this event…

To celebrate Islamic History Month, I thought I would share this recent beautiful donation we have received at the Museum…

Last year the Rempel-Ong family donated the “Head Tax” Certificate of Yee Chung Yen, a distant relative. The family and Museum staff have…

As we pass through life we accumulate scars, each of which tells a story about an event that affected us. This white line on my hand shows where I fell hard…

This summer I went from Manitoba’s southern-most border all the way to its northern one within just a week. I was fascinated…

When the Ukrainian Canadian Legion Branch 141 building closed on Selkirk Avenue at the end of March 2022,…

August brings with it hot summer days, earlier sunsets, and the annual Perseid meteor shower. Here’s how to get the best view…

A current and ongoing problem for museums is collection storage space. Maximizing space for expanding collections requires…

After the Second World War, hundreds of branches of the Royal Canadian Legion were established across Canada where veterans of the war…

You may have heard the old saying that “nature abhors a vacuum”. To understand this expression, you probably…

When I tell people I am writing a book that describes all of the plants that grow in Manitoba, they are often incredulous…

When most people think of plants, they typically picture flowers: cherry trees in bloom, colourful tulips and…

One of our most popular exhibits at the Museum is the immersive experience of the “Winnipeg 1920 Cityscape”. Built in 1974,…

Like many of you, I am eagerly awaiting spring so that I can start planting my vegetable garden. There’s nothing better…

Bison rubbing stones are icons of the prairies. These large stones were originally transported south by Ice Age glaciers, then left behind on the prairies…

A Manitoba winter, especially this one, without the friendly, buzzy, “chick-a-dee-dee” calls of our neighbourhood black-capped chickadees…

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a central, and disruptive role in all our lives. In the coming decades…

Insect specimens must be stabilized for storage and to make them safer to handle. This is where skill meets art, and a little luck!

On the surface, plant sex seems pretty simple. Birds and bees transfer pollen from one flower to another and voila…

We have all seen those lifeless mannequins looking sad and lonely in a store’s window front, longing…

At the edge of the solar system, there is a cloud of small, icy objects that are left over from the formation of the solar system…

Beginning in 2012, The Museum’s curators worked together to plan exhibits for the Bringing Our Stories Forward project (BOSF). As we travelled around the…

With the days growing ever shorter, I find myself thinking about light and how we tend to take for granted the hard work that plants do,…

This last summer the Museum installed a new permanent exhibit about William Beal in our Parklands Gallery. Beal was a settler from…

The Museum opened our newly renovated Prairies Gallery just last spring with spectacular new exhibits on the intriguing and…

In the 1930s the people of the Canadian prairies experienced both an economic collapse and an environmental disaster…

Doing biological field work always comes with challenges. Since I began working at the Museum in 2003, the summers…

Like many of you, I enjoy walking through my neighbourhood and smelling the sweet fragrances of the summer flowers…

More than 440 million years ago, during the Ordovician Period, northern Manitoba was at the edge of a sea near the equator…

August brings the Perseids meteor shower, an annual event that gets many people looking skyward. In recent years,…

For the commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of Treaty Number One, three Treaty medals from the Manitoba Museum will be on display at Lower Fort Garry. Although these medals were used by …

In recognition and celebration of National Indigenous History Month, we’re featuring an artifact from Private David Thomas, a Peguis First Nation soldier…

On the morning of June 10, 2021, early risers across Manitoba will see a partial eclipse of the sun from most of Manitoba…

The Manitoba Museum joins with all of Canada in extending our heartfelt condolences to the families and the communities who have been devastated by the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children …

Plants and fungi were challenging organisms to include in our new Prairies Gallery because most of our…

If you’re an observant person, you may have noticed colourful things growing on Manitoba’s trees and rocks…

When the Museum opens to the public again, our visitors will be in for a pleasant surprise. The very first of our nine galleries,…

To celebrate Black History Month, I wanted to share an important collection that helps to illuminate Black history in mid-20th century Manitoba…

Whether professional or amateur, Winnipeggers love their sports. Winnipeg’s relationship with sports is part of the Winnipeg Gallery…

One of the most impressive plant specimens at the Manitoba Museum is a huge, preserved grass that shows the entire root system…

The Manitoba Museum is pleased to announce the launch of DOME @HOME: The Stars Belong to Everyone….

As you may have heard, on December 21, the planets Jupiter and Saturn will be very close together in the sky, an event called a conjunction.

I recently read that, thanks to Covid-19, there’s been a run on Christmas trees because so many people are staying home for the holidays this year.

Explore the stars from your own backyard! This page has resources for budding astronomers and scientists of all ages. Build your own star clock, track the International Space Station, connect with local Manitoba astronomy groups, and more.

Choosing a first telescope is bit like buying a car – there’s no “best” car, but there is the one that will work best for you. Find out what elements to consider with Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young.

The Winnipeg General Strike is central to Winnipeg’s collective consciousness; however, Black workers and union members are often overlooked in narratives of the strike…

Soil is sometimes called “dirt”, as if it is something completely devoid of value. But without healthy soil, there would be no food, and without food…

Closed Gentian was always a puzzle to me. When I first saw a picture of it in a field guide, I assumed that the photographer had simply…

In 1895 William and Isabel Brockinton had a charming Gothic cottage built on their homestead south of Melita, Manitoba. In our new Prairies Gallery we will be featuring a small touchable model and a full scale stone replica wall section of this now abandoned home.

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE has become the brightest comet in years, and it will be getting better this week. The comet is best seen…

A week ago I posted a blog about a rare plant that I had been searching for in the West Hawk Lake area: climbing fumitory. Since then I’ve had several people ask…

There’s a pretty bright comet in the morning sky right now, with the poetic name of NEOWISE C/2020 F3. The NEOWISE satellite…

Eighty years ago, Manitoba botanist Charles W. Lowe collected a plant from the West Hawk Lake area, not realizing that it would be the last time…

We share our world with billions of other organisms and they play a crucial role in our survival, providing the ecosystem services that keep us alive…

In October 2019 the Manitoba Museum opened the Winnipeg Gallery, a permanent new exhibition space about the history and people of Winnipeg. The gallery features a large stained glass window that displays the old city crest.

It is pretty well known that plants differ from animals due to their ability to make their own food using just carbon dioxide, water and sunlight through a process called photosynthesis…

International Astronomy Day is Saturday, May 2, 2020, and we’re celebrating with online programming and a virtual telescope party.

Amongst the many and varied Natural History Collections at the Manitoba Museum, is a most unusual collection of ‘cases’. These unique display cases…

As a repository for over 2.8 million artifacts and specimens, the Manitoba Museum possesses a collection…

Canada’s trees have developed some resistance to native diseases and insect pests. However, climate change has been facilitating more forest damage.

With changes happening throughout the museum, we sometimes find opportunities to update existing exhibits and breathe new life into old favourites…

Welcome to spring! Or at least it’s supposed to be… astronomers tell us that spring in the northern hemisphere began on March 19…

Winnipeg residents have been reporting some unusual sightings in the night sky over the past few days. Bright star-like objects have been seen moving across the sky…

Throughout its history, the Hudson’s Bay Company had a tradition of recruiting young men from Scotland to serve as clerks, traders,…

We humans tend to think that diseases affect only animals but plants suffer from them as well. Diseases are caused by microscopic animals, fungi,…

One of the most significant contributions that America’s Indigenous peoples have made is with respect…

This month brings skywatchers a rare sight: a total eclipse of the red planet Mars by our Moon. The event is visible across much of North America…

It’s time for the sweaty part of the blog – not the panicky sweating type of emotion I first experienced…

Many plants use the wind to disperse their seeds. But what if a plant lives somewhere that isn’t very windy? How do they encourage their children to “launch”?

Just like all creatures, plants want to reproduce themselves. But they typically don’t want their offspring hanging around for too long, eating all the food in the fridge…

Thursday, November 20, 2019 may provide a rare meteor outburst – but only for a few minutes. The annual Monocerotid meteor shower normally produces about 1 or 2 meteors per hour – and that’s if the sky is dark with no moon. But this year, an outburst is predicted to occur at 10:50 p.m. Central Standard Time, and southern Manitoba is predicted to be cloud-free. So what’s going on?

This summer I spent some time doing what badgers do: digging. What was I digging for? Plant roots. Usually when I collect plants for the Museum I take only a few stems of the above ground portion so that the plant doesn’t die. But this time I needed roots: long ones.

Water-saturated bogs and burning hot, cactus-covered sand dunes are not the kinds of habitats that you would expect to find…

Now that the weather is nice and warm, you’re probably seeing pollinators flying about. The main insect pollinators in Manitoba are…

The loss of biodiversity and plight of wild pollinators has been all over the news lately. If you’re interested in doing something to make life easier…

Dioramas are incredible works of “science meets art”. Planning the layout, construction, and content often takes years,…

If you want to see the blood pressure rise in a conservator, display really big, historically significant,…

The incredible diversity of the Museum’s herbarium can only be credited to the dedicated collectors of botanical specimens, both modern and historical…

I personally feel a little sorry for plants. When plants want to have sex they can’t just go to a bar to meet someone…

Before artifacts go on exhibition in the galleries, they come to the conservation lab for assessment and treatment if necessary…

During the Great War, 8,579 people were sent to internment camps in Canada. Over 5,000 of them were Austro-Hungarian, or Ukrainian,…

During the Great War Canada interned thousands of German and Ukrainian immigrants. Internment camps were set up across the country….

Visitors to the Manitoba Museum are currently enjoying two hockey themed exhibitions examining the meaning of hockey in the lives of…

The Manitoba Museum receives calls daily inquiring if we are interested in receiving artifacts or specimens for our collections…

This year, our Museum foyer has featured an exhibit of unusual fossils in the New Acquisitions Case. This exhibit, Finding the Impossible: Unique Tropical Fossils from William Lake, Manitoba, included a video “slide show” that documented the expeditions during which we collected these fossils. My colleague remarked to me the other day that this slide show should be shared widely using the Museum blog; this post, and some subsequent ones, will do just that!

I’m a landlubber I admit it. How could I not be? I’m from Saskatchewan. That’s the driest place in the country! …

This home chemistry set came into the conservation lab for treatment after being selected for display…

This summer, I was given the amazing opportunity to work at the Manitoba Museum through the Young Canada Woks program…

Last week I spent some time looking for rare and under-collected plants in the “Turtle Mountains” of Manitoba…

This classic tale of “boy meets girl, Dad doesn’t approve”, has been told since the 2nd century B.C.E. and celebrated in summer festivals in China, Japan, and Korea…

The highlight of August sky observing is the Perseid meteor shower. A meteor shower is a high occurrence of shooting stars over several days…

For the last 13 years I have spent part of my summer studying beautiful plants; plants with big displays of nice-smelling flowers…

I was watching an old episode of “The Big Bang Theory” and Sheldon asked Stephanie what her favorite fruit was…

Fifteen year old Eleanor Geib and eighteen year old James “Jimmy” Brady met at a dance hall on Strood Avenue in North Kildonan…

Water-lilies have the largest flowers of all Manitoba plants. Unfortunately, because they grow in deep water, the only time you can usually see these…

Most of the plants in the Museums’ dioramas are real plants that have been preserved and often painted. However, in some cases…

When people come to the Museum and see our dioramas they are usually impressed with the majestic, taxidermied animals in them…

This January what I like to call the Museum’s “Charlie Brown Christmas Tree” in the Arctic/Subarctic Gallery, got polished up with some new…

Although Christmas is considered to be a “Christian” holiday, many of the rituals we associate with it, such as kissing under mistletoe, are actually pagan in origin. European mistletoe (Viscum album) was considered to be a magical plant by Druidic priests because it mysteriously grew on the branches of trees without its roots reaching the soil.

You may have heard the old adage, attributed to either Napoleon or Frederick the Great, an army travels on its stomach…

When people find out I’m a botanist they always start asking me about their houseplants. Unfortunately, I really don’t know much about houseplants as they are pretty much all tropical or desert plants, not native species, which is where my expertise lies.

We humans are not the only ones who like to dress up; sometimes animals disguise themselves to look like something else, like we do at Hallowe’en. They may be trying to…

Our human history collection is full of special objects, highlighting significant points in Manitoba’s past –like Cuthbert Grant’s medicine chest or the replica of the Nonsuch…

One of the first papers on pollination I tried to publish got rejected because I had data from only one field season. So I withdrew the paper and did another year of research. But why is having two years of data so important? It is mainly because the world is a messy place.

It has been an exciting summer as the Collections and Conservation Assistant summer student at the Manitoba Museum. This is not my first job in a museum…

Legacies of Confederation: A New Look at Manitoba History, tells many inspiring stories and is supported by several amazing artifacts and specimens. Most visitors…

As many people have heard, there is a solar eclipse occurring on Monday, August 21, 2017. On that day, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun from our point of view here on Earth…

Usually when I do field work I’m by myself. But sometimes I get the feeling that I’m being watched. The main things that have been watching me this year are the cows.

Where do all the dead animals come from? People sometimes think that Museum staff regularly go out and kill birds and other animals for displays. This is not the case…

Once again I am studying pollinators at the Nature Conservancy’s Yellow Quill Prairie Preserve just south of Canadian Forces Base Shilo. Last year I made the mistake of starting my field surveys too late…

This is a blog about pollination. It’s gonna be great! You’ll love it. I write the best blogs. There’s this one plant—it’s a Goldenrod—it is THE best plant for pollinators…

Have you ever seen an uprooted tree while walking in a forest? If so, you might have noticed strands of white thread-like structures attached to the tree roots and running through the soil. What you were seeing were mycorrhizal fungi.

When the weather turns cold many of us pull out handcrafted quilts and afghans. The comfort they bring often goes beyond the mere physical and can make us feel as if…

Have you ever wondered why the only fresh mushrooms you can get in stores are button, cremini and portabello? Or why the fancy mushrooms, like morels and chanterelles are generally only available dried?

When Manitoba became part of Canada in 1870 the stage was set for one of the largest land transformations in history. In the last 150 years nearly all of Manitoba’s wild prairies…

Medals that commemorate important events in a nation’s history fill every history museum collection around the planet. Collectors and antique traders adore medals, but let’s be honest…

After Manitoba entered Confederation in 1870 and the Canadian government negotiated Treaty No. 1 with First Nations leaders, Canada began to actively engage…

Tasting is something we do everyday but many of the things we think we know about taste are actually wrong. So let the debunking begin!

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the museum, artifacts wondered if visitors would see ‘em….

At the Museum’s recent Surviving the Apocalypse Night participants were asked a variety of questions about the nutritional value of certain foods. Sadly, very few people…

This summer I spent three glorious weeks exploring museum collections, historic ships, archaeological…

That’s right, boos and ghouls, Hallowe’en is right around the corner! And the History collection at the Manitoba Museum does not disappoint when it comes to…

For the past four months, I’ve been working at the Manitoba Museum on a project about contemporary migration, just one part of the large capital renewal project Bringing Our Stories Forward…

Late fall is when a number of interesting Canadian fungi produce mushrooms. Some are edible, some are smelly, and some are deadly…

It was with some sadness that I finished my last field work of the season at the Nature Conservancy’s Yellow Quill Prairie. It will be many long, cold months before I get to go…

Most people pass by a dead bird, rarely giving it a second thought and leaving it where it lies. But there are many members of the public who notify the Museum…

Over the last few weeks, I have been assigned the task of doing inventory, cataloguing, and condition reporting artifacts in “Amy Galbraith’s Dress Shop,”…

A new planet has been discovered outside our Solar System. That wouldn’t normally be big news, since astronomers have discovered about 3,200 exoplanets…

Usually cow pies are extremely uninteresting features of a prairie landscape (and one to usually avoid) but this month something funny was happening with them…

Every year, the annual Perseid meteor shower occurs around August 11 and 12. However, 2016 is predicted to be a much more active shower than in previous years. What can we expect, why is it happening, and how can you see it yourself?

Wetland plants are the least commonly collected and photographed plants in Manitoba for good reasons. For starters they’re protected by the most vicious gangs of thugs you can imagine…

Jacob Owen of Pauingassi was always cheerfully willing to explain the complexities of Ojibwe history and philosophy with stories from his own life. Margaret Simmons, who conducted this interview…

Yesterday (June 19th) marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Seven Oaks, the boiling point of years of conflict (not always violent) between the Hudson’s Bay Company and…

Whenever someone walks into the Conservation lab, they are usually awed at all the scientific equipment. Large wall cabinets filled with chemicals, adhesives, paints, glass beakers and flasks…

Last week I started my field season by getting down on my hands and knees to collect plants and pollinators at the Yellow Quill Prairie Preserve, which is owned…

This Monday, Manitobans can witness a rare astronomical event that at once demonstrates some of the most important principles of the Universe. All you need is clear skies… and a special telescope….

The Manitoba Museum is hosting the Canadian Museum of History national travelling exhibit “Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada” exhibit, opening July 14, 2016…

Compared to colourful birds with elaborate mating rituals, the sex lives of plants and fungi seem downright boring. Thus I am pleased to bring to you my list of Canada’s sexiest plants…

Recently, my husband asked me what I was working on, and when I told him I was updating the nomenclature for specimens in the Family Polygonaceae, he looked at me funny…

As we have worked our way through the pliosaur exhibit project, we have come up against a series of problems that have required novel solutions. About a month…

One of the really fun parts of my job is when I get to interact with other researchers and assist them with their projects as they use the collection. One of these lovely individuals…

Usually geese migrate from North to South and back again. Some goose decoys, however, migrated from Manitoba to British Columbia a hundred years ago, and have now come home to Manitoba again…

As you may know if you look at this page occasionally, for the past couple of years we have been working with a beautiful fossil of a pliosaurid plesiosaur, which was collected by Wayne Buckley…

One of the great things about museums is that they can help foster relationships with (so-called) distant historical events. My placement at the Manitoba Museum involves doing research for…

Recently I became aware of a 100 year old collection of seeds located not in the Botany collection, but in the History collection. What were 100 years old seeds doing in the history lab…?

In 2019, it will be the one hundredth anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike, a movement that had major social and political repercussions across Canada…

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, flower sales are set to soar. Men give flowers to women to increase the chances that they’ll get some lovin’…

This has been a busy week for solar system news. For early risers, you can see all five of the naked-eye planets at the same time before sunrise. This week also saw…

The Grasslands Gallery was developed as one of the first galleries at The Manitoba Museum when it opened 45 years ago. The Log Cabin exhibit in this gallery has been used intensively…

Last year an interview I did for the BBC Northern Ireland documentary Brave New World – Canada aired on television. This documentary, by journalist William Crawley…

Yes, I still have York Factory on the brain. I have many more photos and stories from our trip to share but those shall have to wait until the new year. Instead I thought I’d share some of my recent thoughts on Christmases past…

One of the goals for our new exhibit “Nice Women Don’t Want the Vote”, about the 100th anniversary of the right to vote for women in Manitoba, was to elicit visitors’ opinions about the vote for women…

Members of the public sometimes bring dead birds to the Museum, which we incorporate into our collection to learn more about their habitat and biology. Our preparator…

One of the lesser known aspects of museum work involves the lending and borrowing of artifacts and specimens. This isn’t to say you can borrow the Nonsuch…

Today an exhibit featuring some of these moss specimens opened in the foyer of the Museum. I was grateful that Dr. Richard Caners with the Royal Alberta Museum was able to help identify…

This is an image of an original 1875 handwritten parchment document related to the signing of Treaty No. 4., the “Qu’appelle Treaty”, temporarily on display at the museum …

With the potential legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada in the news, it is useful to know a little bit about the history of this unusual plant. So here is my list of things…

It is exciting and interesting to work with the fossils of large vertebrate creatures, but this is a field with many complexities. During the fossilization of most vertebrates, …

It’s fairly obvious based on my current job and previous work experience that I love all things old. I love the smell of old books, antique furniture, and apparently historic sites…

As a child, the Manitoba Museum was my favourite field trip destination. I loved it all, but my favourite part was the Urban Gallery- particularly Madame Taro’s small apartment, which I thought was quite glamorous…

As the opening of the National Geographic Presents: Earth Explorers exhibit at the Museum draws near, I find myself remembering some of the botanical explorers…

Last week was the Museum’s “cleaning week”, during which we were closed to the public so that we could focus on getting our house in order. There was much recycling of paper, moving of old furniture, and scrubbing of walls in many parts of the Museum…

If you think about how Museum paleontologists get fossils, you might guess that we go out and find where the fossils are, extract all of them from the rock and…

In Northern Exposure Parts 1-3, Amelia wrote about her experiences excavating. Now I’m going to cover what happened to her artifacts once she got them back to the Museum….

My last stint of fieldwork this summer had me checking off a box on my bucket list, I finally made it to York Factory! Why did I want to go there so badly? Well, not only is it one of the most important Hudson’s Bay Company sites…

Every August, our planet passes through a giant dust bunny in space. The dust comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle, a “dirty snowball” that orbits the sun in an oval path…

As I near the end of my two years of pollinator research in the fescue prairie, I’ve been wondering what it all means. In particular I’ve been thinking about how the pollinator communities…

Boreal forest archaeology is very different from my experiences in the arctic, the biggest thing of course being the trees and massive roots that run through our excavation units…

Just a few days after coming back from York Landing I was packing up the truck to make the drive back north, only this time I was going back to get my trowel dirty! As you can imagine, the remnants of the fur trade are all over…

Summer fieldwork has begun, which means many of us Curators are out and about conducting our research. My fieldwork has me working in Northern Manitoba, for the first time! I spent some time in the evenings…

I spent a good chunk of my summer field trips to the Nature Conservancy’s fescue prairie preserves being bear-anoid. Although I saw several black bears last year…

Most Manitobans would consider Jonathon Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks the crowning cultural exchange between the windy cities. But many are also aware that Winnipeg has often been referred to as the Chicago of the North…

There are two new exhibits opening this summer in our Parklands/Mixed Woods Gallery here at the Manitoba Museum and we couldn’t be more excited to soon be able to share…

Once again I will be spending a few weeks out at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s fescue prairie preserves, south of Riding Mountain National Park, studying plant-pollinator…

Last time I blogged, I listed five of the most popular food plants that were cultivated by America’s First Nations peoples. Today I bring to you the final five…

In my opinion, one of the greatest impacts that America’s First Nations have had on the world was through their crop breeding. Unfortunately, most people don’t know much about…

Those of us who live in Winnipeg know that fossils are never far away. Many Winnipeg structures feature surfaces clad in Tyndall Stone, a fossil-rich…

When people ask me what inspired me to work in the museum field, I can pinpoint my answer to a single visit to The Manitoba Museum when I was twelve years old…

Okay, so artifacts can’t really smile but they are regularly involved in photo shoots, and with the right photographer these pieces of history can really shine. One way we preserve our collections is by properly…

Scientists have spent many decades arguing with each other about lichens. It’s a plant! No, it’s a fungus! No, it’s an alga. It’s a fungus parasitizing an alga. No, it’s an alga…

Today is National Anthropology Day and as the Museum’s Anthropologist, I have been participating in a number of public events. Most recently I assisted with one of three winning designs…

No, this post isn’t about a wedding, but that old saying works equally as well for our new permanent exhibit leading into the Nonsuch Gallery! Despite the fact that the Nonsuch is one of our biggest attractions…

The Manitoba Museum is planning an exhibit called “Nice Women Don’t Want the Vote”, opening in November, 2015, commemorating the Suffragist movement in Manitoba.  The exhibit will also discuss…

While proofreading a scientific journal article I recently wrote, I found myself thinking “wow, this is really boring!” Scientists always write their journal articles in technical, impartial terms…

The Manitoba Museum is currently working on an exhibit that will open in November 2015. “Nice Women Don’t Want the Vote”, named after a statement by former Manitoba Premier…

In my last blog post, introducing our plesiosaur exhibit,  I promised to follow up with some of the story of how the collectors found, extracted, and prepared the fossils…

Seven years ago I went to northern Manitoba in search of a rare water-lily with American botanist John H. Wiersema. This water-lily appeared to be a fertile hybrid between two species: Fragrant Water-lily and Pygmy Water-lily…

Tomorrow morning we will be opening our new Discovery Room exhibit, The Old Plesiosaur and the Sea. Some Discovery Room exhibits show exciting or previously unseen objects from the Museum’s collections…

For many years native prairies and forests were considered “waste lands” because they don’t produce food for people to eat. But increasingly scientists are finding that natural areas are actually essential…

As we enter the last weeks of our exhibit “Victoria Crosses of Valour Road”, which ends on Sunday, November 16, I want to give some attention to how the First World War ended and some of its implications…

On Thursday afternoon this week, Manitobans will be treated to an uncommon celestial spectacle: a partial eclipse of the sun. Beginning just after 4 o’clock in the afternoon …

On September 30th we participated in a lovely anniversary celebration with our friends at the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives and Canada’s National History Society to acknowledge two important events…

Manitoba is an immense place, very slightly larger than France. If you look at the map, you will see that roads here are concentrated in the southernmost part of the province. The farther north you go…

The full moon in October is referred to as the Harvest Moon, since it rises as the sun sets and so would provide farmers an extra hour or so of light to finish bringing in their harvest….

Piracy and botany are two words that do not usually occur together in a sentence. But in the golden days of exploration, seafaring men were not always vicious rogues intent on thievery…

What’s old is new again! The Urban Gallery at The Manitoba Museum has just received a bit of a face lift. Many of our visitors enjoy the immersive experience of this gallery, where they can explore…

After a summer filled with ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies, I was ready for a pest-free pollinator survey at the Nature Conservancy preserves near Riding Mountain National Park this September…

Recently my friends over at the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives (HBCA) showed me an amazing piece of HBC history, the first post journal for York Factory. They had selected it for their latest…

Due to yesterday’s solar flare, tonight (Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014) is a good time to watch for the northern lights. The best views are always from outside the city, since any nearby light pollution can wash out the sky and ruin the show…

After the relative calm of my June field work on Nature Conservancy land near Riding Mountain National Park, I was kept very busy observing insects in July and August. In total I saw…

There are a number of good sites to visit if you’re interested in learning more about the HBC but one of my favourite go-to sites is produced by some good colleagues of mine at HBC Heritage Services…

The Manitoba Museum is currently hosting “The Victoria Crosses of Valour Road”, a new exhibit in our foyer in which all three of the famous Victoria Crosses presented to WWI military servicemen…

Last year I was able to attend a moss identification workshop given by Dr. Richard Caners. I had largely been ignoring the mosses because it is really hard to be good, all-around naturalist these days…

This month a project that I have been working on for almost three years (whew!) finally came to fruition: an exhibit on Prairie Pollination for the Virtual Museum of Canada. This exhibit is the culmination of ten years of research…

Get to know your wild neighbours! Two-thirds of our crop species worldwide depend on wild pollinators to some degree! Those pollinators need more than just crop plants to survive – they need wild plants too…

Many know the story of the three men from the 700 block of humble Pine Street: Corporal Leo Beaumaurice Clarke, Sergeant-Major Frederick William Hall, and Lieutenant Robert Shankland were each awarded…

Details are still coming in, but we have multiple reports of an extremely rare daytime fireball seen in central Manitoba about 11 am Central Time today (Wednesday, 9 July 2014)…

In the last little while we have been working on the plan for a new exhibit in the Museum’s Earth History Gallery, which will be focused on a large specimen that we recently added to the collections…

For most of my career I have studied prairie plants, mainly because prairies are among the rarest ecosystems in Canada owing to the fact that they’ve been almost completely converted into cropland…

Even though I’ve been in the job for 9 months there are still parts of the collection that I’m not as comfortable with, largely because I’ve never worked in that geographic region. That’s why I was very excited…

“I was in Winnipeg! The Immigration Department took group photographs, and I posed with about two dozen bachelors like myself. Then I was free. Free, at the end of my journey…”

Those of you who are familiar only with the exhibits and the other “front end” parts of the Museum might be surprised at the constant changes that take place in the hidden parts of the institution. You might think that the dusty…

On the early morning of Saturday, May 24, we may see a brand-new meteor shower. A comet called P/209 LINEAR orbits the sun in a path that leaves a trail of dust and debris in the Earth’s orbit…

This last winter I was pleased to receive a phone call informing me that the Sutherland family was interested in donating an artifact that had been in the family for 6 generations and had been in Manitoba most of that time…

Well, after thirteen years or so, the Museum’s conservators are back climbing in the Nonsuch rigging, in order to check and clean the lines, sails and masts. This is a very exciting development…

Bogs are fascinating habitats that contain many bizarre species of plants. In the Manitoba Museum’s Boreal Forest Gallery, we have a lovely diorama that depicts what a typical bog looks like…

We would love to know who made this beautiful beadwork. A few years ago, Mrs. Arlene Kolb purchased this beaded panel in the Value Village shop on Regent Street because she loves handmade things …

The Manitoba Museum is in possession of a wonderfully decorated Norwegian pine cabinet dated to the late 18th century. This cabinet will be on exhibit in our foyer from May 5 to November 2, 2014. The cabinet has…

Tonight, most of North America will be treated to an uncommon and beautiful celestial event. The Full Moon will rise tonight at sunset, with the bright planet Mars nearby. As they rise, you’ll be able to notice that the Moon is actually moving…

I’m sure you’re all wondering what’s happened to the blog, I promised a Part 2 for the story of Tullauhiu’s leg and I have yet to deliver! Truthfully, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of research…

OK I’m exaggerating, plants don’t really want to kill us-they just don’t want us (or any other animal) to eat them. So plants have evolved ways to protect themselves-thorns, spines and prickles come to mind…

I’m sure I don’t have to tell anybody this, but this winter has been brutally cold—the coldest winter in 35 years! Every time it seems like we are finally going to get some warmer temperatures, we are plunged back into a deep freeze…

Recently, there seem to have been a lot of stories in the media about the remarkable intelligence of elephants. Scarcely a week goes by without a new science story about how elephants are among the few non-human creatures that are self-aware…

The C. Kelekis Restaurant, a Winnipeg icon renowned as one of the finest diners on the prairies, closed in 2013 after 81 years of service. Located on Main St., it was an eatery that provided more than just good fries: there was always a chance you would…

Over Reading Week I went to a conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, so I didn’t start any new research. Most of my work since my last blog post has been focused on continuing to figure out…

As a Natural History cataloguer, I have the opportunity to work with some very interesting specimens. I love that my job involves all three areas of natural history – botany, zoology (mostly entomology), and palaeontology/geology….

As I mentioned in my last post, the goal of my project is to look at ways of linking the Aschkibokahn archaeological site and diorama with the present-day community of Duck Bay…

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation at McNally Robinson in Winnipeg, as part of our Museum lecture course Into the Vault. I was planning to talk about the ancient island shoreline deposits…

I would like to introduce Kristina, a Master’s student at the University of Winnipeg, who is completing a program in Curatorial Practices. As part of her internship with the Manitoba Museum (TMM), she is working on a couple of projects to gain experience in different areas of museum studies…

The phone woke me up early on a Sunday. My sister calling. She’s not an early riser; something must be wrong. “I was listening to the news – the space shuttle was supposed to land, but didn’t.” Silence, as I try to process the information…

During frigid winter days I find myself marveling at how wild plants and animals manage to survive the cold temperatures. As my current area of study involves flowering plants and their insect pollinators…

When I first started at the museum I spent a lot of time opening cabinets and drawers to check out this remarkable collection that is now under my care. There are many impressive artefacts, but this one really struck a chord with me…

At some time or another, we have all experienced a really satisfying day at work, or perhaps more…

A few weeks ago, as my family was setting up our Christmas tree, I hesitated putting up a small number of glass balls, passed down to me from my grandma many years ago, remnants of my dad’s childhood…

If you have been reading the HBC Blog, you are probably aware of some of the work involved with being a curator. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to experience the job firsthand…

The Manitoba Museum was built in the late 1960s, occupying the site of the former Strathcona Hotel, built in 1905 on the south-east corner of Main St. and Rupert Ave…

The use of plants during Christmas arose from pagan Yuletide celebrations of the winter solstice in ancient times. The pagan beliefs have become interwoven and associated with the Christian festival of Christmas…

A museum exists to share artifacts, not hide them. Artifact loans are therefore a crucial part of any museum’s activities. The Manitoba Museum and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR)…

I’m sure you’re dying to know what I’ve picked up for the HBC collection, and I literally picked it up as the donor lives in Toronto and I happened to be there to meet with…

Hooray the apocalypse hasn’t happened yet! You’ll be able to learn what the final five most important plants are before the end of days. So without delay here’s number 6…

Over the past week we have had dozens of reports of green fireballs over Manitoba. Here’s the typical description: A flaming object, greenish in colour, flashing into existence and flying in a straight line towards the horizon…

The Nonsuch at the Manitoba Museum is the largest artifact (in size) in the collection. It is unique in that it is an artifact that visitors get to walk aboard, touch and literally step into a piece of history…

Post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction is all the rage these days. From zombie plagues to genetic engineering gone wrong, to who knows what, people are clearly fascinated with this somewhat morbid genre. Reading these stories made me realize…

When I started to work at the Museum just over 20 years ago, my job title said that I was the “Assistant Curator of Geology and Paleontology.” Quite a mouthful, to be sure, and one for which the meaning was not entirely clear…

Hallowe’en is upon us and all the traditional ghosts, goblins, witches, and bats are making their annual appearance. The Museum just hosted a very successful members’ night that included trick-or-treating…

We’ve got a lot going on at The Manitoba Museum these days, Trees of Life recently opened, WRAPPED: The Mummy of Pesed will open on October 25, but with all this excitement part of me really feels for our permanent exhibits…

One of the great things about working at the Museum is being able to see all sorts of specimens and artifacts up close. When I first started working here, I used to enjoy looking through…

I have often been told by members of the public that, “it must be so exciting to do paleontological fieldwork.” This is true, it can be very exciting to visit new places, to discover and collect fossils…

I am one month in to my new job as Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Museum Collection at The Manitoba Museum and I’m still in that “pinch-me” phase, it feels too good to be true. Why? Let me fill you in…

Following on from my recent post about the geology of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, it seems entirely appropriate timing that another piece of architectural geology work…

One of the problems with being a plant is that you can’t move away if the habitat you are growing in becomes unsuitable. Plants have thus developed a life stage that is capable of moving: fruits and seeds…

Slabs of dark igneous stone, apparently basalt or diabase, can be seen covering some walls in the lower parts of the museum, but for a geological appreciation of volcanic rock the visitors…

The construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg has been the subject of tremendous public interest and media coverage. As opening nears for this institution, our first national…

Some time ago, after the donation of a “gargoyle” that once graced the former Winnipeg Tribune Building, we put out a call to the public to see if any more of these strange terra cotta statues…

If you have ever heard someone say “I have a theory about that” they don’t. They’re most likely confusing the word “theory” with “completely unsupported, untested hypothesis”. All kidding aside…

I was recently asked to attend a conference and weekend festival in Poland regarding historic landscapes in the Vistula River valley. One of the newer public interests in the area happens to be Mennonite history…

I went to the annual conference of the Canadian Association for Conservation (CAC) this year, as I try to do every year. It is held in late spring in a different location in Canada, alternating…