Will you be watching the F1 race this weekend? Did you know that you can try racing your own race car at our race track in the Science Gallery?
Learn about the science of our race track with Adriana in this video.
Did you know that fungi are a crucial part of nature’s recycling crew?
#DidYouKnow that fungi are a crucial part of nature’s recycling crew? Learn more about the fabulous fungi in Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson’s favourite diorama, the Decomposer Diorama.
Find out more about the fungus among us in Dr. Bizecki-Robson’s blog, The Fungus Among Us.
Did you know about our Nautical Balcony?
Did you know about this great view of the Nonsuch from the Nautical Balcony? Learn how to get to this spot in the Nonsuch Gallery with Corinne from our Learning and Engagement team!
Investigate Aquatic Animals
For the month leading up to Earth Day, the Manitoba Museum is celebrating water and aquatic life. In the Learning and Engagement department, Erin Buelow has worked with curators and collections specialists to bring seldom-seen specimens to the public. These preserved animals from the museum’s natural history collection come from Manitoba and beyond, including an Australian duck-billed platypus.
The diversity of aquatic life is astounding, but it can be just as interesting to notice the adaptations that animals living in water share in common.
In a few species of aquatic animals, single fathers care for their young. The giant water bug, who you can find in Manitoba, shares this trait with the seahorse. After mating, a female giant water bug lays up to 150 eggs on the back of the male! He will tend to them for a couple weeks until they hatch. These underwater dads stay close to the water’s surface to make sure their young get enough oxygen. Similarly, the male seahorse carries fertilised eggs in a special brood pouch on the front of his body.
For semi-aquatic mammals like the beaver, ringed seal, polar bear, and platypus, fur can be nearly waterproof! When submerged, their outer layer of fur, the guard hairs, form a shield to keep the animal dry and reasonably warm. Beavers spend hours a day grooming to stay waterproof, using an oily liquid that they naturally secrete from a gland near their tail.
This Australian duck-billed platypus has special sensors to help locate prey underwater. © Manitoba Museum
It’s easy to see why the name “Sawfish” was chosen for this unique creature. © Manitoba Museum
Beavers, polar bears, and ringed seals all have specialized fur that help keep them warm in their aquatic environments. © Manitoba Museum
Two aquatic animals known for their bizarre appearance are the duck-billed platypus and the sawfish, each notable for a distinctive looking snout. The long rostrum on a sawfish has what appear to be jagged teeth along its sides. These “teeth” are actually modified scales that they use to attack prey and dig through the sediment. These animals have something else in common: special sensors in their bills to detect tiny electrical currents coming from their prey! This is especially important for the platypus, whose eyes and ears pinch shut underwater.
You can learn about these amazing aquatic creatures and many more at the Manitoba Museum this April! Every Saturday and Sunday, from 1 pm to 4 pm, leading up to Earth Days @ the Manitoba Museum, you can see and touch a diverse array of shells, bones, furs, and fossils as you discover the amazing adaptations that help these animals live and thrive in lakes, ponds, rivers, and oceans throughout the world.
Did you know that most of our collection isn’t on display?
Did you know that only about 5% of our museum collection is on exhibit? Find out the importance of the other 95% in this video with Dr. Randy Mooi, our Curator of Zoology.
You can learn more in Dr. Mooi’s recent blog, A Bird in the Hand.
The Fungus Among Us
Fungi grow just about everywhere and yet we are usually ignorant of their presence until they produce mushrooms in our lawns or mold on the food in our fridge. Although they are common components of ecosystems (and, disconcertingly, our fridges!), and essential for nutrient recycling, we actually know very little about them.
You can see many species of wild mushrooms and fungal hyphae in the Manitoba Museum’s spectacular “Decomposer Diorama”.
© Manitoba Museum
What are fungi?
A long time ago, fungi were considered plants because they don’t move like animals do. But fungi are actually a completely unique group of organisms. Unlike plants, they cannot produce sugar via photosynthesis. They also have cell walls made of chitin not cellulose, like plants do. Chitin is actually the same material found in insect exoskeletons. Thus, fungi are actually more closely related to animals than plants. However, unlike animals, they obtain nutrition by absorbing, not ingesting, food. Animals put food into their bodies but fungi put their bodies into food!
Giant Western Puffball (Calvatia booniana) is a common fungus that erupts from nutrient-rich grasslands before cracking open and releasing billions of spores.
© Manitoba Museum
Where fungi are found?
Fungi spend most of their lives being inconspicuous, but in reality, they are all around you. Many people know that fungal “roots” called hyphae, occur in the soil, but they are also found in places you might not expect. Fungi can be found in both fresh and saltwater environments. They also live on the outsides and insides of both plants and animals. Scientists have found at least several hundred fungal species living inside human guts, where they help us digest our food. As well, microscopic fungal spores float in the air all around us. Scientists estimate that there are 1,000 to 10,000 fungal spores in every cubic meter of air. Some fungi (e.g. lichens) have even found a way to live inside rocks!
The Museum’s Curator of Botany makes spore prints of fungus she collects to help with identification. From left to right, top to bottom Cortinarius sp. MY-238, Amanita sp. MY-457, Amanita porphyria? MY-233, Cortinarius sp. MY 456
© Manitoba Museum
What do fungi eat?
Most fungi are saprophytes, which means they digest dead plants and animals. By doing so, they release the nutrients back into the ecosystem for other plants and animals to use. They are part of nature’s recycling crew. However, some fungi also poison or trap microbes like nematodes (tiny worms) to get protein, so they are at least partly carnivorous.
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) will poison and eat nematodes (tiny worms) when they run out of wood to eat.
© Manitoba Museum
Many fungi are parasitic on living organisms. If you’ve ever had athlete’s foot or ringworm, you’ve been parasitized by a fungus!
Fungal diseases can devastate plant, animal and human communities. The Irish Potato famine was caused by the introduction of a fungal potato disease from South America into Ireland. Right now, many of Canada’s bats are dying of White Nose Syndrome caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
Not all fungal relationships are negative though. Many fungi form mutually beneficial relationships called mutualisms, with algae and plants. Mycorrhizal fungi interact in a positive way with plants, receiving sugar in exchange for water and minerals. Most plant species (~90%) form mycorrhizal interactions with fungi. Lichens are communities of fungi living together with algae and cyanobacteria. They inhabit areas where neither organism could live alone, such as on rocks. In fact, lichens help create soil by breaking down rocks into smaller pieces. They also protect soil from wind and water erosion, particularly in dry areas, like grasslands.
Lichens are commonly found on rocks and rock outcrops in Manitoba.
©Manitoba Museum
Are mushrooms in Manitoba edible?
There are many species of Manitoba mushrooms that are edible, including many Boletes, Chanterelles, Chicken-of-the-Woods (Laetiporus sulphurous), Morels, Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), Puffballs and Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) to name a few. However, there are also deathly poisonous ones like Amanitas (Amanita) and False Morels (Gyromitra esculenta), that can be confused with some edible species.
Make sure you can identify the False Morel (Gyromitra esculenta) shown here, before collecting true morels! This lookalike species is poisonous.
© Manitoba Museum
If you want to collect and eat wild mushrooms, obtain some good mushroom field guides, and learn how to identify both the edible AND the poisonous species found here. I highly recommend taking a mushroom foraging course, or going out with an experienced picker before eating any wild mushrooms. Only eat mushrooms that you are 100% certain you have identified correctly. Keep at least one mushroom whole and uncooked to take to the hospital in case you get sick. Collect only young mushrooms, as older ones can become inedible, toxic, wormy or woody. Also remember to forage responsibly by only collecting what you will eat, and leaving at least some mushrooms behind so that the species can reproduce.
The Chicken-of-the-Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) grows on trees in the city and, when cooked, tastes like chicken! © Carol Hibbert
Note: The Manitoba Museum is not responsible for any illness or poisoning resulting from incorrect mushroom identification and consumption. Please forage safely!
Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson
Curator of Botany
Dr. Bizecki Robson obtained a Master’s Degree in Plant Ecology at the University of Saskatchewan studying rare plants of the mixed grass prairies. After working as an environmental consultant and sessional lecturer…
Meet Dr. Bizecki Robson
International Transgender Day of Visibility
In honour of International Transgender Day of Visibility, Collections Technician Aro van Dyck would like to share some of her favourite insects from the Natural History Collection! #TransDayOfVisibility
Did you know that you shouldn’t polish your silver?
Silver tarnishing is unsightly to most, with its darkened appearance and iridescent shine. To a Conservator however, we see this grey layer as a protective barrier to the valuable silver-plate below, but why is that? Silver-plated objects in your home tarnish over time when exposed to sulphur gases. Sulphur can be produced in our homes from many different things, including the paint used on the walls, to the varnish on our furniture, but also from the types of food we eat such as eggs and onions. In order to make these objects sparkle again, many people use silver polish to bring back the shine; however, these creams contain very small abrasive particles. As silver is polished over and over again, the silver-plating wears away slowly and reveals a different metal below, usually copper. To minimize this irreversible damage, it is generally best to leave that beloved silver-plated tea pot tarnished until ready to serve a hot cup!
Learn more in this video with Museum Conservator Carolyn!
A Bird in the Hand: Museum Collections and Conservation
During this cold March, the new Prairies Gallery is a comfortable place to explore the diversity, adaptations, and life histories of some of Manitoba’s wildlife. For many visitors, especially the young, the exhibits often provide the first close look at the details of insect wings and wolf teeth, the first chance to explore life underground, or to experience the wonder of just how many other animal species are fellow Manitobans.
That can mean that a gallery or exhibit is an important influence on attitudes towards our environment and might inspire the next generation of conservation advocates. And parts of our collections, including some birds now on exhibit in the new gallery, have a long history educating the public and have been filling that role for almost 100 years!
Some specimens in our collections have been teaching about biodiversity for over 100 years, including the western grebe (left) and horned grebe (middle) continuing that role in the new Prairies Gallery (far right). MM 3-6-4, MM 3-6-359
© Manitoba Museum
But many visitors don’t realize that most of the museum’s collections are not on exhibit. For example, over 95% of our bird collections, almost 7,000 specimens, are in climate-controlled storage on the 4th floor.
Why would we have all these bird specimens if they aren’t on exhibit? Where did they come from and why so many?
Our behind-the-scenes bird collection is a combination of inheritance from earlier versions of the Manitoba Museum, donated private collections, and, more recently, window and vehicle casualties brought in by the public or through relationships with zoos, government, and universities. In the distant past, birds could be professionally collected and were even traded among private citizens. That practice is, thankfully, no longer allowed, but many of these collections, some more than 100 years old, were eventually donated to the Museum where they have had a second ‘life’ through their value for public education and for scientific study. These specimens not only grace our exhibit halls, but have contributed information that appears in our exhibits as labels, short panels, or videos through primary research by scientists at the Manitoba Museum and researchers from around the world.
Having large numbers of bird specimens means that we can learn a great deal about where they live, what they eat, and other aspects of their life histories. Like people, each individual bird is unique, but having several from different places provides a statistical sample and a better understanding of their biology and a record of geographical variation in size, colour, and behaviour.
The collection is like a library or archive of the lives of birds in Manitoba. And like a library, scientists can read and borrow the ‘books’, the specimens, to study them and to discover the stories they tell about how our birds live and what they tell about our environment in general.
The Manitoba Museum holds almost 7,000 bird specimens. This library of bird life is not only a resource for exhibit and teaching, but is available to Museum scientists and researchers around the world. © Manitoba Museum
So how can these bird specimens contribute to conservation?
Collections include birds from over many decades that act much like a time machine, letting us know where and in what quality of environment they lived. Specimens provide baseline data for knowing a species occurrence and range at a specific time in the past and whether it is still there. This can help determine if species are being affected by climate change, habitat loss, or other factors. Today, bird records can include photographs and sound recordings, but this technology has only very recently been widely available. Where birds lived 30, 50, or 100 or more years ago can only be determined with certainty by voucher specimens, that is, physical evidence that a species was found at a particular place at a particular time. But even today, because Manitoba is a big province and much of it is difficult to access, we are still unsure of where some species occur. Museum curators are among the few scientists performing on-the-ground surveys to determine baseline data on distribution and retaining physical evidence of that distribution. Without these comparative data we can’t know what might be changing nor determine if conservation action should be undertaken. It is impossible to be responsible stewards of our natural world if we don’t know what lives where!
Most of Manitoba’s birds spend only a few short, warm months here to raise their young and then spend the majority of the year to the south. That means that even if we take appropriate conservation measures to safeguard our birds here, they face further challenges elsewhere. But where is that elsewhere?
Collections can help to determine where our birds spend the winter and can pinpoint where international collaborative conservation efforts should be directed. A recent study spear-headed by researchers at the University of Central Oklahoma used feather samples from specimens in the Manitoba Museum and other institutions to examine their unique molecular signatures (isotopes) to determine where four species of prairie birds overwinter. They found, for example, that prairie populations of the elusive yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) – a species of special concern in Canada – spend their winters in the western portions of the Gulf of Mexico. Conservation policies can now be introduced to better manage habitat in both the breeding and wintering ranges for this rarely encountered species.
Feather samples from Manitoba Museum specimens helped to determine that prairie breeders overwinter along the western Gulf of Mexico. From Butler et al., 2021. Estimates of breeding season location for 4 mesic prairie bird species wintering along the Gulf Coast. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 133:177-189. Photos of sedge wren (MM 1-2-770), Nelson’s sparrow (MM 1-2-4645), LeConte’s sparrow (MM 1-2-4646), and yellow rail (MM 3-6-916) © Manitoba Museum
And the collections can provide valuable information about changes in our environment. Using samples of ivory gull (Pagophila eburnean) from several museums, including a 1926 specimen from the Manitoba Museum, university and Environment Canada researchers recreated a 130-year record of mercury levels in this endangered species. This time series, like a time machine, could trace the history of mercury contamination in this Arctic gull, finding that levels have increased dramatically in northern food webs. This museum collection-based study showed that bioaccumulation, the gradual build-up of heavy metals through the food chain, puts top predators like the ivory gull, fishes, and marine mammals at risk from pollutants like mercury.
The 1926 ivory gull from the Manitoba Museum (above) was one of many museum specimens analyzed to create a 130-year history of mercury levels that will inform management plans for this and other Arctic species. From Bond et al., 2015. Rapidly increasing methyl mercury in endangered ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) feathers over a 130 year period. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 282. Photo MM 1-2-941, © Manitoba Museum
Museum collections go well beyond their important educational role in exhibits and programming to create advocates for conservation. As permanent archives of the distribution of organisms and as a critical resource for scientific research at the Museum and at science institutions around the world, specimens in the hand contribute to understanding our environment and determining strategies and policies for responsible ecological stewardship. Although I have focused on bird collections to illustrate a few applications, the Museum collections of insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and other animals, along with those of plants, mosses, lichens, and fungi, as well as the representative fossils of these and earlier organisms in the paleontology collections, provide important data to interpret the past, understand the present, and consider the future of the natural world in Manitoba.
Dr. Randy Mooi
Curator of Zoology
Dr. Mooi received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Toronto working on the evolutionary history of coral reef fishes. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Fishes of the Smithsonian Institution…
Meet Dr. Randy Mooi
Manitoba Museum’s 2023 Tribute Gala: Celebrating Community Voices
Winnipeg, Manitoba: March 24, 2023 – The Manitoba Museum will honour three prominent Manitobans at its annual Tribute Gala on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
Community leaders Stella and Edward Kennedy, long-time volunteer Nadia Thompson, and University of Winnipeg Chancellor Barb Gamey will share the honours at the gala event with proceeds supporting the Manitoba Museum’s Access for All community initiative.
This year the gala will celebrate a multitude of viewpoints and experiences through the theme, Celebrating Community Voices. The 2023 Tribute Gala honorees will join in conversation surrounding the diversity that helped shape Manitoba’s future through sharing stories and encouraging discovery at the Manitoba Museum. “Every Manitoban and visitor must come to the Manitoba Museum to really know this land, who we are, and where we have come from.” says honouree, Edward Kennedy.
The annual Manitoba Museum Tribute Gala supports the Access for All initiative by removing financial, social, and cultural barriers to visitation. Through your support, the Museum aims to further grow, diversify, and engage new audiences. To continually reflect and assess research, collections, exhibitions, and programs to enhance their relevance to Manitoba’s diverse populations including ethnicity, culture, age, gender, and abilities. Continuing to create a Museum that belongs to all Manitobans. One of the Access for All initiatives is providing Manitobans access to the Museum at no charge – those Manitobans who would otherwise not have the opportunity to engage in memorable learning experiences that bridge our understanding and love of history, nature, and science with today’s reality and hopes for the future.
“In 1971, my family travelled by car from Oshawa to visit my uncle in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. I vividly recall our stop in Winnipeg and our visit to the Manitoba Museum and especially the fascinating Bison exhibit” says honouree Stella Kennedy, “I never imagined that Winnipeg and wonderful attractions like the Museum were destined to be such a part of my future life! Today, I am thankful that our community has the Manitoba Museum which brings so much to its visitors from Manitoba and afar. Like my experience fifty years ago, the Museum continues to have a memorable, almost magical quality for children and inspires us all to be aware of our Province and our possibilities as a community of Manitobans.”
2023 Tribute Gala Honorary Committee Members
- Gail Asper
- Dave Brown
- Gary Buckley
- Polly Craik
- Darryl Levy
- John Loewen
- Dan Murray
- Bill & Theresa Parrish
- Susan & Gord Pollard
- Gerry & Barb Price
- Sandy Riley
- Ross & Allana Robinson
The Manitoba Museum 18th annual Tribute Gala will take place in Alloway Hall on April 27, 2023. For information about reserving tables, buying tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and/or to make a donation to the Access for All community initiative, please visit our webpage or contact Cassidy Nicholls at CNicholls@ManitobaMuseum.ca or 204-988-0629.
2023 TRIBUTE GALA HONOUREES
BARB GAMEY
Barb Gamey is a co-founder of Payworks, a Manitoba based company and one of Canada’s largest national providers of Payroll, Human Resource, Time and Absence Management solutions, serving 29,000 customers, paying 700,000 Canadians while handling $35 billion in funds annually. Payworks currently employs 300 people in Manitoba and 440 nationwide.
Barb is dedicated to community involvement: she currently sits on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Board of Directors, the Business Council of Manitoba’s Board of Directors, the UM Properties Board and served as United Way Winnipeg’s 2018 Campaign Chair. Barb is the Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg and sits on the board for the University of Winnipeg Foundation. She is an ongoing supporter of numerous other community and charitable organizations.
EDWARD KENNEDY
Edward Kennedy is President and CEO of Eskay Partners Limited, an advisory and private capital enterprise. He is also CEO of Livlite Co. a Vancouver-based zero -waste grocery business and Chair of Manitoba Hydro. In August 2021, Edward retired after 25 years as CEO of The North West Company.
Edward is from The Pas, Manitoba and attended high school as a boarding student at St. John’s-Ravenscourt in Winnipeg. He holds an Honours Degree in Business from the Ivey School at Western University and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Prior to joining North West, Edward practiced law briefly in Toronto and then worked in investment banking.
Edward has been a Board member of for-profit and non-for-profit entities including the Conference Board of Canada, the Canada West Foundation, Alaska Growth Fund and Norcraft Corporation. Edward has also Chaired the fundraising for community-based organizations including the United Way, Canada’s History and St. Johns Ravenscourt School. He has received national industry and community recognitions over his career.
STELLA KENNEDY
Stella grew up in Oshawa, Ontario and her parents were immigrants from Sicily and Ukraine. She holds an Honours Degree in Business from the Ivey School at Western University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. Stella worked in financial services in Toronto and then moved to Winnipeg with Edward where she held management positions with Federal Industries and Centra Gas. Stella invested the greatest time in her career caring for a growing Kennedy household and the activities of their four children, Grace, Teresa, Simone and Daniel.
Today, Stella guides the Kennedy family’s larger donation activities (including United Way Family Resource Centres, Canada’s History, Pan Am Clinic, WAG – Quamajuq, the Manitoba Museum and the United Way annual campaign). She most recently co-chaired the fundraising campaign for McDonald Youth Centre (now known as The Link: Youth and Family Supports).
NADIA THOMPSON
Nadia grew up in the North end of the city. As a visual minority growing up in Winnipeg and going to school as one of the few black children, staying connected to her roots was a challenge.
Nadia graduated from Glenlawn Collegiate in 1995. After having her daughter, she went back to school to attain her Business and Office Administration Diploma from CDI College. She started her career with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority in 2007 in which she has been in various administrative positions and is currently a scheduling clerk for the Downtown West Community Homecare Nursing team.
Nadia is passionate about giving back to her community, focusing on our youth and promoting volunteerism and strengthening her community. Nadia has held volunteer positions with the Congress of Black Women, Folklorama, and the Jamaican Association.
Nadia is dedicated to the promotion of Black Culture and History throughout Winnipeg. She joined the Black History Month Celebration Committee in 2009 helping organize various events throughout the city. She continues to work with multiple organizations to promote diversity and culture in Winnipeg, connecting with various community groups to build a better connection in our city.
Past Tribute Honourees – Michael Redhead Champagne (2022), Anne Mahon (2022), Flor Marcelino (2022), Abdikheir Ahmed (2021), Hilary Druxman (2021), Jaimie Isaac (2021), Niigaan Sinclair (2021), Hannah Taylor (2021); Winnipeg Free Press (co-owners Robert Silver & Ronald Stern) (2019); Abdo (Albert) El Tassi & Samira El Tassi (2018); Gregg & Mary Hanson (Ambassadors for Canada 150 Celebration in 2017); Sanford H. Riley (2016); The Winnipeg Foundation (2015); Doug Harvey (2014); Susan Lewis & United Way Winnipeg (2013); Kerry Hawkins (2012); Ambassador Gary Doer (2011); The Chipman Family (2010); Babs & Gail Asper (2009); Kevin & Els Kavanagh (2008); Lawrie Pollard (2007); Murray Taylor & Investors Group Inc. (2006); and George T. Richardson (2005).
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Media Requests:
Charwin Dahl
Director of Development
Manitoba Museum
204-988-0656
CDahl@ManitobaMuseum.ca