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Protecting biodiversity

As we celebrate World Bee Day (May 20) and the UN Day for Biological Diversity (May 22), we're reminded of the need to protect precious habitat for pollinators – important contributors to world food production – and to preserve global biodiversity. 

For now, the museum is temporarily closed in accordance with Government of Ontario directives. We miss our visitors, and look forward to welcoming you back soon in June. Stay tuned for the reopening updates.

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Highlights

A successful pivot for School Programs
Virtual school workshop on rocks and minerals

For decades, the Canadian Museum of Nature has offered curriculum-based school programs to visiting classes. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way these can be delivered. Now, students from across Canada in grades three to seven can learn about rocks and minerals in the museum's virtual school workshop. 

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Sharing our expertise
Restoring pollinator habitats

Museum Research Associate Thomas Onuferko’s expertise on wild bees is helping Tundra Oil and Gas establish pollinator-friendly habitats on retired oil well sites in Manitoba. Beneficial for wildlife conservation, it will also be necessary for agricultural sustainability in the long term. (Above photo of Onuferko in 2015; credit Stéphanie Tessier). 

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Virtual Open House video series
Birdwing butterflies

As May 21 is Endangered Species Day, it's fitting to show off these astonishingly big, and endangered, BIrdwing butterflies. These are gynandromorphs, which means they have both male and female characteristics. This rare collection is especially important because it documents species from Southeast Asia where loss of habitat is widespread. All Birdwings fall under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international commercial trade in specimens of these threatened species. 

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Deadline fast approaching
Nominate an inspiring nature leader by June 4

The annual Nature Inspiration Awards recognize youth, adults, not-for-profit organizations and sustainable businesses for innovative, outstanding projects that are inspiring Canadians to care about nature and take action to protect it. Last year, the David Suzuki Foundation's Butterflyway Project won a Nature Inspiration Award in the large not-for-profit category. Learn about all of the inspiring projects of previous winners and finalists at https://nature.ca/awards. Click below for the nomination information and online form. (Photo: David Suzuki Foundation)

How to nominate

In case you missed it
Nature Ideas: Aquatic Creatures

In this engaging, information-packed presentation, museum research scientist Dr. Katriina Ilves explains how scientists collect and identify different animals, why museum collections are important, and how you can go look for aquatic creatures living in your local waterways. This Nature Ideas talk is presented in partnership with Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants and is part of Science Odyssey powered by NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Watch the video

Collections Corner

Behind the scenes
Female cuckoo bee

This tiny insect is a female cuckoo bee (Neolarra vigilans). A cleptoparasite, this bee lays her eggs inside the nests of fairy bees of the genus Perdita. Bee researcher Thomas Onuferko, Ph.D. collected this specimen in 2019 at a large sand dune complex in Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba.

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Editor: Laura Sutin
Questions or comments can be sent to lsutin@nature.ca

Bee on flower: pixabay.com

Canadian Museum of Nature
Canadian Museum of Nature
P. O. Box 3443, Station D / PO Box 3443, Stn. D
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4