{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{infobox museum | name = Beaty Biodiversity Museum | image = Beaty Biodiversity Museum 1.jpg | caption = | established = 2010 | location = 2212 Main Mall, [[University of British Columbia]], [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada | map_type = British Columbia Vancouver | map_caption = Location in [[Vancouver]] | coordinates = {{coord|49.2636|-123.2514|display=inline}} | type = [[Natural History]] Museum | director = Quentin Cronk | visitors = 42,367 (2017–18)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/files/2018/07/BBMAnnualReport_2017-2018.pdf|page=11|title=Evaluations|work=Beaty Biodiversity Museum Annual Report 2017-2018|publisher=University of British Columbia|year=2018|access-date=28 September 2019}}</ref> | website = {{URL|https://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/}} }} The '''Beaty Biodiversity Museum''' is a [[natural history museum]] in [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada, located on the campus of the [[University of British Columbia]]. Its {{convert|20000|sqft|m2|abbr=off}} of collections and exhibit space were first opened to the public on October 16, 2010; since then it has received over 35,000 visitors per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/2016/07/22/2016-annual-report/|access-date=12 June 2017|publisher=UBC|title=2016 Annual Report}}</ref>
Its collections include over two million specimens collected between the 1910s and the present, comprising the Cowan Tetrapod Collection, the Marine Invertebrate Collection, the Fossil Collection, the [[Herbarium]], the Spencer Entomological Collection, and the Fish Collection. The collections focus in particular on the species of British Columbia, [[Yukon]], and the Pacific Coast. The museum's most prominent display is a {{convert|25|m|ft|adj=on|abbr=off}} skeleton of a female [[blue whale]] buried in [[Tignish, Prince Edward Island]], which is suspended over the ramp leading to the main collections.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Big blue on display | journal = British Columbia Magazine | date = Fall 2010 | first = Jenny | last = Manzer | volume = 52 | issue = 3 | page = 9}}</ref>
==Location and access== The Beaty Biodiversity Museum and the Biodiversity Research Centre are located in the Beaty Biodiversity Centre at the [[University of British Columbia]] (UBC). The complex's address is 2212 Main Mall, Point Grey, [[Vancouver]], British Columbia. Directly adjacent to the museum is the [[UBC Fisheries Centre]] which features an atrium display of skeletons of a minke whale, a killer whale, two Steller sea lions, and three Pacific white-sided dolphins.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Big Bones|magazine=Frontier: A Journal of Research and Discovery|date=Fall–Winter 2009|pages=13|url=https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/17479/Big%20Bones%20Trites.pdf?sequence=1|publisher=University of British Columbia|issue=7|access-date=21 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224112525/https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/17479/Big%20Bones%20Trites.pdf?sequence=1|archive-date=24 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Facility=== The centre is housed in a {{convert|11520|m2|sqft|abbr=off}}, four-storey building.<ref name=pr/> The building was designed by [[Patkau Architects]] in 2009 and built by Scott Construction. It formed the final side of a landscaped quadrangle created by the 2006 construction of the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory.<ref name=kal>{{cite book|title=Exploring Vancouver: the architectural guide|author1=Kalman, H. |author2=Ward, R. |year=2012|isbn=9781553658665 |pages=237–238|publisher=Douglas & McIntyre}}</ref><ref name=arc>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/bldgs/beatybio.html|publisher=UBC Archives|access-date=21 November 2013|title=Beaty Natural History Museum}}</ref> [[File:A laboratory at the Beaty Biodiversity Centre.JPG|thumb|The Beaty Biodiversity Museum features several laboratories]] The museum includes a theatre and {{convert|20000|sqft|m2|abbr=off}} of collections and exhibit space.<ref name=hui>{{cite web | url = https://www.straight.com/article-353234/vancouver/beaty-biodiversity-museum-opens-doors-ubc-weekend | title = Beaty Biodiversity Museum opens doors at UBC this weekend | access-date = 2011-04-16 | last = Hui | first = Stephen | date = 2010-10-15 | work = straight.com}}</ref> It is entered through the Mowafaghian Atrium, a glass-walled gallery two storeys tall which, in addition to the museum's gift shop and the Niche Cafe, houses the museum's signature piece: Canada's largest blue whale skeleton.<ref name=pr/> The display is a "see-through box" whose façade windows have "steel mesh brises-soleils". The museum lies parallel to one of the main walking routes of the university campus, was described in ''Exploring Vancouver: the architectural guide'' as "a perfect commission for architects known for creative restraint".<ref name=kal/> The whale is suspended over a descending ramp by which the collections are accessed.<ref name=kal/> The space also includes a "family zone" with juvenile reading materials and a teaching collection in a Discovery Lab.<ref name=pa>Beaty Biodiversity Museum (pamphlet)</ref> Most of the collections are displayed in cabinet windows and shadow boxes, although a few are shown through alternative displays like in-ground "excavations" that under glass that visitors can walk on.<ref name=mc>{{cite web|url=http://montecristomagazine.com/magazine/winter-2010/the-beaty-biodiversity-museum|date=6 December 2010|work=Montecristo Magazine|author=Gulamhusein, N|title=The Beaty Biodiversity Museum}}</ref>
The $50-million building<ref name=arc/> was designed in the interests of [[sustainability]]. It has a [[green roof]] and a reed water garden to reduce pollutants and improve drainage of storm water from the building. The centre does not have [[air conditioning]], except in some of its laboratories; instead, the temperature level is mediated by natural ventilation through the facility's concrete walls and by the use of sunshades on the outside of the building. Natural lighting is also optimized to reduce the building's use of electricity, which also assists in the preservation of some light-sensitive collections. Finally, the centre includes several "recycling hubs" and has facilities for the [[composting]] of organic waste material.<ref name=pr/>
==Museum history== The individual collections housed in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum predate the museum's construction, with some collections dating back to the early 20th century. All of these collections, however, were kept separately at various locations across campus.<ref name=mc/> The idea for a single museum to house all of these collections was first put forward in 2001 by university faculty in the Departments of Zoology and Botany, who suggested "a building that would facilitate interdisciplinary work on biodiversity, house UBC's biodiversity researchers and collections, and contain a public natural history museum".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/about/history|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=History of the Museum}}</ref> What would become the dynamic working and learning environment of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum benefited from the inspired architectural design and work of [http://www.patkau.ca Patkau Architects.]
The museum is named after Ross and Trisha Beaty, UBC alumni who donated [[Can$]]8 million in funding to support its creation. The Biodiversity Centre also received $16.5 million from each of the BC Knowledge Development Fund and the [[Canadian Foundation for Innovation]], $3 million from the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation, and $6 million from the university.<ref name=pr>{{cite web | url = http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010PREM0101-000562.htm | title = NEWS RELEASE - NEW UBC CENTRE HOME TO CANADA'S LARGEST WHALE EXHIBIT | access-date = 2011-04-16 | date = 2010-05-13 | publisher = BC Office of the Premier | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101211094329/http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2010PREM0101-000562.htm | archive-date = 2010-12-11 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The founding director was Dr. Wayne Maddison and the current director is [https://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/2020/07/07/the-beaty-biodiversity-museum-new-director/ Dr. Quentin Cronk] of the Department of Botany.
==Collection== The museum houses a collection of more than two million specimens, some dating back to as early as the 1910s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Collections|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections|publisher=Beaty Biodiversity Museum|access-date=4 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718042438/http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> These specimens are divided into six main subcollections – the Cowan Tetrapod Collection, the Marine Invertebrate Collection, the Herbarium, the Spencer Entomological Collection, the Fish Collection, and the Fossil Collection – and over 500 permanent exhibits.<ref name=pa/> Most items are accompanied by a description card briefly outlining details like the species and provenance information.<ref name=mc/>
===Blue Whale Exhibit=== [[File:Beaty Biodiversity Museum whale 7.JPG|thumb|A skeleton of a female blue whale at the Mowafaghian Atrium]] The museum's signature piece is its 25-metre skeleton of a female blue whale. The skeleton, housed in the museum's glass atrium, is Canada's largest blue whale skeleton, the "largest skeleton exhibit in the world suspended without external framework for support", and one of only 21 blue whale skeletons on public display worldwide.<ref name=pr/><ref name=wh/> The [[Canadian Museum of Nature]] in Ottawa began exhibiting its juvenile blue whale skeleton at around the same time.<ref name=mov>{{Cite web|url=http://www.museumofvancouver.ca/programs/blog/tags/beaty-biodiversity-museum|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=Museum of Vancouver|title=Beaty Biodiversity Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226041400/http://www.museumofvancouver.ca/programs/blog/tags/beaty-biodiversity-museum|archive-date=2013-12-26|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The process of recovering, transporting and displaying the whale was featured in a [[Discovery Channel]] documentary called ''Raising Big Blue'', first aired in Canada on June 5, 2011. This documentary is frequently screened at the museum's theatre.<ref name=wh>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/research/whale|access-date=21 November 2013|title=The Blue Whale Story|publisher=UBC}}</ref>
===Cowan Tetrapod Collection=== [[File:Wolf skulls Beaty.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Examples of items in the Cowan Tetrapod collection]] The Cowan Tetrapod Collection was founded in 1951. The collection is named after its first curator, Dr. [[Ian McTaggart-Cowan]], and was originally named the "Cowan Vertebrate Museum". It combined several pre-existing collections, including the K. Racey birds and mammals collection, the WS Maguire and J. Wynne zoology materials, and the HR Macmillan birds collection.<ref name=co/>
The collection contains over 40,000 items representing over 2,000 species of [[vertebrate]]s – 18,000 mammals from 540 species, 17,500 birds and 7,000 bird eggs, and 1,600 reptiles and amphibians – making it the second largest collection of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians in British Columbia.<ref name=co>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/vertebrate|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Cowan Tetrapod Collection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204030926/http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/vertebrate|archive-date=4 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The museum holds extensive, representative samples of nearly all species – and most subspecies – of British Columbia's terrestrial vertebrates and marine mammals. The collection includes older specimens dating back to 1849, as well as rare specimens such as the [[red panda]], the endangered [[Vancouver Island marmot]], and even extinct species such as the [[passenger pigeon]].
Over 39,000 items from the Cowan Tetrapod Collection have been indexed in Vertnet, a "collaborative project funded by the [[National Science Foundation]] that aims to make biodiversity data free and openly accessible on the web from publishers worldwide".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://portal.vertnet.org/about|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=VertNet|title=About VertNet}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://portal.vertnet.org/p/university-of-british-columbia-beaty-biodiversity-museum|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=VertNet|title=Publisher: University of British Columbia Beaty Biodiversity Museum}}</ref>
===Marine Invertebrate Collection=== [[File:Cone snails Beaty.jpg|thumb|upright|Shells in the Marine Invertebrate Collection]] The Marine Invertebrate Collection was started in the 1930s with alcohol-preserved specimens collected by Dr. C. McLean Fraser and Dr. Ian McTaggart Cowan. The collection was primarily used for teaching purposes and eventually grew to several thousand specimens encompassing the major lineages of invertebrate animals. The collection was expanded in 2006, due to the donation of thousands of shells and corals by Kelly Norton. The collection was further expanded the following year with a large donation from Evelyn Hebb Killiam.<ref name=mic/>
Items in the collection represent the "major lineages of animals" and include [[Cnidaria|cnidarians]], molluscs, [[Annelid|annelids]], [[Echinoderm|echinoderms]], crustaceans, and sponges.<ref name=pa/> The collection has not yet been fully catalogued.<ref name=mic>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/invertebrate|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Marine Invertebrate Collection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204040517/http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/invertebrate|archive-date=4 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Herbarium=== [[File:Seed Collection Beaty.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Examples from the Seed Collection]] The Herbarium is among the oldest collections at UBC. It was established in 1912 by [[John Davidson (botanist)|John Davidson]], who was at that time the BC provincial botanist. His collection of mostly [[vascular plant]]s was housed in downtown Vancouver at the Botanical Offices on West Pender Street. In 1925, it was relocated to the university campus. A seed collection arose independently via donations of large collections, particularly those of A.J. Hill, Eli Wilson, W. Taylor and A.E. Baggs. An algal collection also appeared prior to 1952, based on a donation by Mirian Armstead; although it was initially quite small, under the curatorship of Robert Scagel it expanded rapidly to a 67,000-item scope. The Bryological Collection was begun by V.J. Krajina in 1949; in 1960, Dr. W.B. Schofield became the "first bryologist to be hired by a Canadian university", and he curated and expanded the collection over several years. All of these disparate collections were consolidated into the Herbarium, then hosted by the university's biology department, in 1973, and the entire collection was ported into the Beaty Biodiversity Museum upon its completion.<ref name=herb>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/herbarium|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Herbarium}}</ref>
The Herbarium contains more than 650,000 specimens, and it is the largest herbarium in Canada west of Ottawa. The specimens in the herbarium are used to help researchers identify the plants, describe new species, and track changes in diversity over time. The herbarium collection includes the land plants—conifers, ferns, mosses, flowering plants, and their relatives as well as algae, lichens and fungi. The collection comprises 223,000 vascular plants, 85,000 algae, 242,000 [[bryophyte]]s, 16,000 fungi, and 40,000 [[lichen]]s. Important strengths of the collection include the plants of British Columbia generally, "Pacific algae, fungi, Hawaiian plants, tropical prayer plants, and [[Cyanolichen|cyanolichens]]".<ref name=herb/> Its algal collection is "the most comprehensive of any Herbarium", particularly in its coverage of the northeast Pacific Ocean species. Its bryophyte collection is the largest in Canada, while the fungi collection includes the "largest research collection of macrofungi of British Columbia" and the lichen collection is among the largest in western North America. The vascular plants collection is two-thirds Canadian (45% from British Columbia and 22% from other provinces and territories), 16% American (9% from Hawaii and the Pacific coast and 7% from the other states), and 17% from other countries.<ref name=herb/>
Among the Herbarium's holdings are 498 [[type specimen]]s.<ref name=herb/>
===Spencer Entomological Collection=== [[File:Nymphalidae (Japan 1910).jpg|thumb|200px|Insect specimen from 1910]] The Spencer Entomological Collection was begun by Dr. George Spencer in the 1920s and includes specimens from as early as the 1830s. At the time of its creation it was not a university-recognized collection, but by the time of Spencer's retirement it comprised over 300,000 items. It was officially founded as a university collection in 1953 "as a retirement gift from his students and the Department of Zoology." Dr. G.G.E. Scudder assumed the curatorship of the collection in 1958, doubling the size of the collection in his 40 years in that role.<ref name=ent>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/entomological|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Spencer Entomological Collection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011535/http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/entomological|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Now comprising over 600,000 items – over 500,000 pinned insects, 25,000 on slides, and 75,000 in alcohol – the Spencer Entomological Collection is the second-largest in Canada and focuses on the insects of British Columbia and Yukon. The collection has "particularly strong holdings of [[Hemiptera]] (true bugs), [[Odonata]] (dragonflies and damselflies), Siphonaptera (fleas) and Anoplura and Mallophaga (lice)." In addition to specimens, the collection also includes 350 books and other printed materials relevant to the study of [[entomology]].<ref name=ent/> A number of items in the collection have not yet been indexed.<ref>{{cite web|work=Science Daily|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131121135623.htm|date=21 November 2013|title=Climate change may disrupt butterfly flight seasons}}</ref>
===Fish Collection=== Dr. C. MacLean Fraser, the first head of UBC's Department of Zoology, donated her collections to the university in the 1940s. They were displayed in a UBC Fish Museum, which was first catalogued in 1945. The UBC Institute of Fisheries was founded in 1952, beginning a period of rapid collections expansion under the curatorship of M.A. Newman. In addition to amending the storage, preservation and recording of specimens, he also oversaw the addition of materials from "three expeditions to the eastern tropical Pacific at the invitation of H.R. MacMillan, the addition of extensive local freshwater material by members of the B.C. Game Commission, and several exchanges with institutions in other parts of the world". The collection was transferred to the biology department in 1960 and moved to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum along with the Herbarium.<ref name=fish>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/fish|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Fish Collection}}</ref>
[[File:Fish Collection.jpg|thumb|450px|center|Part of the Fish Collection]] {{Clear}} The Fish Collection holds over 850,000 specimens, including whole fish stored in alcohol, skeletons, cleared and stained fish, and fish X-rays. It also has over 50,000 DNA and tissue samples. It is the third largest fish collection in Canada, with particular strengths in freshwater and nearshore marine species. Locations covered include Canada, the [[Aleutians]], the [[Malay Archipelago]], Mexico, the [[Galapagos Islands]], Panama, and the [[Amazon River Basin]].<ref name=fish/>
The collection has been used in conservation efforts, environmental assessments, and numerous research projects, particularly by the Native Fishes Research Group. It has also served as an educational resource in training some of Canada's leading fish biologists.<ref name=fish/>
Over 2,300 species from the Fish Collection are included in FishBase, a global fish [[relational database]] supported by a research consortium that includes the UBC Fisheries Centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fishbase.org/home.htm|publisher=FishBase|access-date=21 November 2013|title=FishBase: a global information system on fishes}}</ref> The museum's collection was the first to be indexed by FishBase.<ref name=fish/>
===Fossil Collection=== [[File:Clams2Beaty.JPG|thumb|Clam fossils]] Dr. [[Merton Yarwood Williams]], co-founder of the UBC Geology Department, began the Fossil Collection in 1924 with an initial acquisition from mining engineer [[William John Sutton]] The collection was exhibited in the Geological Sciences Centre beginning in 1971 and was curated by Joe Nagel. However, due to financial constraints the exhibit was closed in 1995. The collection became part of the holdings of the Pacific Museum of the Earth in 2003, but is being housed in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum during its recataloguing process.<ref name=fossil>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/fossils|access-date=21 November 2013|publisher=UBC|title=Fossil Collection|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204031316/http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/collections/fossils|archive-date=4 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The Fossil Collection comprises over 20,000 items. Highlights of the collection include its [[stromatolite]]s (rock formations consisting of blue-green algae dating back 500 million years – some of the oldest extant fossils) and examples of the [[Burgess Shale]].<ref name=fossil/>
In 2018, the museum added 3 casts of [[Trace fossil|dinosaur trackways]] from Peace Region area of British Columbia to its permanent exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/whats-on/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/dinosaur-trackways/|access-date=5 September 2018|publisher=UBC|title=Dinosaur Trackways}}</ref>
==Reception== The museum's blue whale exhibit was included in ''Scout Magazine''{{'}}s list of "1,000 Cool Things about Vancouver".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scoutmagazine.ca/tag/beaty-biodiversity-museum/|access-date=21 November 2013|work=Scout Magazine|author=Morrison, A|date=1 August 2013|title=Hanging Blue Whale Skeleton at the Beaty}}</ref> The ''Globe and Mail'' called the whale "an inescapable presence" for museum visitors.<ref name=gm>{{cite news|title=UBC has a whale of an exhibit|author=Bailey, I|work=Globe and Mail|date=19 August 2013}}</ref>
The museum was selected by ''Georgia Straight'' as among the "Best of Vancouver" for 2013; it was listed as "Best Collection of Weird Things in Drawers". The newspaper had previously featured the museum's blue whale exhibit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.straight.com/life/425416/bov-2013-contributors-picks-entertainment|date=18 September 2013|title=BOV 2013 contributors' picks: Entertainment|newspaper=Georgia Straight}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Beaty Biodiversity Museum}} * {{Official website|https://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/}} *[https://hakaimagazine.com/features/art-bones/ "The Art of Bones"], cleaning and maintaining the Blue Whale skeleton, at [[Hakai Magazine]], March 4, 2016
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[[Category:Museums in Vancouver]] [[Category:Natural history museums in British Columbia]] [[Category:University museums in Canada]] [[Category:University of British Columbia]]