Federal Science and Technology: The Pursuit of Excellence - Appendix

Canadian Museum of Nature

The Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) is Canada’s national natural history museum, with operations based in two major facilities. The Natural Heritage Building (NHB) in Gatineau, Quebec, houses a state-of-the-art-collections facility, research laboratories, a new centre for digital imaging, and offices for about 120 of its 165 staff. The historic Victoria Memorial Museum Building (VMMB), located in downtown Ottawa, houses the CMN’s public exhibitions and educational programming. These facilities are focal points for collections development, primary research, exhibition creation and educational activities. All contribute to programs about the natural history of Canada, environmental change, and associated issues of relevance to Canadians.

In 2003–04, the Museum began to implement its new five-year strategy to focus attention on environmental change affecting the natural world. It worked with the science community, decision makers and the general public to understand the critical issues affecting environmental change, the role that humans play in accelerating this change, and how these changes affect the distribution of plants and animals and their habitats. This work will be most visible in programming activities to be delivered in the newly renovated VMMB, slated for renovations from 2004 to 2009.

The new vision of the CMN stresses partnerships and joint efforts to develop new educational projects with national reach. On April 25, 2003, the CMN launched The Geee! in Genome, a new, traveling exhibition on genomics. This exhibition and national education project were produced by the CMN and presented nationally by Genome Canada in partnership with the CIHR. The exhibition is now touring the country, having already appeared in Vancouver and Regina. Its final stop will be Halifax in 2006. The Geee! in Genome is supplemented by a dynamic and interactive Web site, as well as a series of forums held across Canada to stimulate awareness of the ethical issues involved in genomics research.

In addition to the genome project, the Museum has produced a traveling exhibition about climate change that incorporates traditional knowledge with Western science. Sila: Clue in to Climate Change was produced by the CMN in collaboration with the Centre for Traditional Knowledge, with support from the Government of Canada Climate Change Action Fund and the Canadian International Development Agency. The information, available in Inuktitut as well as Canada’s two official languages, is supplemented by a multimedia presentation and Web site with curriculum-based teaching activities.

The CMN continues to be a Canadian centre of excellence for systematics research and the conservation and management of natural history collections. Its scientific staff of more than 50 researchers, collections specialists, and research associates, generate knowledge and curate a collection of 10 million specimens, producing an average of 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications and books annually; host research and V.I.P. visits; participate fully in the academic community, through eight adjunct professorships; and describe 20 to 30 new species of plants, animals and minerals each year.

The CMN’s natural history collections are part of a public trust, developed to preserve our natural heritage and to document the historical record for both scientific advancement and educational value. Part of the CMN’s future focus will be to develop a national collections development strategy, in partnership with a coalition of natural history museums in Canada. The CMN will broaden access to the natural history record, using the Internet, collection images and distributed databases.

The CMN continues to work with the Canadian Heritage Information Network , a special operating agency of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Federal Biodiversity Information Partnership (FBIP), which includes numerous scientific partners from within the Government of Canada. In both cases, the CMN is using and contributing to centralized and distributed databases to mediate access to collection and specimen records. Both the general public and scientists are potential consumers and contributors of this data. Examples include the compilation of data from community-based science programs, such as the Rideau River Biodiversity Project, and the transfer of bird specimen records from catalogue cards to digitized data, so these data can be mapped electronically.

Another example of CMN’s commitment to sharing information and knowledge is the use of 3-D imaging within the NHB. With the support of Canadian Heritage, the CMN has installed Arius 3D’s innovative cameras and software to produce true-to-life, full-colour, 3-D images of specimens from its natural history collections. The models are being used for research, collections management, and conservation, and to develop derivative animation products for education and exhibitions.

The CMN shares its scientific expertise on collections management and conservation issues with other national and international institutions. Museum staff have presented numerous workshops and have consulted on risk analysis for the conservation of collections. Additionally, the CMN is examining the implications of storing and managing tissue samples and DNA sequences in addition to whole specimens. In 2003 the CMN was recognized for its conservation efforts, with an international award from The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and Heritage Preservation.

The Museum’s research expertise is integral to a number of federal, professional and academic initiatives. These include the Committee for the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study, the Pan Arctic Flora Project, and the New Mineral Names Committee of the International Mineralogical Association. The CMN is a founding member of COSEWIC, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003, and is a leader on two of COSEWIC’s expert subcommittees — invertebrates and freshwater fishes.

The Museum houses and fully supports the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods), and has done so for more than 20 years. The Survey helps to coordinate scientific research among specialists in the Canadian fauna of insects, mites and their relatives. It serves as a catalyst for more efficient scientific progress, and provides national direction for work on Canada’s insect fauna.

Through the Canadian Centre for Biodiversity, the CMN houses and provides support for the Secretariat for the Canadian Committee for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The CMN also hosts the Medicinal Plant Species Specialist Group of the Union’s Species Survival Commission.

In 2003 the CMN was pleased to receive the Patricia Roberts-Pichette Award from Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network, in recognition of its leadership and commitment to advancing ecological monitoring and research in Canada.

The Museum is exploring new ways to make natural history more understandable to the public. With our partners at CineMuse Inc., the CMN is promoting high-definition cinema as an interpretive tool and attraction for science centres and museums in North America. The Museum is also developing and facilitating the production of new documentaries with partners.

As part of its new strategic direction, the CMN has helped spearhead the creation of the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada. This consortium has established its means of governance and is now working on priority areas for collaboration, including collections development and communications strategies, as well as exhibition development and educational programming. The initial working group comprises 11 institutions from all regions of Canada.

On the federal scene, the Museum continues to chair the FBIP. The FBIP helps coordinate biodiversity data, and advocates support for systematics expertise and bio-informatics within Canada, by promoting research funding, encouraging educational efforts, facilitating projects that are beyond the scope of any one agency, and acting as a Canadian focal point for international activities.

The FBIP also represents Canada on the Governing Board of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an international agency (www.gbif.org) that facilitates the development and use of bio-informatics tools and the sharing of biodiversity data. Toward this end, Canada has started to establish data nodes for the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, and has begun populating these nodes with data from the participating organizations noted above.

In future, the FBIP will promote a more comprehensive work program to stabilize and enhance federal biodiversity science, including bio-informatics, in Canada. The FBIP has already completed a federal needs assessment, funded by the Canadian Information System for the Environment.

Contact Information
Research Services
Canadian Museum of Nature
Tel.: (613) 566-4743
Web site: www.nature.ca