Why did you want to become a collection manager?
I’ve always loved nature and animals. As a collection manager, I help researchers use the museum’s collections to better understand wildlife and ecosystems. This lets us do important conservation work to protect the natural world. This way, I hope that people of the future will get to appreciate animals as much as I do today.

How did you become a collection manager?
During my undergrad at McGill University, I took zoology courses taught at my university’s natural history museum. There, I learned about how much research was going on behind the scenes. I was inspired to pursue a master’s degree in museum and field studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. There, I worked as a graduate assistant in the Vertebrate Zoology collection and wrote a thesis on how errors in collections data impact downstream ecological research. Understanding both how collections are preserved and how they are used in research helped me to eventually become a collection manager.

What do you do as a collection manager?
I care for a collection of over 63,000 preserved birds and mammals that document BC’s biodiversity over the last 160 years. My goals are to

• make the collections as accessible to the public as possible,
• ensure that the animals in the collection are properly preserved and cared for, and
• document biodiversity as it exists today.

This way, the collection can inform our understanding of how the landscape has changed and continues to change for generations to come.

Every workday looks different. On a given day, I facilitate research visits, ship loans of specimens to other institutions, digitize collections so that they can be accessed online, prepare new specimens in the lab, give tours to the public and help with educational programs.

Why did you want to become an archivist?
Old records always fascinate me. When I hold a letter written 100 years ago, I imagine myself in that person’s life. I am touching paper that they touched, and reading their thoughts. It is like being a psychic time-traveller!

 

How did you become an archivist?
After getting a history degree at university, I got a summer job in an archives and was hooked. I worked in a lot of different archives, big and small, getting as much experience as I could. If I was starting out now, I would probably get a master of archival studies from a university.

 

What does an archivist do?
Archivists collect, organize and look after important records of many different kinds so that we will have a reliable memory of the past.  They also help people find information in those records, whether they are writing a family history or the history of a province or country.

Why did you want to become an entomologist (someone who studies insects)?
I was keen on insects from as early as I can remember, so becoming an entomologist was a natural fit. I always had jars with live insects in them and I am told I even insisted they be in my crib with me! Of course when I was little no one told me I could do what I loved and get paid for it, but that is exactly what has happened. My interests extend to everything biological, but my passion is for terrestrial arthropods—insects, spiders, and their relatives.

How did you become an entomology collections manager?
For schooling I have a undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in biology. In between I also did a high school teaching degree with an emphasis on math, general science, and biology. What I found out during my teaching experience was that not everyone loved nature and science as much as I do, so I came back to my true love: entomology.

I am still learning new things every day that relate to my career and interest in nature and am always on the lookout for courses where I can learn even more about the species that make up the huge field of entomology. On that note I have taken a course called The Bee Course, another course on bark beetles, and I am keeping my eye on the schedules of The Ant Course, The Hym Course, and others.

What does an entomology collections manager do? 
My overall role is to make sure the entomology collection is available for research. There is still so much left to learn in entomology that the collection is in high demand for study. A typical day for me could include putting together a loan of specimens for shipment to researchers anywhere in the world, or a visiting researcher could come here and work directly in the collection. I spend most hours each week making sure the specimens are well curated: prepared properly (labelled, pinned, stored in preservative, etc.), that all the information about the specimen is captured digitally so we can search what is in the collection, putting things into the collection where they go, and making sure they are easily found when they need to be. I can only do all of this with the help of a big group of volunteers.

I also answer questions about all aspects of entomology every day and these questions come at me via email, phone calls, and some people even come right to the museum with critters in containers.

Something I don’t do every day but what I consider a critical part of the job is to add to the collection through fieldwork. It is amazing to spend even a short amount of time every year in natural areas all over the province.

Why did you want to become a textile conservator?
I like to work with my hands. I like old things because they bring to mind stories of who used them in the past. I have sewn since I was eight years old and like the connection to other sewers through close examination of their work. Textiles are literally the fabric of our lives and the fabrics of the lives of people who have lived in other times and places.

How did you become a textile conservator?
I have a degree in history in art and did two years of postgraduate training at the Textile Conservation Centre at Hampton Court Palace in England. Conservation is a field where History, Science and Fine Arts intersect; a detective’s interest in physical clues, a chemist’s willingness to analyse and experiment and an artist’s eye for detail are all assets.

What does a textiles conservator do?
Conservators try to ensure that the physical evidence of the past is preserved. It’s one thing to read about the way people lived – seeing the tools they used, their toys and clothes is also informative. Artifacts are historical documents of a different kind, they communicate information that is not always written down. Although sometimes we work directly on artifacts such as the McInnes uniform, we also build mounts to support unusual shapes, we devise means to prevent careless handling and to filter light, moisture and dust, as all of those things can shorten the life of an artifact.

Why did you want to become a curator?

I decided to become a self-styled curator when I was ten years old (in 1966). I started my own human and natural history museum in celebration of one of BC’s many centennials—the union of the two crown colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. What a weird little kid! I loved the stories associated with objects and collections and I still do. Throughout my career as an archivist I have been able to curate exhibitions as the end products of acquisition, preventive conservation, arrangement and description, access and public programming.

How did you become a curator of images and paintings?

I have been fascinated with photography and images for most of my life. I studied history, archives administration and records management at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta. I have been privileged to work with hundreds of thousands of photographs in archival and museum collections, first as a volunteer at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives (1972–1980) and then as an archivist at the City of Vancouver Archives (1976–1980), the Glenbow Museum (1980–1983) and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies (1983–2006). I joined the BC Archives in 2007 as manager of access services and moved to the curator position to resume my love affair with collections, context and sharing these fabulous resources with others. Every day I learn from the interconnectedness of collections and from my colleagues.

What do you do as a curator of images and paintings?

I have a great job! I investigate possible acquisitions and help bring them to fruition. I conduct research so that we can advance scholarship and share our discoveries with researchers, exhibition enthusiasts, students, the people of BC and our visitors from around the world. Much of my work involves putting people in touch with works of art and photographs so that they can make their own discoveries. My job is really about enabling others and I am constantly amazed by the points of view, knowledge and passion of the people who access our collections.

Why did you want to become a collections manager?
Originally, my goal was a curator position but it was a collection management position that offered full-time employment at the notable Royal BC Museum that began my career.

How did you become a collections manager?
Primarily, hard work. Volunteering at the appropriate level of experience was very important. No matter how difficult, I persisted with my academics. When a collections manager of 30 years retired from the museum, I was the successful candidate for the position in the Human History department.

What does a collections manager do?
The following is from a partial listing of my job description:

-Enter, retrieve, compile and summarize data and information for acquisitions
-Assist in research and implement projects as guided by the curators, division head of collections or the exhibition manager
-Frequently required to train, direct and monitor the activities of co-op or internship students, contractors and volunteers.
-And so much more

Why did you want to become an archivist?
I’ve always been interested in stories about BC’s pioneer days, ghost towns and so on.  Like ghost towns, archival records are another kind of relic from the past and provide us with windows to look into that past.  My work with archival films and sound recordings gives me a set of especially interesting windows to look through.

How did you become an archivist?
Through my background in audio-visual media.  I was first hired in 1978 as a summer student, to copy sound recordings for preservation.  I later worked as a contractor and my role gradually expanded; I was asked to research, write and edit books, to identify films made in British Columbia and eventually to help the BC Archives acquire and preserve historic films about BC.  Finally, in 1998, I was given the opportunity to join the regular staff of the archives.  (It only took me 20 years!)

What do you do as an archivist?
I still do some work with the sound and film collections.  But I also help to deal with new acquisitions of archival records; with arranging and describing collections of records; with descriptive data and databases; and with many other projects.  Recently, I edited a video production based on old films of soldiers in Victoria and Vancouver, training and preparing to leave BC to fight in the First World War.  The video will be part of an exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of that war.

Why did you want to become a botanist?
I grew up spending my summers at a research station that was founded by my father, in the mountains of Colorado. I was continually exposed to people with a passion for inquiry, who knew the names of plants and I wanted to learn from them.  In the broadest sense, botany includes agriculture and ethnobotany, two subjects that fascinate me because of their connections to global food security and the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples.

How did you become a curator of botany?
I have been very fortunate in that nearly every job I have had, had something to do with plants, often involving some aspect of plant identification: environmental consulting, range technician, ecological studies and ethnobotany.  After finishing my bachelor of science degree in environmental biology, I thought I was finished with school forever. I never intended to go to graduate school and obtain master and doctoral degrees.  After spending four years as someone else’s technician, I realized that if I wanted to determine the course of my career, I was going to need more education.

What do you do as curator of botany?
A lot of my job involves using references and the collection to identify plants that have been sent to the museum by others, or that I have collected, or that have languished in the collection for many years. Sometimes I find plants with an incorrect or non-current name (in which case I make the correction to the best of my ability).  For 13 years I have been involved in a project to survey the alpine flora of the mountains of northern British Columbia and to use DNA markers to trace the migration of arctic and alpine species in the northern hemisphere, with an emphasis on British Columbia.

Why do you think it is important for non-scientists to learn about the native plants in their neighbourhoods?
Some people are simply curious and enjoy knowing about other organisms, and some want to know what kind of plants are edible or poisonous for themselves and for other animals. Knowing the name is a first step to knowing much more about a plant.

Why did you want to become a historian?

When I was young we lived and vacationed among a mix of Etruscan, Roman and Renaissance sites and World War II battlefields in Germany and Italy.  Right from the start history was about people, museums and art galleries, objects, books and physical landscapes.  And I had great teachers.

How did you become a curator? 

I moved from academic classrooms to the museum when my wife Monica spotted an interesting history job and I applied.  They liked my mix of skills. I was very fortunate to be mentored by a deeply experienced staff and was immediately thrown into the busy world of collections, exhibits and work with the public.

How would you describe a typical day at work?  

I was told when I was hired “you will never be bored”.  That is still true.  A day is a mix of public inquiries, email research questions, collections work, media requests, mentoring interns and work with docents on collections or public education training. A constant is the team work on projects across a wide variety of departments.  No two days are exactly the same.

Why did you want to work in archives and museums?

Childhood visits to interesting museums and historical places gave me an appreciation and curiosity about museums and being raised in Victoria the Royal BC Museum was a regular stop for my family.

How did you become a preservation manager?

My career in museums and archives began with volunteering during my university studies. I then went to Eastman House in Rochester, New York (the birthplace of Kodak) and trained in Motion Picture Film Preservation. A temporary position at the BC Archives opened and when it ended I was able to fill another position; photocopying records for clients, not my dream job but it taught me patience and gave me access to many different things. Eventually I was able to become a preservation specialist responsible for the physical care and management of the archival holdings.  Now as preservation manager, I get to focus on a new area of collection care: digital preservation and conversion.

What does a preservation manager do?

As preservation manager, my staff and I work with all areas of the archives and museum to help preserve and make accessible items from our collection.

Why did you want to become a botanist?
For as long as I can remember, I have loved the world of plants.  I have very fond memories of days spent picking Salmon Berries in the back yard, weaving placemats from cherry tree bark and imagining a tiny world of fairies in the moss along the creek.  When I grew up, my affection for plants became a fascination with their beauty and diversity and with their importance in our lives.  Plants make the oxygen we breathe!  When I learned that trained botanists spend their days studying plants, I decided that’s what I wanted to be!

How did you become a botanist?
I studied biology at university and was especially interested in plant taxonomy and biodiversity classes, which taught me about the differences between major groups of plants such as mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants.  I wasn’t always the best student in the class, but I worked very hard to learn and was soon doing my own research projects as a graduate student in plant taxonomy.  I now have a doctorate degree (PhD) in this field and this helped me get a job as a botanist at the Royal BC Museum.

What do you do as a botany collections manager?
My job is to take care of the botany collection at the Royal BC Museum, which includes over 215,000 specimens of pressed, dried plants. I make sure that the collection is safe from damaging things such as water, light and insects.  I help with the work of adding new specimens to the collection every year and love going to the field to collect.  A big part of my job these days is making sure that the information about our botany specimens is recorded in a computer database so people from all around the world can easily learn about our botany collection.  I also help other botanists with their research by sending specimens to them by mail for their studies.

 

Why did you want to become an archivist?
While studying history at university, I did research using original records at an archives in Amsterdam.  Working at an archives seemed a perfect fit for my interest in history, my passion for research and my desire to preserve and provide access to the records which form the basis for historical research.

How did you become an archivist?
After obtaining master’s degrees in history and library science and working for several years as a librarian in research libraries, chance and circumstance finally provided the opportunity to work as an archivist.

What do you do as archivist?
I describe records, create research guides, provide reference and research assistance, and participate in public programs such as Archives Boot Camp and This Week in History. I also work on the genealogy database.

Why did you want to become a curator? 
I am a collector and I have always been interested in nature. As a student, I spent many hours collecting fishes, amphibians and reptiles and helped build a research collection at the University of Manitoba. I prepared skeletal material and reconstructed reptile skulls starting in high school and I have hands-on experience building models and dioramas. Museum work is a perfect fit for me. 

How did you become a zoology curator?
My education? At the University of Manitoba I did a bachelor of science in general zoology and master of science on exotic fish introductions. As a hobby, during my master’s degree, I published research on placoderm fossils from the Interlake region of Manitoba. My doctorate degree (PhD) at the University of Alberta focused on fossil fishes but, instead of placoderms, I looked at acanthodians and an odd group of fishes thought to be related to the cartilaginous fishes (sharks, rays and ratfishes). Shortly after my PhD in 2001, I was hired back in Winnipeg as the zoology curator at the Manitoba Museum. In early 2004, I headed west.

What do you do as curator of vertebrate zoology?
I collect specimens for the museum (particularly fish, amphibian and reptile) and write research papers which are published and available internationally. I help other researchers with their work and maintain contacts with other agencies in British Columbia to obtain as many specimens as possible—from areas where we rarely visit (like northern BC). I have particular interest in exotic species introductions in Canada and the role of the pet trade and food industry in exotic species dispersal. Curators also help develop exhibits—both travelling exhibits and permanent displays here at the Royal BC Museum—and act as a filter to make scientific literature accessible to a general audience.

Why did you want to be an archaeologist?
I have always had a curiosity about many things and have a special passion to learn about human beings and other species of animals and our history on this planet.

 

How did you become an archaeologist?
I studied hard in school and eventually went to university to get a degree in archaeology. I taught myself how to make and use bone and stone tools and did experiments in using them, such as cutting up dead animals with stone knives.

 

What do you do as curator of archaeology?
I have been curator of archaeology here for more than 40 years. My job includes learning new knowledge about archaeology and discovering new knowledge myself by doing research on our collections. I go out of the museum to discover new things. I help people identify artifacts. I answer questions from members of the public of all ages who teach or work in government departments. I work with educators and exhibit designers to make school programs and exhibits. I write books and articles about our collections and talk on radio and TV programs.

Why did you want to become an educator?

From an early age, I saw how quality teachers can influence lives. I was fortunate to have great teachers who always challenged me, and always believed in my potential. As a teacher, I want to pay forward the love of learning I received at an early age, and help to instill this desire in today’s youth. I want to help students gain the tools and resources they need to grow, learn and prosper to achieve their goals.

How did you become an educator?

I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English and a minor in History at the University of Ottawa and I am currently in the Post-Baccalaureate Education program at Vancouver Island University. I began working as a learning facilitator at the Royal BC Museum in January 2016 and worked there as the cultural learning program facilitator for the summer of 2017.

What does an educator at the museum do?

As a learning facilitator, I assisted in developing and leading learning lab programs on a variety of topics from truth and reconciliation to sustainability and everything in between. This position helped develop my love for teaching and generating curiosity in children and youth. It is always exciting to help students make connections to history in creative ways.

As a cultural learning program facilitator, I focused on creating programs for the Our Living Languages exhibition. In addition, I also created different pathways and lesson plans for the Learning Portal. As a member of Cowichan Tribes I love being able to share my culture through museum tours and different program activities, such as cedar-weaving.

 

When did you realize you wanted to become a marine biologist?

As a child I always loved animals and science. In grade 5, I watched an educational TV series called Voyage of the Mimi. It was about a team of researchers travelling the world living on a boat, the Mimi, studying whales and the ocean. I knew instantly that I wanted to do that when I grew up. Which was kind of funny, because I lived in Ontario where there are no oceans.

How did you become the invertebrates collection manager?

I came to Victoria to study biology and oceanography at the University of Victoria. I was still interested in whales when I took my first invertebrate (animals without backbones) biology course. I was absolutely shocked and amazed when I started learning about the diversity of invertebrates and studying their varied anatomy and lifestyles. I was hooked. I took every invertebrate and related marine course I could. After my undergraduate degree I worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) studying introduced or alien invertebrates in British Columbia. I then went on to get my master’s degree, studying invertebrate fouling communities (those growing on hard substrates such as docks and pilings) along the BC coast. Following my master’s degree, I worked a number of different contract positions and then landed back at DFO, this time working with Species At Risk. It was a wonderful job, working to protect endangered species, but when the position came up at the Royal BC Museum, I knew it was a perfect fit.

What do you do in a typical day as the invertebrates collection manager?

The great thing about this job is that every day is different. In any day I may be: doing research, in the field collecting specimens, giving tours, working with visiting researchers, cataloguing and databasing new records, shelving and organizing specimens, identifying animals, or contributing to content for exhibits and learning programs. It is my job to care for the invertebrate collection and to share its stories of British Columbia’s natural history. To accomplish this I get to work with a great team of staff and volunteers, visiting researchers, and inquisitive members of the public. In short, it’s a busy but wonderful job!

Why did you want to become a curator?

I love learning about the natural world. I like details and organization and pursuing questions about the animals around me in nature. I always knew that I would work in biology, but did not think it would be in entomology. The first time I looked at insects under a microscope, I was hooked. The beauty and variety of insects makes me want to learn about how and where they live in BC.

How did you become a Entomology curator?

I took as many science courses as I could in high school. I went to university to study wildlife biology. I worked in labs and the insect collection while I was there and decided to pursue a masters’ degree in entomology. I took a break to get a teaching degree and teach high school for a few years. After that I went back to school and earned a PhD in entomology.

What do you do as curator of Entomology?

My job involves meeting with the public and working on the collection. On any given day I might answer an email asking about some unusual insect someone found or I might have an interview with the newspaper or television station about insect stories. I also regularly give behind the scenes tours of the collection to students and adults. When I am not talking about insects with the public, I am identifying, organizing, and data-basing insects in our collection. I organize the data in our collection into scientific papers that answer questions like “how many species of house flies are in BC?” or “are some species of beetles moving farther north as the climate changes?” I also plan a few field trips every year to collect insects in parts of the province that we do not have many insect records from.

What are your thoughts of museums in general? Where do they fall short and where do they hold potential?

We have to acknowledge the deeply colonial history of museums, however, there also lies the potential that we see in projects such as the one that we’re working on to redress the history of colonial violence towards cultural communities through various means. One thing that we want to focus on is to really derive it from the community and hear what the community wants but also to communicate an active history. Often times racialized communities and culture has been put into a place of stagnancy in museums—these were people who existed, these are cultures that used to exist—and what we know, as racialized people, is that our history and our culture is ongoing, extensive, influential and living. However, we also see the potential of museums as a space for a community of learning and of unlearning, and so redress is the name of the game and inviting in living histories of those that have been previously marginalized.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the Hope Meets Action exhibition?

For me, growing up here, I was told a history that excluded our existence as Black people in this country and in British Columbia, and I think that speaks to belonging. So, one of the things that is exciting about this is the ability to hear from the community, to take some of their hopes, dreams, aspirations and to try to apply that, to ignite a notion that we not only have been here but have contributed and continue to contribute and exist in influential ways. So that’s what I’m excited about, to create the belonging for the Black community and from that to create a common understanding and kinship amongst Canadians.

Who is the one person you are really looking forward to bringing to the exhibition? How do you hope they will feel about it?

I have two people—my mom and my nephew. My mom who has long struggled and fought for the acknowledgement of the contributions of Black people to this country and our existence. And also, I’m excited to bring my nephew because I’m excited for that generation’s ability to have a greater awareness of Black Canadian history, which is Canadian history, ingrained and embedded in the school system, programs and curriculum, and to grow up with a sense of that belonging that we just discussed. So yeah, it’s actually a little bit emotional. I’m quite excited for that future for my nephew and for the next generation of young Black people who can find identity and belonging and celebrate their great capacity of all these Black people and the tremendous abilities and contributions. Whenever we’ve been given an inch, we’ve taken a yard, so I’m excited for that.

Why did you want to become a curator?

The collections are fascinating and there is so much research that can be done. I learn something new every day!

How did you become a curator?

I started working in the archives. Soon, I got involved with exhibits and started to research interesting stories that our museum could tell. At that point, I became a curator.

What does a curator do?

Curators discover stories about objects in the museum’s collection. They also look for important new objects (or acquisitions) to add to the museum’s collection.  Curators then share their knowledge and these stories with others by putting stories online, writing books, curating exhibitions and participating in public programs.

How did you get started working in museums?
I had just finished university and moved back home, when a friend of mine asked if I could help with a special event at the historic site where she worked. I volunteered for the special event and I was hooked. I kept on volunteering there, and that summer I was hired. I ended up working as a costumed interpreter for five years.

What do you do as a learning program developer?
The main job of someone who works in museum education is to be curious and to foster that curiosity in others. I work on creating special events, workshops, gallery programs and outreach programs for people to engage more with the Royal BC Museum, its research, collections and stories. As I am not a topic specialist, I spend a lot of time learning about history, natural history and different subjects related to our feature exhibitions. To help me learn, I visit the museum galleries, look at objects, read and, talk to curators and other museum staff, volunteers and visitors.

Why did you want to become a paleontologist and how did you become the paleontology collections manager?
I was inspired by a great high school science teacher, superior science mentors at the University of BC and the University of Victoria, a family of artists, and a very supportive husband whose computer expertise has been a lifesaver. During my career, I worked for over 17 years at the Geological Survey of Canada followed by 14 years as a geoscience consultant. When I joined the Royal BC Museum at the beginning of 2011, I set my goals to further develop an on-site paleontology facility and collections representing the diversity of fossils in BC and to combine arts and sciences to explore different approaches to learning.

What does a collections manager do?
I work at the most amazing job that has activities almost as diverse as the fossils themselves. I call it my dream-come-true-job where I have the opportunity to work with many talented staff, volunteers, and researchers, where we aim to put together a collection representing examples of the province’s best fossils. Each day has surprises and many a day I now come in expecting to do one thing and something totally different happens that day. Flexibility, enthusiasm and an open mind are good survival tactics!

Dr. Melissa Frey is the Collection Manager, Malacology at the Burke Museum in Seattle, WA.

Why did you want to become a curator of invertebrate zoology?
I have always been curious about nature – I love to collect, identify, classify, study and learn. As I pursued a career in biology, eventually the idea of being a curator became more tangible, more real. Seemed like the perfect fit! 

How did you come to be a curator?
Shortly after earning a bachelor of science degree in zoology and a master’s degree in oceanography, I worked as a biologist at the Smithsonian Institution. It was during this behind the scenes experience that I fell in love with museums and the work that they do. So I returned to graduate school to pursue a doctorate degree (PhD) in population biology, focusing on evolutionary, biogeographic and systematic studies of marine invertebrates. Working with museum collections played a large role in my graduate studies, as I studied collections from many of the major museums throughout the world. Upon finishing my dissertation, I became a research associate at the Royal BC Museum, and eventually landed the position of curator of invertebrates.

What did you do as a curator at the Royal BC Museum?
My work was split between collections and research and exhibits and learning programs. One of things that I love about my job is the constant change and opportunity to learn: studying specimens within the collection and translating this knowledge into research papers, exhibits and learning programs. And then there’s my favourite – fieldwork – collecting along the spectacular coastlines, forests and freshwaters of BC. As a curator, my role is to enhance our understanding of the natural history of this region, by collecting, identifying, studying and sharing. My hope is that other people also will be inspired, curious and delighted by learning about our natural world.

Why did you want to become an archivist? 

I have always been interested in learning about the past we share, in the idea of recording and preserving our memory, and how we are what we choose to remember and forget. 

How did you become an archivist? 

 After spending years researching in archives, I decided to learn about the opposite side of the process. I attended the University of British Columbia’s master of archival studies program, then found work in various archives in western Canada. 

What do you do as an archivist? 

Appraising, selecting and acquiring records, researching and writing about the identity of records, their creators, and the context of creation. I also preserve records, provide access and understanding of records through finding aids, liaise with researchers, and create digital and analogue projects to depict the functions, interactions, and relationships between people and the records they create. 

Why did you want to become a spider biologist?

Before I even started to crawl I was interested in animals and the natural world. This led to me study biology, especially entomology (the study of insects), as an undergraduate at university. Later, as a biology graduate student, I specialized in describing, naming, and classifying spiders (classic museum curatorial work!). Spiders attracted me because they do spectacularly interesting things in their day-to-day lives and are quite stunning to look at with a microscope.

How did you become a spider biologist?

Mentors were, and remain, very important in my development as a spider biologist. Most of my mentors were established professional spider biologists but I have also found mentors among my fellow students and even among some of the students whom I have taught and to whom I have been a mentor. Knowledge and inspiration do not always come from those with more experience.

What do you do as a research associate with the Royal BC Museum?

My fellow Royal BC Museum spider aficionados and I are documenting the many different types of spiders found in the province. Throughout the year, but especially in the summer months, we travel to  interesting habitats around the province to collect spiders. During the fall, winter and early spring we focus on laboratory work identifying and cataloguing the thousands of mostly very tiny spiders that we have collected. The field work is always a great deal of fun (and always over too soon), but the lab work is hugely interesting and fun, too. Almost every day we identify spiders that have never been found before in British Columbia or Canada, or are entirely new to science.

Why did you want to become a scientist and a museum curator?
Luckily for me, I grew up among the beautiful lakes, grasslands and pine-clad hills of the Okanagan Valley in southern BC. My family loved the natural world and we eagerly explored and studied the plants and animals of the Valley. My Dad worked at the Agriculture Canada Research Station in Summerland, so I grew up among all sorts of biologists and other scientists working on interesting problems. They let me hang out in their labs when I was a kid.

I loved museums from an early age and fell under the spell of the identification handbooks of the Provincial Museum. I decided that museum life combined all my interests and that’s where I wanted to work – so here I am!

How did you become an scientist and curator?

The path to a museum job began when I was really young, before I went to high school. In my summer holidays during university, I worked as a Park Naturalist in BC Parks, talking to tourists, leading nature walks, and making displays. I learned a lot about the natural world and how to inspire people about it. Good museum training!

At the University of BC I studied biology and loved the entomology (study of insects) courses taught by Dr Geoff Scudder, who became a mentor. He supervised me as a masters student. To this day, he and I work on insect projects together.

Aiming to get a job at the Royal BC Museum (it was called the BC Provincial Museum then), I worked hard to get useful experience – I wrote a museum handbook on BC dragonflies, I produced exhibits for various museums, I collected lots of insects and wrote about them, I got to know many entomologists. When my dream job appeared, I was ready to go! Later, I earned a PhD, which helped me be a better curator.

What does an entomology curator do? 

My usual research asks questions such as: What species is this? Has it been found before? Where do these species live and how, over millions of years, did they get there? How are all these species related? How did they evolve? It’s all a fascinating puzzle and the research involves a lot of detective work. Thousands of BC’s insect species are still unknown and I’ve spent much of my career helping to build the Royal BC Museum insect collection so that everyone can learn more about this big part of BC’s natural world. I love field work, and finding insects has taken me to the far corners of the province –and the world! Identifying specimens and organizing them in the collection is a crucial and time-consuming task. But studying insects is not everything – a curator must tell people about all those discoveries. So writing and speaking about insects, as well as helping produce exhibits about them, takes up a lot of my time.

What have you learned from working with insects?

I love learning about insects and the unbelievable lives that they lead. Their complexity and  mind-boggling variety excite me and give me an all-consuming appreciation of this huge group of marvellous organisms with which we share the earth. I have collected insects, photographed them, talked and written about them. Curiosity and the thirst for knowledge, not fancy labs and equipment, are the basis for good science and a museum curator’s work.

Why do you do what you do?
I am deeply inspired to continue uncovering the history of my Black ancestors because I have become aware in later years that the history I have had access to is not complete without it. I have found that one narrative has been prioritized and valorized. But, this is not because it is more valuable, or worse, because other histories don’t exist, as has often been told, but because less light is shone on those histories and less importance afforded them. I do not want that to be my reality, or one for the learners I encounter, so I make my efforts at uncovering what history I can.

What is your background and training?
I studied Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto, with a specialization in African Politics, and minors in East Asian Studies and Spanish. I went on to study film at various institutions and gained training at various professional organizations and while working in the industry.

My first job in university was at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation a year after its founding. I was co-chair of the University of Toronto branch of the literacy organization, Frontier College. I have worked globally from France and Helsinki in Europe to Colombia, where I taught corporate English and Togo, West Africa, where I led business workshops for women members of a microfinance collective

In addition, I have honed my teaching skills as my main service at my small company, B-kwe Company, where I create and teach my own curriculum related to the global African diaspora and languages. I have also written on various topics related to the African diaspora for my family’s newspaper, Pride News Magazine, since the age of 12, as well as for other community newspapers based in Toronto, Ontario.

Tom Morton is the former coordinator of the BC Heritage Fairs and still serves as a director. He taught at the high school and university levels for more than 30 years in Kabala (Sierra Leone), Montreal and Vancouver. He is the author of numerous articles and books on education. Tom has received the British Columbia Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award, the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Kron Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education.

Why did you want to become a history teacher?
As a child I was curious about stories: how my mum came here alone on a free train ticket from Winnipeg; why there was a gas mask in our attic. As an adult I love a good story but I also like to peel back the cover to see how the story was constructed. 

How did you become a history teacher?

Certainly through course work and teacher training, but mostly through on-the-job learning. There is a saying that one learns history by doing history—formulating questions, looking at evidence and the like. I became a history teacher by doing history teaching—preparing lesson content and teaching strategies, studying student responses, planning with colleagues and more of the countless things that teachers do.

Why did you want to become a historian?
History has always intrigued me – I’ve wondered how people lived and acted, how the past informs the present, what utensils people used and what clothes people wore (and how it felt to wear those clothes). I’ve been especially interested in what people in the past thought and assumed (what they unconsciously accepted as normal, like social class, gender roles and perceptions of nature) about their lives and times.

How did you become a curator?
During and after my doctoral studies, my years teaching in American universities strengthened my belief in the importance of diversity and historical education, and my commitment to public outreach. My position as a curator at the Royal BC Museum is a remarkable opportunity to work with scholars and professionals in public outreach, educational programming and exhibits.

What does a curator do?
To curate means to care for. My job involves caring for, developing, displaying, studying and sharing our museum’s history collections and our province’s history. My work can be divided into three major areas: research, collection development and interpretation, and outreach.

I conduct research on the artifacts in our history collections to find out the stories behind them, and how these stories connect to our provincial, national and global history. I also evaluate donations to the Royal BC Museum’s history collection and make short-term and long-term plans and arrangements to acquire new items. And, to provide content and context for major exhibits, I select artifacts and write their stories.

My outreach activities include writing articles, giving lectures and doing tours for various groups, in order to share information about BC’s history and cultural diversity, our collections and our exhibits.  I also respond to inquiries from the public and participate in conferences and community and scholarly projects.

Why did you want to become a palaeontologist?

I was one of those kids that was super into dinosaurs, and I  just never grew out of that phase! I loved visiting museums and reading about new dinosaur discoveries. I’m also part of the “Jurassic Generation” of palaeontologists who took inspiration from the original Jurassic Park film – even though it’s a Hollywood movie, it showed a lot of the new ways of thinking about dinosaurs as active, dynamic animals closely related to birds. During my undergraduate degree, I knew that I really wanted to spend my career doing palaeontological research.

How did you become a palaeontologist?

I had really supportive parents, teachers, and professors who helped me along the way to becoming a palaeontologist. I have a bachelor of science in earth sciences and biology from Dalhousie University, a masters and a PhD in systematics and evolution from the University of Alberta, and spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and at the Royal Ontario Museum. For up-and-coming palaeontologists out there, I’d recommend trying out lots of different science classes in addition to biology and geology, because palaeontology uses many different branches of science to answer research questions, everything from chemistry to physics to statistics and more. I also spend a lot of my time writing and being able to sketch the bones I study helps a lot. Finally, being comfortable in the great outdoors is a great set of skills to have as well, because my fieldwork often takes me to remote environments where I spend time hiking, shoveling, pickaxing and carrying heavy rocks!

What does a curator of palaeontology do?

Like other curators, my job has three main goals: to study specimens in our collection, to add new specimens to the collection, and to tell the stories of those specimens in different ways. My research focuses on dinosaurs and those are the animals I know best, but I think all fossils are interesting. The research I do at the museum is usually published in scientific journals, but I also share this research by contributing to new displays and exhibits at the museum, and by giving public talks, tours or workshops. Sometimes I’m asked to help out as a consultant for dinosaur documentaries, or even video games! I give advice to other researchers about the laws around fossil protection in British Columbia and help identify new specimens donated to the museum by people from across BC. I also go out into the field and collect new fossils myself!

What have you learned from working with fossils?

The fun thing about working with fossils is that you get to explore the evolution of life on earth in a really big way – some of the fossils in our collection are more than 500 million years old! (Although most of the ones I work on are a bit younger, more like 100 to 66 million years old.) My research includes things like identifying new dinosaur species and seeing how those species are related to each other, figuring out how armour and weapons evolve in different kinds of animals, and understanding why certain groups of dinosaurs are found in some places and not others. I’m really excited about exploring British Columbia to find more bones from dinosaurs and other animals that lived alongside them. Dinosaurs are still pretty rare in our province, but there is lots of potential for finding new specimens if we look hard enough!