New mineral museum exhibits include giant “jelly-roll” and dinosaur named George

UBC’s opened its newest on-campus museum on June 19.
The Pacific Museum of the Earth is a merger of the Pacific
Mineral Museum, formerly located on W. Hastings St., and
the university’s M.Y. Williams Geological Museum.

The merged 30,000-piece collection is the only one of it’s
kind in B.C. and includes spectacular samples of rocks, mineral
and fossils from all over the world and a six-metre-long
Lambeosaurus named George. Other showpieces include a sparkling
seven-foot amethyst “tube”, a giant “jelly-roll” sedimentary
structure, and ancient gizzard stones.

Eventually, the museum will also house an interactive tornado
machine, a seismic centre, and several oceanography displays.
Also being developed is a resource centre for K-12 and undergraduate
educators. It will contain AV equipment, curriculum-based
displays, lesson plans, samples and other reference materials
and will be a place where teachers can bring their students
to learn about Earth Sciences.

The museum is located on the main floor of the Earth and
Ocean Science Building, 6339 Stores Road, and is open to
the public Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is
free. For more information, contact museum curator Kirsten
Parker at 604.822.6992.

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