UBC opens $45M Beaty Biodiversity Centre expansion to tackle extinction crisis

Media are invited to attend the UBC Biodiversity Research Centre open house celebrating the completion of the new Beaty Biodiversity Centre’s $45 million extension.

The extension includes fossil storage for the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, a native plant pollinator garden, and expanded research spaces.

“Biological diversity is under threat everywhere,” says Dr. Mary O’Connor, Biodiversity Research Centre (BRC) director and zoology professor. “This new extension is aimed at supporting the collaborations, at UBC and beyond, that are building solutions to this global challenge.”

Up to one million species are threatened with extinction due to widespread deforestation and other human activities, according to the United Nations.

Biodiversity is important for our food systems and livelihoods, our health, and more. “Canadians care about biodiversity and Canada has made international commitments to preventing its loss,” said Dr. O’Connor. “The problem is bigger than any one person can deal with, so collaboration is vital.”

The expansion provides a state-of-the-art space for teaching, research and public engagement.

Events for media:

Pollinator garden tour

Tour the new pollinator garden as well as mature examples of pollinator-friendly plants. Learn how protecting pollinators can protect human health, with research assistant Tyler Kelly.

Biodiversity lessons from fossils

Take a behind-the-scenes peek at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum fossil lab, where ancient remnants of insects and plants show biodiversity through time, changing climates and the movement of the earth. Explore the past and learn lessons for the future with Dr. Bruce Archibald, curator of paleontology collections.

Play with (surprisingly cute) millipedes

Handle the first species of millipede to be raised in a lab – but don’t scare them or they’ll spray a cyanide-based stench in defense. Learn why the Bruce lab will be the first to sequence their genome and why these surprisingly cute creatures are your garden’s friend. 

Positive side of cannibalism

Discover why flour beetles are the perfect ecological system at the Germain lab – and how eating one’s own children or each other’s limbs can conserve energy in tough times.

Research showcase

Reporters are also welcome to attend TED-style talks by BRC researchers in a research showcase symposium following the open house. Details, including talk titles, location and times, are available here.

Media interested in attending should RSVP to alex.walls@ubc.ca

Event: BRC open house

Date/Time: Wednesday, Sep. 17 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Location: Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre extension, 2212 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 (map)

Parking: UBC Health Sciences parkade, 2250 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 map

Interview opportunities:

• Dr. Mary O’Connor, BRC director
• Tyler Kelly, research assistant
• Dr. Bruce Archibald, curator of paleontology collections
• Dr. Heather Bruce, assistant professor, and Alexandra Weber, master’s student
• Dr. Rachel Germain, associate professor

Assignment editors: Event starts at 10 a.m. sharp

B-roll and images are available upon request