Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
ROM Celebrates National Aboriginal Day!
![Reconciliation through Participation at the National Aboriginal Day at the ROM. Welcome table outside entrance to the event.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/opening_nad.jpg?itok=UsTPl-ao)
On June 21st, the ROM Learning Department began National Aboriginal Day celebrations with a cleansing ceremony using Sweet Grass to start the day off in a good, positive way led by Justin Chiblow, Kiowa Wind Memorial Indigenous Youth Intern.
Visit #ChihulyTO BEFORE we open!
![](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/img_5216.jpg?itok=4lo3Tgui)
Our next #emptyROM in in #ChihulyTO!
The A Third Gender exhibition and LGBTQ community workshop
By Asato Ikeda
On January 23 this year, the A Third Gender exhibit team and the Mark Bonham Center for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto co-hosted two workshops with members of Toronto’s LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer) community. We invited educators, social workers, and political activists, and I gave a presentation on the exhibition, which was followed by a discussion session.
BioBlitz at the Edge of Beringia
![The Northern Lights over Fish Lake near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Photo by Anthony DeLorenzo via Wikimedia Commons The Northern Lights over Fish Lake near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Photo by Anthony DeLorenzo via Wikimedia Commons](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/640px-fish_lake_aurora_8168665312_0.jpg?itok=_V56BSv9)
Blog by Stacey Lee Kerr, Biodiversity Storyteller / Creative Producer for the ROM's Centre for Biodiversity
What makes the Yukon a special place for the Biological Survey of Canada to conduct a bioblitz?
LGBT Japan: Past, Present, Future
As Toronto Pride rolls in with the same flamboyance as the summer heat, A Third Gender: Beautiful Youths in Japanese Prints is worth checking out - it’s current; it’s relevant and it’s air conditioned.
Behind the Blitz: Become the Biodiversity
![Come dressed as your best Ontario biodiversity at this year's Ontario BioBlitz NatureFest! Photo by Fatima Ali Four children stand with monarch wing costumes in front of an exhibit in the Schad Gallery at the ROM. Photo by Fatima Ali](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/costume_contest_bioblitz-2016-2-rom-blog.jpg?itok=d-Z261ts)
Blog by Stacey Lee Kerr, Biodiversity Storyteller / Creative Producer for the ROM's Centre for Biodiversity
At this year's Ontario BioBlitz, things are set to get a little wild... we've invited everyone to dress up as their favourite Ontario Species for our NatureFest Costume Contest. But what does it take to win a fabulous prize? Inside, in the final installment of our Behind the Blitz blog series, we've got some tips for how to come out on top, and "become the biodiversity"!
New to ROM: Nao Uda, Words Fail Me, 2013-15
![Photo of a pair of hands holding a handwritten book. The entry reads: Dear George, Words fail me. Yours truly, Kaye Uda.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/naouda_jccc.jpg?itok=VHyon8w_)
Nao Uda, born in Yokohama in 1983, is a contemporary Japanese artist who works in drawings, photography, and paintings.
Behind the Blitz: The Heart of the Data
![Angela hard at work at the 2015 Ontario BioBlitz! Photo by Stacey Lee Kerr Angela Telfer, database coordinator for the Ontario BioBlitz program sits hard at work at a computer in the middle of the species depot during the 2015 event. Photo by Stacey Lee Kerr](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2015-06-13_slk-34.jpg?itok=xM6EHVnG)
Guest blog by Angela Telfer, the Data Management Lead for Bio-Inventory and Collections Unit of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO), and Database Coordinator for the Ontario BioBlitz program
Ever wonder what happens to all those observations made at the Ontario BioBlitz? Where do your species lists and iNaturalist observations go? Angela has those answers and some tips for making sure that everyone's hard work collecting data in the field is preserved and accessible to everyone for years to come.
A New Dino Stamp Series
![Celebrate Canadian dinosaurs with this Souvenir Sheet Official First Day Cover, part of the second issue in the Dinos of Canada series. Acrotholus audeti – This small dinosaur possessed a skull bearing a 10-centimeter thick dome of solid bone over the eyes. The bipedal herbivore may have used the dome to butt heads with other members of its species. It inhabited the then coastal lowlands of Alberta about 85 million years ago.](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/stamp_bonehead_dino.jpg?itok=OFFCh5iQ)
Named in 2013 by David C. Evans (Royal Ontario Muserum) and Michael J. Ryan (Cleveland Museum of Natural History), the Acrotholus audeti is one of five dinosaurs featured in Canada Post's new "Dinos of Canada" stamp series.
Behind the Blitz: Eye to Eye with a Bat
![Saskia peers into the eyes of a bat held by ROM Mammalogist Burton Lim. This photo sits at home in a cherished spot on her family's mantle. Photo by Kendra Marjerrison A young girl named Saskia peers closely at the bat being held in the hands of ROM mammalogist Burton Lim. The scene is illuminated by headlamp. Photo by Kendra Marjerrison](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/2015-06-13-bioblitz_kendra_marjerrison-16-16x9.jpg?itok=-HiGyRrq)
Blog by Environmental Visual Communication alumnus / Ontario BioBlitz Communications Assistant Fatima Ali
The second of four blogs in our Ontario BioBlitz: Behind the Blitz series introduces us to Saskia, a ten-year-old natural history enthusiast who was a participant in the Guided Blitz at the 2015 Don Watershed Ontario BioBlitz event. Watch a video about her experience as she follows ROM mammalogist Burton Lim into the woods with her group to capture and identify some bats!