Royal Ontario Museum Blog
Monthly Archive: December
Biodiversity Series wins award!
The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects recognized the City of Toronto Biodiversity Series of booklets with their Service to the Environment award. The award is “In recognition of the recipient’s ongoing contribution in supporting sensitive, sustainable stewardship of the environment.”
Age Before Beauty: The Acasta Gneiss and Jack Hills Conglomerate
Submitted by Vincent Vertolli, Assistant Curator Geology
The Jack Hills Conglomerate, a 3,000 million year old sedimentary rock from which the oldest, at 4,200 million years, terrestrial minerals have been found. The Jack Hills Conglomerate occurs in the Mt. Narryer and Jack Hills area of Western Australia.
Dr. A. P. Coleman (1852-1939)
![Dr. A. P. Coleman’s geological map of Toronto. Published in 1913. Geological Map of Toronto](https://www.rom.on.ca/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/blog_post/thumbnail/coleman-map.jpg?itok=P1lK6Clk)
Submitted by Vincent Vertolli, Assistant Curator Geology
Profile of a ROM Conservator
Working tirelessly behind the scenes, ROM Conservators help protect our collections from damage and restore objects to their previous splendor. Ok. Maybe we’re generalizing a bit, so we went right to the source and asked Cathy Stewart, Manager of Conservation, a few questions to help uncover what Conservators really do at the ROM.
Building Blocks of the ROM
Submitted by Vincent Vertolli, Assistant Curator Geology
Growing Collections: East Asian and South Asian Photography
Photograph of educated man in his study by W. H. Grant, gelatin silver print, China, c. 1900. ROM 2011.79.20. Gift in memory of Rev. Dr. William Harvey Grant and Dr. Susannah McCalla Grant, M. D.
Chocolate – The Food of the Gods
Following up on our last blog – not all chocolate is the bitter kind born of child labour and greedy corporations. ChocoSol Traders is a small, ecological and inter-community initiative between farmers in Chiapas, Mexico, sustainable technologists based out of Oaxaca City, Mexico and horizontal traders and chocolatiers in Toronto.
Meteorite of the month: Springwater pallasite
The world's largest specimen of the Springwater pallasite meteorite.
Mineral of the month: serandite
World's largest twinned serandite crystal.
A Rare and Beautiful Bird
![barn_owl_steve_brace A closer look at a living barn owl perched.](https://blog.rom.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/barn_owl_steve_brace.jpg)
Their distinctive heart-shaped face actually helps improve their hearing. With lop-sided ears, they can easily pinpoint prey with sound alone. Photo by Steve Brace