̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Roz Wade

Connect to nature with '12 Days of Winter Wildlife'

jg533 — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 09:04:06 +0000

̽��ֱ��‘12 Days of Winter Wildlife 2020’ aims to encourage everyone to get involved in spotting wildlife over winter, and helping to look after it.

With fascinating facts, films and activities to do at home, the event - which runs from 1st to 12th December 2020 - is suitable for all ages. Experts will cover a range of topics including how to support garden birds and spot winter visitors, and how to find hibernating insects like butterflies and ladybirds.

“There’s so much we can do to help animals survive the coldest months of the year, and we hope this event will show people how they can enjoy playing their part,” said Professor Rebecca Kilner, Director of the Museum.

With activities such as how to make a winter insect hotel, and a test to find out whether your memory is as good as a squirrel, this celebration of winter wildlife will even share tips on creating animal-inspired gifts.

“There’s a lot more winter wildlife in the UK than you might expect – and we hope this event will not only be educational but a lot of fun,” said Dr Roz Wade, Senior Learning & Engagement Coordinator at the Museum of Zoology.

She added: “Lots of interesting birds can be spotted in the UK at this time of year - and for some, winter in the UK is an escape from much colder conditions further north. And despite some of our native animals going into hibernation, many others stay active through winter – from moths to water birds to foxes and squirrels. Not to mention what’s living in the compost heap.”

‘12 Days of Winter Wildlife’ launches at 4:30pm on 1st December 2020 with a YouTube Live event. Bird expert Rob Jaques from the British Trust for Ornithology will be on hand to answer questions from the public, and there will be a virtual tour of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Botanic Garden wildlife.

To add to the fun, the launch includes a festive sing-along with a wildlife twist. Written by PhD student Kate Howlett and recorded by Museum volunteers, staff & friends, ‘ ̽��ֱ��12 Days of Critters’ will be making its debut at the event.

Films, animal facts, activities and more will be posted daily at 9am on the Museum’s blog.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology, Cambridge is temporarily closed to visitors due to the current lockdown measures. Updates on its opening status will be posted on the Museum’s website and Twitter and Facebook pages.

̽��ֱ��Museum holds one of the largest and most important natural history collections in the UK, with an extraordinarily rich history dating back to 1814. In 2018 it reopened after a five-year, £4.1million redevelopment – including nearly £2 million from ̽��ֱ��National Lottery Heritage Fund – to reveal thousands of incredible specimens from across the animal kingdom, including whales, elephants, a giraffe, giant ground sloth, insects, corals as well as items collected by Charles Darwin.

Researchers and staff at the ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology in Cambridge are getting ready to share their enthusiasm for winter wildlife in a special 12-day online event.

There’s a lot more winter wildlife in the UK than you might expect – and we hope this event will not only be educational but a lot of fun

Roz Wade

12 Days of Winter Wildlife Live Launch

Robin by TeeFarm on Pixabay

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Conservationists gather to mark International Women's Day

ed515 — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 16:08:16 +0000

̽��ֱ��event, jointly organised by the Museum and the Cambridge Conservation Forum’s Women in Conservation Leadership Network, was held to mark International Women’s Day and included a keynote lecture by Professor Rebecca Kilner from Cambridge’s Department of Zoology.

Kilner said; “Events like this are important for showing the next generation that anyone with a spark for science can work in science subjects. They are designed to excite and encourage young people to pursue their interests - and not to be held back by their gender, race or background.”

̽��ֱ��Museum welcomed over 100 visitors to the event, which included ‘meet the scientist’ stalls, a poster exhibition, and a sneak-peek at the newly refurbished Whale Hall.

More than 30 women working in different scientific fields took part, from organisations including the United Nations’ Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the RSPB and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. They were joined by staff and volunteers from the museum, and Cambridge postgraduate students.

Dr Rosalyn Wade, the Museum’s Interpretation and Learning Officer, helped to coordinate the event. She said; “A key role for the Museum is engaging with the public and raising awareness of work in biological and environmental sciences.

“It’s important to raise awareness of the different kinds of careers available in scientific fields. A number of our visitors were GCSE and A-Level students, and it was a great opportunity for them to see the range of roles that might be available to them in the future.

“We also had lots of new mums who are thinking about a career change and were interested to learn more about different areas. It was great to see such a diverse range of people.”

̽��ֱ��Museum has undergone a massive redevelopment, and will officially re-open to the public on 23 June.

Scientists from around the world gathered at the Museum of Zoology yesterday to celebrate and promote the work of women in conservation.

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Symphony of the seas: add your voice to Museum of Zoology project

sjr81 — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 14:18:36 +0000

̽��ֱ��Museum of Zoology is undergoing a major refurbishment and is due to re-open in 2016. A major part of the building works is the construction of a new, glass foyer to house the iconic, 21m long Finback Whale skeleton.

̽��ֱ��Ocean Song project aims to combine natural sounds from the ocean with voices from the public recorded at 20 different workshops. ̽��ֱ��workshops begin this Saturday (November 15) at the Polar Museum in Cambridge and continue throughout 2015.

Award-winning sound artist Chris Watson (known for his work on David Attenborough’s Life series) will lead participants through a surprising world of sound from under the ocean’s waves; from limpets grazing on rocks, to the songs of whales. Then, with the guidance of voice teacher and community choir leader Rowena Whitehead, participants will explore their own voice and the sounds one can make to create a symphony of the oceans; adding voices to the soundscape of the sea that will accompany the museum’s Finback Whale in its new home.

̽��ֱ��workshops will run at venues throughout the region and there is no requirement for participants to be singers. Voices from the community will be recorded and combined with natural sounds of the sea, including recordings of the ocean at Pevensey, to create an atmospheric soundtrack for the new installation. ̽��ֱ��recording will also be available to hear on the Museum’s website.

̽��ֱ��Finback skeleton has been in the Museum’s collection since it was purchased by public subscription in 1866. It was stranded in Normans Bay, Pevensey, Sussex in November 1865, and drew large crowds before being put on display at Hastings Cricket Ground and eventually sold.

̽��ֱ��Ocean Song project gets under way this Saturday at ̽��ֱ��Polar Museum where Chris Watson and Rowena Whitehead will explore the sounds of the sea, and participants will be encouraged to create an ocean symphony with their own voices.

Dr Rosalyn Wade, Interpretation and Learning Officer at the Museum of Zoology, said: “This is a chance to discover the amazing diversity of sounds under the ocean surface. These include some of the loudest sounds on the planet, sounds used as weapons, and the incredible impact of vibrations in seawater. Members of the public will hear the noises made by limpets as they graze in rockpools, stridulating shrimps and humpback whale singing.

“ ̽��ֱ��Finback Whale skeleton at the Museum of Zoology is such an iconic and inspiring specimen, it is wonderful to be able to create an atmosphere fit for such a creature, and to give a new experience to visitors to the museum. I’d like to encourage as many people as possible to take part and add their voice to the sound of the sea.”

̽��ֱ��workshops are free and open to all (aged eight and upwards). Places are limited and booking is required. To book a place, email umzc@zoo.cam.ac.uk. After the launch workshop, further workshops will take place from January – June 2015, and the sound installation in the Whale Hall will open in autumn 2015. Progress on the project will be published on the museum’s dedicated blog: www.oceansongproject.wordpress.com

̽��ֱ��project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and a Grant for the Arts from Arts Council England. ̽��ֱ��launch workshop is part of Curating Cambridge: our city, our stories, our stuff; five weeks of culture and creativity across Cambridge, presented by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge Museums.

Members of the public are being asked to contribute to a symphony of the seas as part of a project to create a soundtrack for the new Whale Hall at the Museum of Zoology.

̽��ֱ��Finback Whale skeleton at the Museum of Zoology is such an iconic and inspiring specimen.

Roz Wade

image courtesy of Nicholas Hare Architects

What the new Whale Hall will look like once completed

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Pre-closure celebrations at the Museum of Zoology

amb94 — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:52:42 +0000

̽��ֱ��Museum was awarded initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the ‘Animals Galore – preserving and safeguarding diversity’ project in January 2013. ̽��ֱ��project aims to completely refurbish the display spaces of the Museum, to create a Learning Space and School Room and to build new Stores with more space, state-of-the-art preservation conditions and guided public access. ̽��ֱ��project aims to display and illuminate the history of animal life. New interpretation will tell some of the stories behind the collections and the people associated with them, such as Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Hugh Edwin Strickland and Hugh Cott. It will also explore the science behind the understanding of animal diversity and the threats to it, and explain how the community of conservation scientists in Cambridge are seeking to preserve biodiversity.

Visit the museum before the transformation begins. Saturday June 1st is the last day the museum will be open to the public until 2016. Visit between 11 and 4 for free hands on activities, behind the scenes tours, story telling and more. Add a butterfly to the swarm of monarch butterflies in the galleries, make your own museum specimen to take home with you, have a go at being a museum curator and hear stories about the amazing Finback Whale skeleton that hangs above the museum.

During the May half term holidays the Museum will be hosting a number of events to celebrate the proposed changes set to happen here. ̽��ֱ��museum will be open on Bank Holiday Monday 27th May from 11-4. On Tuesday 28th and Thursday 30th May from 11-12 and 2-3 interactive gallery talks will take place in the museum: ̽��ֱ��Animal Awards. Hear the nominations and vote for the animals you think are the spookiest, most disgusting, most surprising or with the best adaptation. There will also be activity packs available all week with museum trails and other activities, and chances for you to tell us your museum favourites.

“ ̽��ֱ��Museum of Zoology is wonderful space, full of beautiful specimens from mammal skeletons to mollusc shells. We are excited about the proposed changes to the museum, and the opportunity to refresh the displays to showcase the amazing collections held here. ̽��ֱ��new learning space will give us the capacity to teach groups in the museum and, when not being used for school groups, the space for more interactive displays. These celebrations in May will give people the chance to enjoy the museum before it closes, and to have their say about what they like about and would like to see in the museum.” (Roz Wade, Education and Outreach Officer)

̽��ֱ��museum will have an active outreach programme while it is closed, details of which will be available on the website (www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk) and through its facebook page. There are also projects allowing digital access to the collections, including the Animal Bytes blog telling stories behind the collections (www.animalbytescambridge.wordpress.com).

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� Museum of Zoology, Cambridge will be closed to the public from June 2nd 2013. Subject to planning permission, the museum will be undergoing a major redevelopment.

These celebrations in May will give people the chance to enjoy the museum before it closes, and to have their say about what they like about and would like to see in the museum

Roz Wade

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