Politics » Biodiversity in Focus Blog

An Open Letter to The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau

Nov 092016

To: The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada, Ottawa

Last night we watched as our neighbour and closest ally elected someone who everyone predicted was unelectable. Someone who centred their campaign on lies, bigotry, and fear; of others, of science, of reality. We watched as state after state after state endorsed these messages with their votes, and we wondered together how this could happen, and what do we do next?

What we do next is largely up to you. It’s the job you applied for, the job we elected you for, the job we need you for. Don’t worry, we as a nation of diverse and proud people will be here to provide guidance, and support, as you navigate the intricacies of a world waking up to an outcome that seemed beyond odds only hours before. But we need you to lead.

We need you to lead. We need you to lead here at home, to help us stamp out racism, bigotry, and xenophobia, to not allow these tones to resonate and spread like a mould beneath the surface of our society. We need you to lead for the downtrodden and disadvantaged, the refugees and the first nations, those struggling to survive on thinning dollars and those inspired to study despite growing tuitions. We need you to lead away from home; to advocate for an environment in jeopardy, for decisions based on evidence, not evangelism, and for peace in a world divided. We need you to lead our country, and in turn, make our country a leader.

Now is our chance to lead, together. We can shoulder burdens we’ve allowed others to carry on our behalf. We can lead the shift towards clean energy, towards humanitarian aid and equality, and towards a future we will all be proud to call home. Together, we can overcome the obstacles facing our society. Together, we can set the example of prosperity, equality, and responsibility. Together, we can lead. Together.

Together we’ll face opposition: from people who value individual wealth before global health; from people who fear change more than consequences; from people who have lost hope in a system that has let them down time and time again. But together we can embrace these people, and lead them through a world that is evolving, reminding them that we are all just people. Together.

So, invest in science, but also in art. Bring health care to those who need it, education to those who want it, and security to those who rely on it. Inspire those who can afford to give to do so, and support those who can’t, yet aspire to. Reach out beyond our borders, and don’t bend to belligerence. It won’t be easy of course; leading never is. But we can do it.

Together.

Collections Under Fire – Royal British Columbia Museum

Biology, Entomology, For a Good Cause 4 Responses »

Jan 062015

Natural History Collections are the Libraries of biology. They collect, protect, and maintain the specimens that allow us to understand how the natural world works, and then they make them available for people to use, study and enjoy, usually for free. Every specimen is irreplaceable, a priceless first edition that allows us to explore, interpret and compare the unique ways in which evolution, ecology, and the environment have shaped not only the species we share this planet with, but also ourselves.

Imagine a library without a librarian. What do you suppose would happen? For one, there wouldn’t be any new books added for you to borrow, enjoy, or learn from, so you better like the classics and not be interested in keeping up with the New York Times Bestseller List. That’s assuming of course you can even find the books you’re interested in, because without someone to make sure they’re kept in their proper spot and order maintained, shelves will devolve into chaos, and it won’t be long until insects, microbes, and the environment begin to decompose the entire collection into piles of poorly organized dust.

The same is true for biological collections, only the librarians are called curators. Without a curator, a natural history collection is nothing more than a poorly organized pile of dust in waiting. No museum in their right mind would allow the very core of their existence decompose like this, would they?

The Royal British Columbia Museum is thinking about it. The CEO of the museum, Professor Jack Lohman, is of the mind that the Entomology Collection no longer needs a paid curator, and that the money earmarked for employing one could be better spent elsewhere in the museum. He couldn’t be more wrong.

The last entomology curator, Dr. Robert Cannings (who happens to be a dipterist who did his PhD at the very lab bench that I’m doing mine at now) retired in 2012 after a 32 year career as Curator of Entomology. He has stayed on as Curator Emeritus, but the museum has yet to hire his replacement, and has now publicly stated that they likely won’t.

Let’s return to our library metaphor again for a moment to illustrate how poor, and unprofessional, the decision to let the RBCM entomology collection go without a curator is. According to their website and this information sheet put together by the collection staff (PDF), the entomology collection at the RBCM was established in 1886, and now holds roughly 600,000 specimens. Compare that to the Canadian Library of Parliament, the most prestigious library in Canada that is attached to our Parliament Buildings and which serves as the official repository and resource for our government. It was founded a mere 10 years before the RBCM entomology collection, in 1876, and also houses 600,000 items today. The difference is that Library of Parliament employs 300 people to keep it running and functional, while the Royal British Columbia Museum Entomology Collection currently employs 1 collection manager, and has been deemed undeserving of a curator to maintain its esteemed history.

That is unacceptable.

But it’s not too late. Professor Lohman has agreed to hear arguments for why the entomology curatorship position should be filled, and will delay making a final decision until January 22, 2015.

Natural History Collections matter. Entomology matters. Curators matter. Please join me in letting Professor Lohman know that this is not an issue that should even be negotiated, never mind cut outright. Write him a letter (his address & email are below). Tweet at him using @RoyalBCMuseum and share why museums and the collections they maintain matter to you; tweets including the museum’s Twitter handle seem to go directly onto the front page of the museum website for all to see!

Stand up for entomology research in Canada. Don’t let 129 years of natural heritage turn to dust.

—

Write to:

Prof. Jack Lohman

Chief Executive Officer

Royal British Columbia Museum

675 Belleville St,

Victoria, BC V8W 9W2

JLohman@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

And send a copy to:

Peter Ord: Vice President, Archives, Collections, and Knowledge

POrd@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Beware: Irony Contained Within

Environment, For a Good Cause, Rant No Responses »

Jan 232014

Seeing how Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has suddenly become a bastion for conservation biology, ornithology and science outreach with the announcement that a bird sanctuary has been named in his honour in Israel, I put together a little memento for him to hang in his office. Hopefully it will serve to remind him just how awesome birds and nature are, as long as they aren’t getting in the way of his Albertan oil field development plans, of course.

All kidding aside, the fact that another country thought that it was appropriate to bestow an honorary doctorate on and name a scientific research facility after a man who has been on a not-so-subtle campaign against scientific research & evidence-based policy making in Canada for the past 8 years is an absolute farce.

I guess in the end the joke is on me though. I’m the one spending the prime of my life fighting against the anti-science rhetoric being spewed by my elected officials to earn a PhD the old-fashioned way instead of just dismantling research divisions, field stations and libraries that don’t support my political platform!

Yep, he sure showed me…

Meanwhile, at ESC Blog…

Blogosphere No Responses »

Jul 022012

I’m over at ESC Blog today writing about Canada’s lack of an official insect. I provide a few potentials, but more importantly I want to hear from you about what you think would make a good national insect!

I’m not-so-secretly lobbying for a fly, but I swear I’ll be unbiased in the discussion. Well, I’ll try to be at least.

An Insect for Canada – ESC Blog

Black Out Speak Out

Environment, Rant 6 Responses »

Jun 042012

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s War on Environmental Science

I don’t normally wade into discussing politics because 1) I don’t follow it as closely as perhaps I should and, 2) it can be a pretty controversial topic which can get messy in a hurry. I don’t want to weigh this week’s flypaper down too much, but I feel compelled to share a number of deeply concerning developments in the Canadian government’s recent cuts to environmental research.

The Environmental Lakes Area, a world-class facility studying the affects humans and our products have on freshwater ecosystems, is being closed down.

If we’re not studying the affects of pollution on freshwater ecosystems, I guess we can still keep track of pollutants in marine environments. Wait, you mean that entire department has been cut as well? Oh. (As a slightly ironic aside, even the US media is picking this one up and questioning what the hell Canada is thinking)

Well, certainly our protected terrestrial environments will be studied and Canadian National Parks kept safe. No?! You have got to be kidding me. (It’s not only the natural history aspects of Parks Canada getting cut, it’s also our cultural history.)

Add to this the thousands of jobs cut across the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Environment Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada, and it’s not hard to see that our current government views scientists & environmental research as an inconvenient truth (especially when they don’t tow the party line).

I’m incredibly proud to call Canada my home & native land, but am utterly ashamed of these “cost saving” measures being rapidly pushed through by the Conservative government. These short-sighted cuts will have long-lasting environmental ramifications well beyond the tenure of any political party’s leadership, will tarnish Canada’s reputation as an environmentally-friendly nation, and will hamper our ability to attract new minds to our universities, industries and governments. I have no doubt that in 10-15 years we will look back on this government and wonder “O Canada, what have you done?”

The Weekly Flypaper

Biology, Blogosphere, Insects, Weekly Flypaper 7 Responses »

May 272012

This has been a very busy week for insect news & science, and there are a ton of great things to keep you busy reading all weekend. First though, I need to get something a little broader but incredibly important off my chest.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s War on Environmental Science

The Environmental Lakes Area, a world-class facility studying the affects humans and our products have on freshwater ecosystems, is being closed down.

————

OK, that’s enough doom and gloom for one week. Now onto some bug links!

General Entomology

What would you classify angels as? If you said winged humans, you’re wrong. Clearly they’re insects. And in case you’re interested, the Taxonomy Fail Index for such a gaff is 122.3!

Tardigrades are pretty awesome, but this plush tardigrade by the Weird Bug Lady is way beyond cute!

Ani of Wanderer’s Eye documented the insect fauna of the Northwestern Ghats in India during last year’s monsoon season, and has put together an absolutely stunning e-book/slideshow. Amazing first step to documenting the insects of this poorly studied area; a must read!

Most people are familiar with entomopathogenic fungi in agricultural or tropical ecosystems, but what about in the Arctic? Chris Buddle explains why it’s important that we start learning about it soon.

Not shocking, but enlightening: city street lighting is changing the guild ecology of arthropods.

The Dragonfly Lady has 5 possible reasons why insects are so scarce in the ocean. I tend to follow the “Crustaceans were here first” line of thinking, but some of the other hypotheses are intriguing.

I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard of this project until now, but DrawWing aims to provide insect identifications via automated wing vein comparative analysis. Here’s some more info if you’re interested.

Diptera

It must be nearly summer, the stilt-legged flies are out and about again! Nice pictures of Rainieria antennaepes by Dave Stone at Things Biological.

Debbie Hadley at About.com Insects has a fun ID challenge this week. Think you can solve it?

How many flies are too many in a public bathroom? If you’re in Beijing, apparently 3…

One day I will make it to New Zealand and observe the caves of glow worms myself. Absolutely amazing spectacle, and something I can’t wait to see.

BugGuide.net is an awesome resource for North American insect lovers, and a big reason for that is the willingness of professional taxonomists like Terry Wheeler to contribute their time and knowledge to curating submitted images.

I suppose this great interview of Mohamed Noor is more about academia and evolutionary biology, but he uses fruit flies other than Drosophila/Sophophora melanogaster so I’ll leave it here in the fly files!

Hymenoptera

Bug Girl keeps the heat on the CCD-pesticide-bee health debate.

If you think all bees live in hives and produce honey, you’d best read this excellent primer on solitary bees by Africa Gomez at BugBlog.

Coleoptera

Ted MacRae has a touching tribute to Chuck Bellamy, a world-renowned expert in jewel beetle (Buprestidae) taxonomy, and the latest honorary member of the Coleopterists Society.

A genus of jewel beetles (Melanophila) have infra-red sensing organs more sensitive to forest fires than most man-made devices. Hot stuff!

Warning: this next link contains graphic images of beetles in compromising positions. What are they doing? You’ll just have to click to find out…

Lepidoptera

A lot is said about new digital cameras and their increasingly huge megapixel counts, but BunyipCo shows off the potential for entomology that a high megapixel camera can provide.

Arachnida

Earlier this year, major bank JP Morgan Chase suffered a multi-billion dollar financial meltdown, and it was just revealed that one of the leading causes was the chief executive being out of the office for significant amounts of time while she received treatment for Lyme Disease.

Another week, another stunning photo of a spider. This time by Rick Lieder at Bug Dreams.

Taxonomy/Biodiversity

This past Thursday was Carl Linnaeus’ 305 birthday, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library has a nice biography and a special download gift to help celebrate.

Natural history collections are a wealth of information, but sometimes that information comes in poorly appreciated packages. Like bottles of bird stomach contents cared for by an entomologist.

Other Fun Stuff

Scientific illustration meets comic book hero anatomy. Wicked anatomical drawing by Glendon Mellow.

So it turns out you can perform your own backyard DNA extraction using only the ingredients you’ll find in a strawberry daiquiri served in a soapy glass…