Beaty Biodiversity Museum

UBC's Beaty Biodiversity Museum was included in the Georgia Straight's 2013 Best of Vancouver as the “Best Collection of Weird Things in Drawers,” and that pretty much sums up the museum. This hidden gem, which opened on the UBC campus in 2010, is “An interactive library with lots of hands-on opportunities and experiences. We're engaging, we're telling stories and making science accessible to the public. When you visit us, you can let your curiosity curate your experience,” says marketing, communications and events coordinator, Mairin Kerr.

Mairin goes on to say: “It's important to understand our place in the world, to inspire an understanding of biodiversity, its origin and its importance to humans. We champion a greater sense of collective responsibility for our biodiversity.”

The Beaty does that by focusing on the positive rather than the negative. “We're a stop-and-smell-the-roses place,” Mairin explains. With its positive, inspiring approach to the natural world, the museum focuses on all the amazing things that nature does and is capable of. “We want people to fall in love with biodiversity, fall in love with the natural world and become advocates for it.”