Buller Greenhouse
The Buller Greenhouse is a facility that has importance that extends far beyond its home in the Department of Biological Sciences. It is a rare educational greenhouse, with diverse collections of plants grown not for their economic value, or aesthetic beauty (although many have these attributes) but for their ability to bring our plant courses to life. The plants here have jobs, helping students understand evolution, anatomy, diversity, physiology, adaptation and many other topics in ways that pictures in a book or on a screen cannot. For the students in plant related courses, having access to this precious resource is akin to studying animals at a University that has a zoo on campus!
It is not just the Department’s students that benefit from the greenhouse, however; it is open to the public most weekday mornings. Inside, visitors are welcome to explore seven themed rooms housing for example, medicinal, carnivorous, desert, or tropical plants. It’s an inspiring place for inquiring, curious minds of all ages and walks of life.
Outreach activities range from offering student-volunteer propagated plants to those wanting to learn about plants and their care, to greenhouse experiences with small children’s groups to large events like Science Rendezvous.
Our Spring and fall plant giveaways are very popular events that attract hundreds of plant enthusiasts, many of whom keep in touch with the activities of the greenhouse through our Facebook page “Friends of the Buller Greenhouse”.
The patio table in the front room is open to those wishing to study, dream, create, relax or meet. Many people feel something special when in the presence of this abundance and diversity of plant life, and so the greenhouse is a favourite destination of writers, visual artists and musicians. Thanks to the Faculty of Science’s investment in the collection, there is always something new, unusual and exciting germinating!
Contact: Carla Zelmer, Manager or visit our Facebook page.
Eureka Centre
Our new dedicated state-of-the-art space for hands-on science. What will you discover? For more information please visit this the Eureka Centre page.
Lockhart Planetarium and Ewan Campus Observatory
The Lockhart Planetarium, in University College, seats 60 people inside its eight-meter dome and uses a Spitz A3P star projector. The modest size of the planetarium makes it an excellent teaching facility ideally suited in preparing first year astronomy students for observing the night sky. Other presentations in the planetarium provide enrichment material not only for these students but also for students of other disciplines. During any year, however, it is not unusual to find 30 to 40 groups from outside the university community visiting the planetarium, usually comprised of people from mini-university in summer, public schools in winter as well as other community groups. The shows, tailored to the individual group, are interactive and presented live by planetarium personnel.
In December, 2002, the Department of Physics and Astronomy received a generous donation of a 40 cm (16″) Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope from Department of Biological Sciences Head Judy Anderson and her husband Jay. The donation was made on the condition that it be named after Judy’s father, Bruce Ewen. This telescope is housed in a four meter AstroHaven clamshell dome on the roof of University College. The Ewen telescope is equipped with a CCD camera and appropriate filters for use in an urban environment.
Monthly open houses at the Ewen Campus Observatory and the Lockhart Planetarium in University College at the Fort Garry Campus of the University of Manitoba occur on the last Wednesday of the month beginning at sunset – rain or shine! Contact: Danielle Pahud
Manitoba Institute for Materials MIM
The Manitoba Institute for Materials is a state-of-the-art research and training facility specializing in materials and composites characterization. This exciting core facility has been funded through partnerships with SFR, FEI, GE, CIC, Western Economic Diversification, the Province of Manitoba and the University of Manitoba. Our world-class infrastructure is available for use by members, collaborators and industrial partners. Our goal is to support leading edge research and game-changing industrial development.
The facility includes:
• FEI Talos F200X S/TEM
• FEI Nova NanoSEM 450
• FEI Quanta 650 FEG ESEM
• Kratos Axis Ultra XPS
A range of bulk analytical instruments and a dedicated sample preparation laboratory complete the resources available to all users. For more information please visit the MIM website.
WIN Vascular Plant Herbarium
Founded in 1907, the Herbarium of the Department of Biological Sciences (WIN) houses the most extensive and broadly representative collection of plants in Manitoba, approximately 75,000 vascular plants. There is also a reference seed collection. Many of the specimens represent vouchers for various floristic, environmental, and ecological studies carried out by present and former members of the Department and the broader scientific community. Most recently the collections have been used as a source of genetic material for a number of molecular phylogenetic studies, especially those on the systematics of Carex for documenting the distribution and ecology of Manitoba’s rare and endangered plants species, and for providing distributional and taxonomic information for the Flora of North America Project.
Contact: Bruce Ford, Curator or Diana Sawatzky, Assistant Curator or visit our Facebook page.
