Explore UBC's science museums from home

As our campus prepares to undergo a full scale recovery of what was once a vibrant array of attractions, it wouldn’t hurt to have a taste of what we’ve been missing out on from the comfort of our own homes. File Geoff Lister

Whether you frequented UBC’s museums pre-quarantine or kicked yourself over another year of forgetting to take advantage of things to do on campus, we’ve prepared a virtual guide to serve as a prelude to the in-person activities we’re all so desperate to experience again.

As campus prepares to undergo a full-scale recovery of it’s vibrant array of attractions, it wouldn’t hurt to have a taste of what we’ve been missing out on, from the comfort of our own homes.

Pacific Museum of Earth

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The Pacific Museum of Earth offers a full-screen 3D interactive environment to let you explore its exhibits. It features colour-coded targets that allow you to read, hear or watch as if you had walked through its front doors. You can allow the virtual tour to walk you through the exhibits until you find something that catches your eye, or snoop around at your own pace. Be sure to check out the OmniGlobe — Canada’s first display of animated planetary visualizations open to the public and one of the museum’s most popular exhibits. Play around with the display and see for yourself how planets, weather, ocean currents and everything else earthly are animated to project the phenomenal atmospheric harmony our planet has to offer.

Beaty Biodiversity Museum

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The Beaty Biodiversity Museum provides online visitors the opportunity to interact with a handful of their exhibits, including the Sturgeon Harpoon Knowledge Web. This exhibit guides visitors through Musqueam traditions of building the sturgeon harpoon — a hunting spear made from materials native to the environment — and the role of plants and animals in synthesizing this reliable and monumental tool. The sturgeon harpoon symbolizes preservation of cultural traditions from past generations as well as a need for access to the environment in order to build the tool as intended. From eagle feathers to sea lion intestines, this exhibit provides a snapshot into the ingenuity of the Musqueam people.

UBC Botanical Garden

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Stuck working at home and need a break from that recorded lecture? UBC Botanical Garden has just the solution! Enjoy a virtual tour of the TreeWalk through a 360 degree recording while reflecting on the significance of gardens in our lives. According to neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, one of two types of non-pharmaceutical therapy found to be vitally important in neurological healing is interaction with gardens. This virtual tour serves as both a reminder of and an exposure to the role of greenery on our mental health. Next time your four walls start to feel a little too grey, navigate over to the virtual TreeWalk and reconnect with one of UBC’s most raw interactions with nature.

Museum of Anthropology

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With current restrictions on air travel, it has become increasingly difficult for students and staff to explore cultures on campus as well as elsewhere in the world. The Museum of Anthropology has opened their virtual doors by providing an online collection of artifacts boasting more than 48,000 objects from nearly every inhabitable region on earth. Navigate over to “explore the globe” and let your curiosity get the best of you. Want to know how colourfully the Andes peoples dressed? Use the advanced search to filter for the civilization of your choice.

No matter how far away you may be from campus right now, you’re only a click away from experiencing what UBC’s museums have to offer!