Canadian Museum of Nature launches Character Foundation to assistance investigate and discovery in the organic sciences for a sustainable long run

OTTAWA, Oct. 07, 2020 (World NEWSWIRE) — The Canadian Museum of Nature, Canada’s countrywide museum of natural record and normal sciences, embarked on a daring new system right now with the launch of the Nature Basis. This independent charitable entity will speed up the impact of the museum’s planet-class scientific collections, study things to do, and education initiatives through philanthropic investments.

Backed by initial guidance of close to $4 million in complete gifts, the Nature Foundation will empower the museum to keep on its important perform sharing awareness with a network of world collaborators and associates that guideline science-based mostly choices on environmental alter (specially in the Arctic), species variety, and conservation.

The Foundation’s assistance will enable coach early-job scientists and collections authorities, and foster deeper understanding and appreciation of nature amid Canadians—all as the earth faces increasingly urgent threats as recently described by the UN Conference on Organic Variety.

“When you aid the Mother nature Basis, you join a generous, remedies-concentrated community in advancing reality-based mostly science through vital funding that empowers the museum’s academic, collections and study initiatives,” claims Rob Crosbie, Chair of the Mother nature Basis Board. “We should produce a world where men and women have an understanding of and price nature.”

Three important gifts are getting announced as aspect of the launch. These aim on mineral discovery and investigation teaching of youthful scientists, learners and collections professionals and expanding the museum’s capability for Arctic exploration:

• The Foundation is supporting the museum’s new acquisition of the world’s most effective selection of minerals from Mont Saint-Hilaire in Quebec. Extra than 1,000 of the specimens have been specified of “national importance” by the Canadian Cultural Residence Export Assessment Board. The minerals had been amassed above decades by Gilles Haineault, a passionate mineral collector from Beloeil, Quebec, who built the museum’s milestone acquisition considerably a lot more available by donating $1.05 million in-type toward its $4.5 million worth. Mont Saint-Hilaire is a person of the most renowned mineralogical environments in the globe, wealthy in uncommon elements that maintain immense exploration price. The selection will provide fresh new insights about the Earth’s framework, expose new mineral species, encourage and train future earth scientists, and be employed to help superior being familiar with of exceptional-aspect natural methods, and mineral literacy.
  • “I realized that the finest way to protect the assortment for foreseeable future generations was to give it to the Canadian Museum of Character, a reliable countrywide establishment that will use it for significant research and training. I’m enthusiastic to see what new species the museum discovers as a consequence of the selection, and possibly even new mineral uses.” – Gilles Haineault

• The Hatch Mineral Sciences Discovery Fund is a $1 million financial investment in scientific schooling and fieldwork for the next era of collections-primarily based researchers at the museum, focussed on earth sciences. 
  • “Hatch and the Canadian Museum of Nature share a mutual fascination in producing optimistic transform and a vibrant foreseeable future for our pure entire world. We’re proud to help palms-on training and fieldwork for emerging scientists who are passionate about mineral discovery.” – John Bianchini, Hatch Chairman & CEO

• Brookfield endowed $500,000 in two money to support the mentorship of undergraduate pupils in collections-centered study and to advance the museum’s Arctic discipline research, which is essential to learning biodiversity in a aspect of the earth exactly where local climate modify is possessing extraordinary outcomes.

These presents establish on The Ross Beaty Family’s transformative 2017 gift of $4 million to the museum for biodiversity investigation and species discovery. Particular person, corporate, and institutional supporters and associates of the Character Foundation also include Osisko Mining Inc., the Lassonde Institute at the College of Toronto, the Kenneth M. Molson Basis, Robert D. Cudney/Northfield Money Corp., the Globe and Mail, and Deloitte. Supplemental support is currently being been given from the customers of the Foundation’s newly formed Board of Directors, a team of distinguished business leaders and visionaries across Canada who collectively contributed pretty much $500,000 and are dedicated to the museum’s mission.

“We are grateful to the Mother nature Foundation’s founding supporters and associates. Historically a very small fraction of philanthropy has long gone to mother nature and this should adjust. Character is central to our future—the connections between wholesome individuals and a nutritious world turn out to be much more obvious each working day,” mentioned Meg Beckel, the Canadian Museum of Nature’s President and CEO. “We all require to get driving character now, and the Character Basis guarantees the transformative investments essential to guidance the museum’s loaded legacy of discovery, study, and instruction.  These investments will assist generate our shared vision of a sustainable organic foreseeable future.”

The Mother nature Foundation is trying to get philanthropic assist from men and women, companies, foundations and establishments that care about mother nature and want to have international affect by fostering answers for a sustainable long term. The Foundation’s strategic priorities align with people of the museum and concentrate on analysis initiatives, fieldwork, instructional outreach, scientific products, all-natural useful resource literacy, digitization of collections, the Beaty Centre for Species Discovery, the Centre for Arctic Expertise and Exploration, the Scientific Training System and the Northern Voices Fund.

For more information about the Nature Basis, visit foundation.character.ca.

The Foundation directors are Rob Crosbie, C.M., (Chair), St. John’s, NL  Warren Bell, Oakville, ON Don Bubar, Toronto, ON Margo Crawford, Ottawa, ON Matt Creager, Halifax, NS Mark Dockstator, Toronto, ON Sean Finn, Montreal, QC Glenn Ives, Vancouver, BC Alexandria Marcotte, Toronto, ON Robyn Seetal, Calgary, AB the Hon. Monte Solberg, P.C., Calgary, AB Pleasure Romero Calgary, AB Shilpa Tiwari, Toronto, ON and Michelle Valberg, Ottawa, ON.                                                                

Information for media:
Dan Smythe
Head, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Character
613.698.9253 (cell)
dsmythe@character.ca

John Swettenham
Chief Internet marketing Officer
Canadian Museum of Character
613-868-8277
jswettenham@mother nature.ca