The Canadian Museum of Nature is connecting to ORION and CANARIE. By joining ORION, the Museum taps into a global pool of researchers, scientists, educators, and students, increasing research opportunities and supporting advanced educational programs.

As Canada's museum of natural history and natural sciences, the Canadian Museum of Nature strives to connect people with nature. Located in Ottawa, it promotes awareness and understanding of the natural environment through the development of permanent and travelling exhibitions, public education programs, active scientific research, and the maintenance of a 10-million-specimen collection.

"We're excited to be part of this growing network," says Joanne DiCosimo, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Nature. "Not only does this increase our ability to reach out to audiences across the country, it offers new opportunities to work with partners on many levels."

The Museum has been piloting Web-based tools and applications to enhance its public outreach and educational programs. These include online specimen records and the Agora Research Initiative, an online collection of lesson plans on climate change and the Arctic. Videoconference programs for schools allow students to remotely visit the museum's research labs and collections facilities and converse with museum scientists, making the museum more accessible to greater numbers of students.

"ORION is proud to support and enhance the Canadian Museum of Nature's delivery of educational programs to students and to increase opportunities for cross-institutional, collaborative research," says ORION President/CEO Phil Baker. "This is truly an exciting development."

Read the news release.

Learn more about the Museum at www.nature.ca.