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Scientific Training Program
The Canadian Museum of Nature has a diverse and important team of science experts. Our research mission is to conduct and foster research in the field and the laboratory based on natural-science collections. Our area of expertise is species discovery, including work in the Arctic, and takes place in mineralogy, palaeobiology, botany and zoology.
One of our main goals is to enhance scientific expertise. To be most effective with this challenge, we have a scientific training program that includes opportunities for young experts at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels. The program also includes support for students and experts who plan to visit the national collections to further their investigations.
The following are the candidates who are participating in the program for 2017–2018:
Hanna Dorval
Hanna Dorval is from Thunder Bay, Ontario, where she studied forestry at Lakehead University. She recently received a bachelor of science with honours, specializing in forest health and protection. She has a particular interest in lesser-known forest biota such as carnivorous plants, fungi, algae and especially lichens. She is returning to Lakehead in September to begin an M.Sc. in forestry. Her proposed project includes the collection, identification and research of local lichen populations. The scientific training program at the museum will provide Hanna with the most current techniques for studying algae and lichens, which will be useful in her studies.
Pamela Iraheta Muniz
Since her childhood in El Salvador, Pamela Iraheta Muniz has had an interest in geology, which led her to study Earth Sciences at Carleton University, where she is currently a fourth-year student. Pamela's main interests lie in geochemistry and mineralogy. During an internship at the museum, Pamela became aware of our extensive collections, including Martian meteorites and a sample from the moon. This summer, she will receive basic training in mineral research and collection management, which will prepare her for her undergraduate thesis: studying the origin of garnet- and ruby-bearing mantle xenoliths from Pailin, Cambodia.
Christina Jenness
Christina Jenness was born and raised in Ottawa, where she spends her spare time participating in community events and reading books. She has a bachelor of anthropology from Carleton University, an advanced diploma in Applied Museum Studies from Algonquin College, and an Ontario Museum Association Award for Merit. In her preparation for a job in the museum world, Christina recently completed a collections internship at the Royal Ontario Museum. At the Canadian Museum of Nature, she will be a part of the Invertebrate Collections team, where she will learn more about natural sciences in general, as well as natural-history-collections management.
Dawson Ketchen
John Dawson Ketchen is joining the vertebrate collections from Fleming College, Ontario, where he is currently completing a Fish and Wildlife Technician program. He previously graduated from Laurentian University, where he completed a B.Sc. (Honours) in Vertebrate Zoology, with a final-year project on modelling population genetics of small mammal fleas in Algonquin Provincial Park. Dawson has excellent taxonomic skills that he acquired from museums while working on sizeable fluid-preserved bird and lamprey collections. His training will involve every aspect of the cataloguing process of the museum's bird and fish collections, including digitization.
Marisa Livius
Marisa Livius is a fourth year student at Carleton University who is majoring in vertebrate palaeobiology. She will be training with the Palaeobiology Section at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Her training will focus on the fossil collections and will include curatorial support to the National Fossil Collection; 3D scanning; 3D printing; digitization of specimen records, condition reports and related documentation; conventional photography of specimens and the basics of conservation and repair of fossil specimens.
Teresa Neamtz
Born and raised in Ottawa, Teresa Neamtz will be graduating from Algonquin College's Library and Information Technician Program in June 2017. She already holds a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of education from Brock University. Teresa has always had a strong interest in history and the arts, now extended to science through the museum's training program; she hopes to work in special libraries that maintain unique or unusual collections. Through her training, Teresa will contribute to an international biodiversity-literature-digitization consortium. She will also assist in the cataloguing of new library acquisitions and the basic management of the integrated library system while providing reference services.