Royal Saskatchewan Museum
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) has been involved in researching and preserving Saskatchewan's natural history for 100 years. Besides its public exhibits on life sciences and earth sciences, it delivers outreach educational programs including the Youth Forum on Sustainability.
First formed in 1906, as the Provincial Museum of Natural History, it had several temporary locations in Regina until the current museum was built as a Golden Jubilee project to mark Saskatchewan's 50th anniversary in confederation. The new building allowed the creation of large-scale dioramas (displays with background paintings) to depict many areas and natural history features of the province.
Since its beginning, the RSM has been involved in many conservation programs, helping to protect the environment and wildlife. In 1929, it began securing information regarding the migration, occurrence, habits and breeding grounds of the Whooping Crane. This was the beginning of a dedicated effort toward the conservation of Whooping Cranes that would last many decades. It also initiated the Canada Goose Nesting Project in Regina's Wascana Marsh in 1953 in response to the dwindling population of the Canada goose. This successful project eventually sent goslings to cities across the continent.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the RSM developed the Prairie Nest Record Scheme to determine trends in population dynamics of many declining bird species. During the 1970s, studies of the effect of DDT on eggshells were initiated to help protect nesting birds such as the Double-Crested Cormorant. The Museum's collections of eggshells collected in the early 20th century, which had never been exposed to DDT, provided a basis for comparison and showed that declining shell thickness resulted into lower survival.
From 1976 to 1991, the Museum conducted a large research program concerning the declining population of White Pelicans. The findings helped to get legislation passed to protect them.
In 1994, a group of volunteers began the Prairie Garden Project. They developed a garden space near the doors to the Museum where native prairie plants could be displayed for the public and the importance of conserving them highlighted.
In 2002, the RSM received the "Outstanding Governmental Agency Award in Environmental Education" from the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM). Its Life Sciences Gallery was recognized for dioramas that illustrate the living heritage of Saskatchewan and for timely Human Factor displays about regional and global environmental issues and the importance of shrinking our ecological "footprints."
The RSM has always had a strong public education component. It has produced 32 Life Sciences educational publications and makes Loan Kits available to teachers on various aspects of natural and human history. Its publications include Life History Sketches of the antelope, barren ground caribou, black bear, grey wolf, coyote, moose, white-tailed deer, and wapiti and books or booklets on amphibians, reptiles, bumblebees, butterflies, birds, trees, shrubs, and wildflowers of Saskatchewan.
Its most recent publication, Can We Live Sustainably?, is dedicated to the late Dr. Stan Rowe who articulated a worldview that would move society onto a sustainable path. It is available as a free download.
The RSM Youth Forum on Sustainability is an annual education program, which brings high school students, teachers, and local experts together to learn about sustainability. Action Teams from schools and community groups have three full-day events at the RSM combined with ongoing projects in their own community. Each 14-month program cycle starts before the previous one ends, so finishing students have a chance to influence the direction of emerging projects.
The RSM web site has more information on all of the above plus interactive learning modules exploring six gallery themes in detail.
A diorama at the RSM depicts the prairie ecosystem.