Bean Blog

Nature Experienceship - Aspen Forests with Sam St. Clair

2011-11-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we went up and around the Aspen Loop to look at aspen and pine trees. Sam St. Clair our gide was determined for everyone to LOVE plants by the end of the experienceship. He talked about adaptations and defences that trees naturally have. Fir trees have sap 'pustules' that squirt out sap when squeezed to deter pine beetles and other insects. He said that a big reason there is so much loss of pine forests to the beetles is because the drought prevented the trees from making the sap packets and the beetles were free to burrow in the bark. Aspen trees have chlorophyll in their bark which means that their trunks can photosynthesize even after they have lost all their leaves, and aspens have a waxy layer you can rub on your skin which acts like sunscreen. The experienceship was a blast and I walked away loving trees!

Paige Bryson, Museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

2011-09-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

We identified about 30 species of birds around the south end of Utah Lake last Saturday. Mr. Webb could spot any bird in the sky and name it, and by the end we could name a few birds ourselves. Mr. Webb taught us about the niche interactions of different species, specifically the White Faced Ibis and Snowy Egret who can coexist in the same niche because they are not competing for resources. The Ibis probes the mud using its long beak for insects and larvae, while scaring up fish for the Egret who uses its beak to catch them. I definitely left with an appreciation for the diversity of birds in the area, and how they have adapted to living together in the same ecosystem, managing resource and space competition.

Paige, museum educator

Species List (September 10, 2011):

White Faced Ibis
Barn Swallow
Yellow-headed blackbird
Marsh Wren
Sora
Osprey
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Double-crested Cormorants
Snowy Egret
American Pelican
Black-necked stilt
Ring-billed gull
Greater Yellowlegs
Violet-green Swallow
Tree swallow - blue back
Mallard
Clark's Grebe
American avocet
Killdeer
Cinnamon Teal
Franklin's Gull
American Coot
Marbled Godwit
Willet
Turkey Vulture
Caspian Tern
Sandhill Crane
Red-tailed Hawk

Nature Experienceship - Mammals with Duke Rogers

2011-08-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

We started the Experienceship near Squaw Peak where Dr. Rogers had set 40 animal traps. He explained the population dynamic of the mountain and predicted we should find about 4 trapped rodents, most likely all deer mice. After opening and releasing at least 15 traps with mice and voles Dr. Rogers talked about population studies and his research in how rodents carry and transfer diseases to humans.

Back at the Bean, we saw the mammal collection, and for those who stayed Dr. Rogers, with his bare hands, dissected and stuffed a roadkill squirrel he had picked up the day before. He was un-phased by the operation, averaging 250 dissections per year, and having stuffed a black bear before had no reservations about the flattened squirrel. It was an amazing behind the scenes opportunity, thanks so much to Dr. Rogers!

Paige, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

2011-04-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great group join us for our bird watching trip with Merrill Webb on a snowy April morning. In spite of the weather, we saw 37 species of birds and four of them were new for Mr. Webb's year list.

1. Black-billed Magpie
2. American Robin
3. Brewer's blackbird
4. Red-wing blackbird
5. Cinnamon teal
6. White crowned sparrow
7. European Starling
8. Western Meadowlark
9 Northern Harrier
10. Gadwall
11. Ring-necked Pheasant
12. Red-tailed hawk
13. American Kestrel
14. Rock Pigeon
15. Killdeer
16. Mallard
17. Sandhill Crane
18. Yellow-headed blackbird
19. House Sparrows
20. Snowy Egret
21. Osprey
22. American White Pelican
23. Canada Goose
24. Northern Shovelers
25. American Coot
26. Say's Phoebe
27. Barn Swallow
28. California Gulls
29. Redhead
30. American Wigeon
31. Greater yellowlegs
32. Snipes
33. Long-billed Dowtichwer
34. Willet
35. American Avocet
36. Black-necked stilt
37. Snowy Plover

Saturday Safari - A Dive into the Ocean

2011-04-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

On our last Saturday Safari of the semester we took A Dive in the Ocean. We learned about all of the strange looking deep ocean fish, and other awesome animals in the deep blue sea. We watched a special ocean episode of the Magic School Bus, and then after that the kids made their own craft fish. It was a lot of fun. Saturday Safari is done for this semester, but it will start back up in the Spring!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Ecosystems

2011-03-22T14:29:00.001-07:00

This last Saturday Safari we learned all about ecosystems and the animals that live in them. We focused mainly on the grasslands, wetlands, and the tropical rainforest. We watched a Magic School Bus episode dedicated to habitats, and then we created our own habitats for our craft. It was so much fun. Next week we will be learning about the Desert, and it will be very exciting!

Emilie, museum educator

CLUE - Date Night

2011-03-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

This semester’s Date Night was a total success! The theme was Clue: Museum Caper. There was a giant game of clue set up, each of the rooms was represented by a section of the museum, and every character was there, including the Butler (Matt Meese) who was a crack up the whole night. The weapons were objects that could were found right in the museum. The guests came, all dressed up ready to solve a mystery. They sat and had a dinner beforehand polished off with a delicious slice of cheesecake. Afterwards they were split into six groups, and were given a checklist. The guests went from room to room, answering riddles and getting clues, trying to figure out who killed our generous host, Jimmer Fredette.

After many riddles and much deducing a group finally figured out that it was Mrs. White in the Kitchen with the Ram Horn! They even won a prize at the end, two fun filled Easter baskets. Fun was had by all; it was a great night with great food and great company! Check out the pictures!

Saturday Safari - Animals without feet

2011-03-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

This last Saturday Safari we learned about the walrus, seahorse, and snake; and a whole bunch of different animals that do not have feet. The kids were able to touch different snakes in our museum, and we watched many educational and fun clips about all of the animals. Our craft that we worked on was a tissue paper seahorse. It was a lot of fun. This Saturday we will be learning about animals and their habitats.

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Butterfly

2011-03-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

This last week’s Saturday Safari was such a fun treat. We learned all about the life of the butterfly from the hatching of the egg, to the forming of the chrysalis, we even watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Our day finished with working on two crafts. One was a coloring page of a butterfly, and the other project was a mobile that displayed the different stages of the butterfly. This next week we will be learning about Animals without Feet, it will be a lot of fun!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Animal Defenses

2011-02-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

On February 26th, the Saturday Safari group learned all about animal defenses. From raccoons to the glass lizard; the kids even had a chance to meet Bandit, the Honduran Milk Snake. Bandit defends himself with his patterning; he looks like a coral snake. The craft that we worked on were sock puppets, the kids made an animal that they had learned about. We concluded watching an episode of the Magic School Bus that was about sneaky spiders and how they survive. This next week will be all about Butterflies.

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Biggest & Smallest Animals

2011-02-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

On February 19th, we spent Saturday Safari learning about the biggest and smallest animals. Did you know that the coconut crab grows up to be three feet long, with legs that are three feet long as well? We learned about elephants, squids, and tarantulas, with a special visit from our very own tarantula MJ. Our craft was very fun. We had paper plates, and the kids were able to make their paper plate look like an animal that they learned about. There were some very creative art projects. This Saturday we will be learning about Sneaky Animals and Their Defenses. It will be a blast!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Animal Fur

2011-02-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

On January 29th, we had a wonderful Saturday Safari Adventure! We learned all about fur and how it helps animals survive. We were able to go up to the Education Collection in the museum, there the kids pet animals like the Arctic Fox, Bobcat and the Porcupine. They also had a chance to feel many different kinds of fur. After that, we did a wonderful craft! The kids made up their own animal and the environment that they would be living in, then, with the ever so wonderful items we have in the craft room, they were able to give that animal many different “fur” textures. This Saturday we will be learning about animals without teeth.

Emilie, Museum educator

Saturday Safari - Camouflage

2011-01-24T15:24:00.000-08:00

This last Saturday Safari we learned all about camouflage; from the mimic octopus which can change into any color and imitate shapes of other sea animals for protection, to the chameleon which changes its colors because of territorial purposes and emotions. We then, watched the special Eric Carle animated movie, “The Mixed up Chameleon.” After that, we took a tour of the museum, and looked at all of the different ways in which animals camouflage themselves; the kids even had a chance to pet a Horned Owl and an Arctic Owl. After the tour we went up to the craft room and made our own animal camouflage shirts. The kids had such a fun time with this Saturday Safari. Next week we will be learning all about animal fur.

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Looking into the Past

2011-01-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

On January 15th we spent Saturday Safari by looking into the past. This year we are learning about different animal adaptations, and what better a way to start it than with prehistoric animals? We learned about the Mososaur and its modern day relative the monitor lizard (special appearance by Shi Shi). We also learned about all of the different animals that adapted well in prehistoric times, and the ones that did not quite make it like that Wooly Mammoth. We participated in a small craft, and ended with watching The Land Before Time. This Saturday Safari was so much fun, and next week will be even cooler! We are learning about camouflage!

Emilie, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Winter Animals

2010-12-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

On Saturday December 4th, we celebrated our last Saturday Safari of the year by learning about all of the different winter animals in the world. Then, we went around the museum to try and find all of the animals that we had learned about. We finished up with making a polar bear and a reindeer ornament for the kids to take home. Saturday Safari will continue next year in January. Happy Holidays!

Emilie, Museum educator

Saturday Safari - Aquatic Animals

2010-11-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

This week in Saturday Safari, we learned about different aquatic animals including dolphins, otters, and sea snakes. Who knew that a killer whale is actually a dolphin? This is just one of the cool facts we learned on Saturday. We got to meet the Green Iguana Duke, after watching a video about Aquatic Animals. We also make our very own fish aquariums out of paper plates. We had a blast!

Michelle, Museum education

Goodbye Rosie

2010-11-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

In recent memory of Rosie (our rose haired tarantula),

Yesterday while on an outreach to an elementary school, a huge gust of wind knocked Rosie's cage off my cart. The lid popped off and Rosie took off, scurrying under a parked car and into a pile of leaves. I searched a while, but that 7 legged spider disappeared into the wind, along with the check from the school. Best of luck Rosie, you don't know how good you had it here.

This is Rosie before she lost one of her legs and before she decided to leave the Bean Museum.

Paige, museum educator

Saturday Safari - Snakes!

2010-11-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

November 6th our Saturday Safari focused on the slithering world of snakes! The kids learned about many different snakes from around the world, and they also were able to see and touch five live snakes from the museum! The kids then made snakes out of pom poms, and watched a movie about snakes. It was a very fun day.

Emilie, Museum Educator

Saturday Safari - North American Animals

2010-11-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

On October 30th we learned all about Animals that live in North America. The kids were able to play flamingo games and get treats, they had the chance to meet Petey the kingsnake, and they were able to learn all about the new bee exhibit at the museum. The kids drew a beehive to take home, and we closed by watching the Magic School Bus.

Emilie, Museum Eduator

Halloween Night October 25, 2010

2010-11-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

On October 25^th, we had a Halloween night at the museum. The museum was filled with kids dressed as lady bugs, monsters, and sharks. The evening was filled with creepy crafts, a spooky animal show, and a scavenger hunt to find our missing tarantula Rosie! But enough of me talking about it look at the pictures below to see the fun had by all:

Emilie, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship - Role of Aspens in Western Forests with Sam St. Clair

2010-10-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 16, 2010

We had about 12 participants for this field trip. We drove up the Alpine Loop and made 2 stops looking at the Aspens. Dr. Sam St. Clair taught us about the importance of Aspens and how connected we are to this ecosystem. He also helped everyone understand that the process of doing science starts by making observations. It was a beautiful morning and very enjoyable.

Date Night

2010-10-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The murder mystery date night was a blast! Featuring suspects like Llyod Lunchbox, Beauty Fading, and Mavis Cheek in the murder of Sir Hamish Hogwash. There was LOTS of pizza, pumpkin pie, and suspense as the murder mystery unrolled. After the murderer was discovered, we started the "scary animal show" talking about vampire bats, werewolves, and . . . penguins?

Paige, Museum Educator

Saturday Safari - Endangered Animals

2010-10-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 16, 2010

This Saturday Safari focused on the endangered animals that are living in Europe. The lovely educator Michelle taught the kids about the difference between endangered animals and extinct animals, she then taught them about different ways in which we can protect the animals that are endangered. Saturday Safari finished with a fun activity where the kids (and educators) made a brown bear out of a brown paper bag. The kids were also given a packet of Europe’s endangered animals that they could take home and educate their families.

Emilie, Museum Educator

Saturday Safari - African Safari

2010-10-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday October 9, 2010

We went on a wild African Safari in the museum. The kids learned about all of the different African animals that are on display in the museum, after they completed this Safari, they won a special prize. The kids were able to play charades as they acted out their favorite African animal. They even had the chance to meet the African Ball Python Monte, and the Spurred Tortoise Oatis. It was a day filled with facts and fun!

Emilie, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

2010-10-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

We had another successful bird watching trip with Merrill Webb on Saturday, September 18th.

We saw the following birds:

American Kestrel

American White Pelican

American Wigeon

Black-billed Magpie

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Cattle Egret

Gadwall

Great Blue Heron

Killdeer

Mallard

Snowy Egret

Spotted Sandpiper

White-crowned Sparrow

Nature Experienceship - Birding with Merrill Webb

2010-07-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

We saw the following birds on Saturday, July 17, 2010:

Osprey
Great-tailed Grackle
Barn Swallow
Yellow-headed blackbird
Great Blue Heron
Western Kingbird
Killdeer
Starlings
American Kestrel
American Pelican
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Ring-necked Pheasant
Caspian Tern
Tree Swallow
Green-winged Teal
Raven
Canada Goose
Franklin's Gull
White-faced Ibis
Wilson's Phalarope
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Common Yellowthroat
Long-billed Dowitcher
Cinnamon Teal
Sandhill Crane
Ring-billed Gull
Western Sandpiper
Goldfinch
Swainson's Hawk
Cattle Egret

Here are some photos:

American Avocet in flight

Pelicans, Stilts, Avocets, and a gull (either ring-billed or Franklin's)

Black-necked Stilt

Killdeer

Photos courtesy of Becky Witt

Family Feud Date Night

2010-03-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, March 13 we had a Game Show Date Night at the museum. 13 couples met and had LOTS and LOTS of pizza, salad and drinks. We handed out popsicles as we started to play Family Feud. The museum surveyed over a hundred BYU students to answer 25 questions about life on campus and the surrounding area. One question was "What is the worst thing about being a BYU student?" with the number 1 answer being dating!! It was really fun too because the contestants had to grab a ball out of the tarantula cage to answer the question! Everyone got over their fear and did it too! It was really fun and hopefully there will be even more couples for the next date night :)

Becky, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Reptiles & Amphibians with Jack Sites

2010-03-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

We had the amazing opportunity to tour the Amphibian and Reptile Collection with Dr. Jack Sites. This collection contains about 45,000 specimen that were collected from places inside the United States, Latin America, Africa, Madagascar, South America, and other places. Dr. Sites explained that when these specimens are collected you have to have a special permit given by the government that says you know how to handle these creates and it is for educational purposes. This permit also restricts what specimens you can capture. Usually the animals that are found are road kill that have died very recently. They are then taken back to a laboratory where the animal in injected with one chemical that stiffens it up so it looks like it is alive and then it is preserved in another chemical. Dr. Sites also talked about Amphibian species that are threatened in Utah. When an ecosystem is being threatened by pollution the Amphibians are the first to go because their skin is very thin. Since their skin is so thin toxins, and other hazardous particles are absorbed right into the animal and cause it to die. He then talked about some ecosystems in Utah that are being restored and Amphibians are actually coming back to them, this is happening by Deer Creek Reservoir.

Sterling, museum educator

Nature Experienceship - Bald Eagles with Merrill Webb

2010-02-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

What a fun time we had with Bird Expert Merrill Webb. We had the opportunity to see and learn about several birds that live in Utah. We visited Farmington Bay to watch these glorious animals in their natural habitat. Most people present would agree that seeing the Bald Eagles was the highlight of the trip. We had binoculars and scopes to get a close-up look at these magnificent creatures. If you didn't get the chance to join us, make sure you sign up for the next Nature Experienceship at the Bean Museum. You won't regret it!

Michael, museum educator

Museum Date Night - Muder Mystery Dinner Theater

2009-12-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

Another great date night at the museum!!! A murder has taken place and it was up to all the date night guests to track down the killer. We had a fairy, a woman dressed as a man, and even a man dressed as a woman... We enjoyed pizza and salad for dinner and pound cake with hot cocoa and apple cider.

In the end, it was the politician who killed Prince Charmless... who would have guessed? All in all, everyone who attended this fun event left satisfied and a little grossed out by Tapioca (see attached photo)

Make sure you're on the list for the next date night activity, You will not regret it!

Michael, Museum educator

Halloween Family Night - October 26th

2009-11-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Monday, October 26^th, was the Bean Museum’s Halloween Family Night. Patrons and employees alike dressed in their costumes and came to have fun. The night started out making “Creepy Crafts” where, under the direction of Becky, patrons could make fun Bat candy corn holders. The craft area was open all night, allowing everyone time to make one of the fun candy carriers. The special Halloween Live animal show was done downstairs several times, thanks to the hard work of Michael and Matt. With the lights in the auditorium dimmed, Matt showed the spooky specimens, while Michael provided the voice for the show’s Skull narrator. Due to high demand for repeat performances, the duo did several showings of the animals which included a Wolf, an Owl, and…. a PENGUIN. (It was terrifying.) They taught fun facts about the specimens including the idea that owls are believed to live where only ghosts live. The fun didn’t stop there though! Guests were able to take their picture with their choice of several specimens, such as a wolf, a raven, or a penguin. There was also a fun game to help search for Rosie! She left clues on several of the specimens, and patrons followed them (and the trail of spider webs…yuck!) in order to help find her. All-in-all, Halloween Night proved to be a great success. Everyone from families with young children, to families with grown kids came, and all smiled, laughed and learned together as we celebrated the spookiest season of the year!

Elise, Museum Educator

Saturday Safari Report - November 7, 2009

2009-11-24T08:06:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Australia is the smallest continent? It is also the home to some unique animals like the Dingo, Koala Bear, Kangaroo, Monitor Lizards, Echidna, and Duck Billed Platypus. Did you know that Koalas aren’t actually bears? They are Marsupials! The name Koala actually means “doesn’t drink” and they get this name because they don’t drink. They get enough water and other fluids from the Eucalypts leaves they eat, which are actually toxic! We also learned about Australian Aborigine Dot Art. Every painting is made of individual dots! These paintings can be of Alligators, Turtles, or just intricate designs. These paintings depict daily life as an Aborigine.

Sterling, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship - Conifers with Larry St. Clair

2009-11-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

October 16, 2009

This Saturday we had an amazing Nature Experienceship with Dr. Larry St. Clair. He taught us about coniferous trees as we walked around BYU Campus and identified the plants. We had a group of 10 people and started by the Bean Museum and worked our way around campus, eventually ending up around the Joseph Smith Building. As we approached each tree we applied what we learned to identify it, and sometimes had to use our hand lenses to inspect the needles or branches.

One interesting story told by Dr. St. Clair was about an old BYU President and a Ginko tree. The fruit of the Ginko tree smells like rancid butter and the BYU President was walking one day and brought some into his office on his shoes. He was very displeased with the odor they emitted and ordered to have the Ginko trees removed from campus. Luckily, one BYU Professor convinced the President not to remove the trees, so the President ordered "Then keep those things off the sidewalk!

Becky, Museum Educator

Museum Date Night - Muder Mystery Dinner Theater

2009-10-19T09:50:00.000-07:00

It was a night with murder! Our Halloween Date Night “Murder Mystery Dinner Theater” was a blast for all those involved. The couples in attendance had the opportunity to interrogate suspects and reveal who they thought was the murderer. Was it Professor Bunsen or was it Sir Hamish Hogwash. Perhaps it was Gigi Sparkle or Lading Fading. If you were in attendance you found out that it was the person you least suspected. We had pizza and pumpkin pie. Absolutely delicious! After the show we were delighted with yet another Scary show…this time it involved scary animals. We learned about wolves, owls, bats, and ravens along with the folkloric traditions behind each animal. For those couples who stuck around after both shows, we were delighted to be given a tour of the museum by Matt Meese. All in all, Date Night was a great success. If you missed out this time around, make sure you sign up earlier for the next date night during the winter semester!

Michael, museum educator

Saturday Safari Report - October 10, 2009

2009-10-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Saturday Safari kids and I had a blast this past Saturday as we became pirates of the Caribbean! We set sail on our high seas adventure by starting the day talking about all the different varieties of fish you can in the Caribbean! We then let our imaginations run wild as we all designed our very own fish with water colors. No pirate is complete without eye patches and a pirate flag, so each of us made an eye patch and designed our very own flag. Now we looked like real pirates. As the day progressed, we did fun activities and games, all the time learning about the different types of animals that live in the Carribean. The highlight of our pirate day Saturday Safari was Black Beard’s treasure hunt. The kids worked together to solve animal clues that took them all over the museum. In order to be given some of their clues they had to give themselves pirate names and walk the plank. In the end, the kids found their treasure (lots of candy) and were ready to call it a day. There is always something happening at Saturday Safari, so what are you waiting for you scallywags come join us next time!!!

Katie, Museum Educator

Antelope Island and Farmington Bay with Merrill Webb

2009-09-21T10:42:00.001-07:00

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We had a group of 13 people join us on this Nature Experienceship. We went to Antelope Island and then spent a few minutes at Farmington Bay on our way home. The detour was worth the stop as we saw some beautiful American White Pelicans and Snowy Egrets. We are always grateful for Mr. Webb's willingness and expertise.

We saw the following birds (29 total):

Canada Goose
Gadwall
Northern Shoveler
Eared Grebe
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
White-faced Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Red-necked Phalarope
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Forster's Tern
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Western Meadowlark

Here are some pictures from the event:

Saturday Safari Report -August 8, 2009

2009-09-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

On Saturday August 8th, those of us at Saturday had a fine time as Michael taught us about a bug we don't usually think about-- ants! We toured the underground world of an ant hill, and thought about lifting ten times our weight like an ant does. We ended the party with a viewing of A Bugs Life and treats. Thanks, Michael, for such a fun time with ants!

Lauren, Museum Educator

TIMP CAVE - WILDLIFE ADVENTURES

2009-08-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

This week for Wildlife Adventures we climbed up to Timpanogos Cave. Not only was it a great workout for our calves but we learned a lot about the Cave too! Timpanogos Cave is actually made up of chambers and they are Hansen Cave, Middle Cave, and Timpanogos Cave. Our guide showed us all the different mineral flows that are found inside the cave. There were some that looked like Popcorn, Straws, Bacon and even a Camel! At the end of the tour we stopped at a spot and we were told the Legend of Timpanogos Cave. The Legend says that a long time ago a girl was sacrificed and she formed the Mountain and that you can see her heart in the Cave! Of course this is all a legend that was written for the Timpanogos Story Telling Festival and none of it is true.

Sterling, Museum Educator

Saturday Safari Report -August 1, 2009

2009-08-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Elephants, Blue Whales, Ostriches, and yes...even Dinosaurs! What do they all have in common? THEY ARE BIG! This week Lauren guided us through the world of big and tall animals. Did you know that an full grown elephant weighs as much as a blue whale's tongue? That was one of the many facts we learned at this week's Saturday Safari. We had the opportunity to learn a lot about our favorite big and tall animals. We took a tour around the museum to check out the real large animals found in today's world. We saw giraffes...we saw rhinos...we saw hippos...we even saw a HUGE ELEPHANT! We also had the opportunity to watch the Magic School Bus show titled 'Busasaurus'. It is always a treat to have Ms. Frizzle guiding us through the majestic prehistoric world. All in all, we all came away from Saturday Safari with a tremendous knowledge of our big and tall friends in the animal world and better yet...we all had a BLAST! Thank you Lauren and thank you Bean Museum!

Michael, museum educator

Saturday Safari Report - July 25, 2009

2009-08-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, July 25th, learning swooped down and caught our Saturday Safari goers by surprise. Michael taught us all about birds of prey, beginning with the riddle: “What flies and eats meat?” While the kids contemplated the answer, they were allowed to pet owls, hawks, and even the wing of a golden eagle.

Even with technical difficulties, Michael was able to tell us all about these soaring predators including his own encounter with a bald eagle (the eagle was as tall as his chest! Standing!). We learned how owl’s fly so silently, and why they can turn their heads all the way around (did you know Owl’s eyes are so big they can’t move them around in their eye-sockets?).

Finishing off with a game of bird-related hangman, and our very own contest to determine which bird had the ugliest face, (The winner? The king vulture! Isn’t he horrid?) This Saturday Safari satisfied even the most curious adventurer.

Lauren, museum educator

Saturday Safari Report - July 18, 2009

2009-07-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

Who needs legs? Apparently not snakes...This past week's Saturday Safari was tons of fun! We had the opportunity to learn a lot about snakes and the traits and qualities that make them great. Lauren taught us how closely related snakes and lizards are. She even fooled us with pictures of lizards that look just like snakes. We had the play with real live snakes. The consensus between the children involved was that Cuddles (the Ball Python) was the coolest. Being the biggest snake not only helps to ensure your survival, it also makes you cool in the eyes of children...at least this was the case with Cuddles. All in all, we owe Lauren a debt of gratitude for helping us to appreciate snakes. Overall, she taught us that snakes are our friends and not our enemies!

Michael, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship - Reptiles with Megan Fuller

2009-07-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

In the month of July the Bean Museum had its first ever Reptile and Amphibian Nature Experienceship. A field trip was planned to catch reptiles in Diamond Fork Canyon. Each person got a packet of information about reptiles we wouldn’t be seeing that day, a short guide to the reptiles and amphibians found in that area, and the use of the Museum’s reptile catching equipment. Earlier in the week of our experienceship the sun had been shinning everyday, but that morning the sky was cloudy and cold. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal for reptile hunting we still ended up catching three fence lizards and saw two others. We also got to come back to the museum for a short tour of the Herpetology collection and to see some of the museum’s live reptiles. It was a lot of fun.

Megan Fuller, Education Assistant

Nature Experienceship - Wildflowers with Dr. Leigh Johnson

2009-04-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone was enthusiastic despite the dismal weather as we met with Dr. Leigh Johnson to go looking for wildflowers. After a brief explanation of flower anatomy and plant presses we loaded the vans and departed for Rock Canyon. We found our first wildflowers before we even left the parking lot. They were identified as a “LPFs” or “little purple flowers” which upon closer inspection turned out to be Musk Mustard from the Brassicaceae family. As we started walking down the trail Dr. Johnson was able to tell us lots of interesting things about the plants we saw. Using our hand lenses we were able to count the number of sepals, petals, and stamens. Dr. Johnson brought along some field guides and plant keys to help us learn to identify the plants we found. He also taught us some good characteristics for identifying plant families, such as Brassicaceae (mustards) always have 4 petals in the shape of a cross, and Boraginaceae have a flowering stock that curls up in a scorpoid shape. By the time we circled back to the parking lot we were wet, but everyone agreed that it was worth it!

Melissa, Museum Educator

2009 SUNDANCE EARTH FAIR

2009-04-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

On April 11, 2009 Sundance held their annual Earth fair in honor of Earth day the 21st of April. Charlotte and I were in attendance at the fair with a booth promoting the love and appreciation of nature. It was an exciting fair filled with a number of other booths, crafts and performances. While we were there Charlotte and I drank from a keg of root beer, watched little children do the Hoop dance and made a newspaper earth.

Our booth was the best out of them all. We had a couple friends with us to draw people over. He had Rosie our rose-haired tarantula, Cuddles our ball python and our lovely cockroaches. All of our animals were a hit with the visitors but with the cockroaches being the least favorite. Many people, I believe, came over their fear of spiders by letting Rosie walk across their hands.

There were even some visitors all the way from Britain that were very excited to see our animals. These lovely ladies were even kind enough to point out that “musuem” was miss-spelled on our banner. Thank goodness it was not mine or Charlotte’s fault.

All in all, the Earth fair was wonderful except for the weather. What is up with it??

Beka, Museum Educator

Date Night - Dinner and a Movie

2009-04-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday night the Bean Museum hosted another date night. It was a huge success. There is no better way to relax after a long week at school then with good food, good friends and movie. Couples enjoyed each other company while gorging themselves on pizza and pop. After everyone was well fed we headed down to the museum’s auditorium and watched a movie on the big screen. Couples said that they had a great time and can’t wait for another museum date night!

Katie Klaus, Museum Educator

Lichen - Nature Experienceship

2009-03-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with Dr. St. Clair on Saturday, March 21, 2009 learning all about lichens. We spent a few minutes in the lichen lab learning about how they are curated and kept in the collection. Everyone in attendance got a hand lens and a copy of Dr. St. Clair's "A Color Guidebook to Common Rocky Mountain Lichens." We then went up to Rock Canyon Park and collected some lichens on bark. We used our new guidebooks to identify the 7-9 species found in one grove of trees. Next we took a short hike up to the mouth of Rock Canyon and looked at some species on rock. It was a lot of fun and very educational.

Katy Knight, Museum Education

February Date Night

2009-03-02T15:50:00.000-08:00

This Saturday the Bean Life Science Museum was host to its monthly Date Night. For those not familiar with the program, the museum hosts this monthly event on the last Saturday of each month. This month the event theme was an African “Photo Safari.”

Guests took a tour of featured African animals, with the museum dark, traveling in a “jeep”, made out of a box, using their flashlight headlights as their only source of light. As they traveled around the museum, the guests took pictures with the animals, interacting with them.

For example the picture with Shasta, the liger, told the guests that Shasta’s father was a lion, making her half African, and that the guests should take a picture showing half of their bodies, as well as half of Shasta. These humorous photos were then compiled and viewed as the guests shared refreshments.

March’s Date Night theme is a “Dinner and a Movie.” Guests will enjoy a movie in the museum’s auditorium, and share a pizza dinner. This event will take place on Saturday the 28th, and will begin at 7:30 and costs $15 for each couple.

Kolby Reddish, Museum Educator

Bald Eagle Day

2009-02-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Mr. Merrill Webb took a group of bird watchers to Farmington Bay in February to look at the Bald Eagles that migrate through Utah every year. Eighteen people signed up to join us. At 8 in the morning we drove two large buses to the reserve at Farmington Bay where many of the Eagles were nesting. The group saw about 40 different bald eagles. Most of the eagles were sitting out on the ice. We weren’t able to get very close to the birds, but Mr. Webb and the museum each brought high powered spotting scopes for everyone to look through. With these scopes you could see right up to the eagles. The museum also provided binoculars. There were lots of birds to see: black and white adult bald eagles, brown juvenile bald eagles, magpies, red winged black birds, geese, and even a swan.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Megan Monn Fuller, Museum Educator

Date Night

2009-02-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

One thing I love about the museum is that it's always trying new things. This semester it's "date nights". As an employee of the museum, I was present on the night of our scavenger hunt in the dark. It was wonderful. We had a heck of a time making the place dark (not as easy as flipping a switch, unfortunately). It was worth it though. Couples with flashlights scurried back and forth, up and down stairs, searching for animals and new clues that would lead them to the next one. And these weren't just college students either. Older couples had as much (if not more) fun as the younger ones. We even brought out some live animals at the end for anyone who was interested (which of course was everyone). So all in all, the first date night was a success, and we will have many more in the future I'm sure. But if you're interested in coming to one, you'd better put your name on the list early because people were signing up on the spot to come to the next one. They won't be disappointed.

Matt Meese, Museum Educator

Hogle Zoo Career Day

2008-12-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

On Nov. 15th, Melissa and I went up to the Hogle Zoo to participate in their "Career Day at the Zoo" activities. We went prepared to talk about careers in taxidermy and museum education, but it ended up that the only people there to talk to us were between the ages of 5-9 and they wanted nothing to do with the knowledge of how to preserve dead animals. Melissa and I figured that we were in for a day of boredom. However, we noticed that all of the other booths at the career day had treats to give out to people that visited them. So, Melissa sent me out for candy in order to bribe people to come take a look at what the Bean Museum has to offer. I returned to the zoo with bags and bags of candy. Suddenly, there were hoards of kids willing to visit our booth. They would come over, take a quick look at the animals we had brought, grab candy, and get on their way.

This was all well and good, but we were up there to promote the museum and if we never got the opportunity to talk to anybody, we weren't doing any good. So, we had this GREAT idea to get people to come near us. Melissa slowly lifted the lid on Rosie's (the tarantula) cage and placed a candy bar in with her. Now, instead of people grabbing and go, they had to debate within themselves if a miniature Twix bar was worth possibly getting attacked by a rather cute tarantula. They would come over, see the tarantula, decide that there was NO WAY that they were going to go for it. However, since they had walked ALL the way over to our booth, they started to ask us questions. "Where is the Bean Museum?" "Is it free?" "What kind of activities do you have for 9 year olds?"

Finally, someone grabbed the candy bar! Once this little boy gathered up strength and reached into that cage, dozens of other children found their courage and followed in suit. Melissa decided that it needed to be harder, so soon the candy bar was actually UNDER Rosie. Many people decided that this was the scariest thing that they had ever been put up against and didn't dare go for it. However, since we had created this "game" our booth was the most popular at the career fair and we turned a potentially waste of a day into a productive Bean Life Science Museum promoting experience.

Charlotte Macfarlane
Museum Educator

The Mammal Nature Experienceship

2008-11-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

At 10 am on Saturday, October 25, Amanda Owen and five college students piled into a university van and hit the road to go see a flesh eating beetle colony. I must admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was this going to be like a scene from The Mummy? What if they escaped and started eating the students? And what on earth was a colony of flesh eating beetles doing on BYU campus?

As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. The flesh eating beetles (aka Dermestid Beetles) are tiny – just smaller than a housefly – and it isn’t even the beetles that eat flesh. It is the larva. Once they turn into beetles they only live for a few days, just long enough to lay eggs, and then they die. Their entire life cycle only takes 45 days!

The colony lives in several small terrariums in a dark humid room at the old BYU stables. The Bean Museum uses them to clean the flesh off the bones of animals. The beetles actually get the bones cleaner than boiling or bleaching would and they leave the entire skeleton intact. Even the smallest vertebrae on the tail of a mouse is still attached to each other by the time the beetles have finished with them! And as for the problem of the beetles escaping, that is easily solved. Occasionally they do find their way out of the cage but they are attracted to water. Amanda told us that all you have to do is leave a small cup of water on the floor overnight and by the next day all the beetles will have come home.

After we finished looking at the beetles we traveled back to the museum where we took a tour of the mammal collection and learned about how animals are collected, prepared and cataloged. Amanda showed us some different animal skulls and let us guess what type of animal they came from. Then we looked at a Kangaroo Rat and we even got to hold a Kangaroo Mouse that lives at the Museum. Amanda also showed us some of the more unusual animals that are housed in the collection, such as a vampire bat, and echidna and a duck billed platypus.

Overall, everyone had a good time, learned something new, and gained a new appreciation for creepy crawlies.

Melissa Landeen, Museum Educator

Happy Halloween Night

2008-10-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

This past Monday almost 500 people participated in the Bean Museum’s Halloween Family Night. The museum was swarming with kids dressed up as lions, dinosaurs, princesses, ladybugs, and even more. Brent, a museum educator dressed up in a suit entirely made of ducked tape, gave awesome live animal shows specifically written for Halloween. He taught everyone about brain coral, snakes, owls, bats. Everyone watching the show got to touch Rosy the live Tarantula. After the show, Tashina told spooky stories about a magical belt that turned humans into foxes and the legend of the werewolf.

The museum also had creepy crafts which were extremely popular. Together families made Halloween masks, black roses, and spider webs. The kids loved the crafts. After hours educators gave tours of the museum in the dark. Each tour guide had a flashlight and told stories about different animals in the museum. There were so many people signed up for the tours that we had to have four groups, each with 20 people!

Megan Monn Fulller, Museum Educator

Fun with the Fish Experts

2008-10-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

Bright and early Saturday morning (10 am – early for college students) five University biology students and I (Kortni – a Museum Educator) gathered at the Bean Museum for a Nature Experienceship. The fish experts (Peter, Josh, and Justin) took us up Spanish Fork Canyon to search for different species of Utah fish.

Here are the basic steps to finding fish with fish experts

Put on your waders and watch out for barbed wire (you do not want a hole in your waders. The Utah stream water is freezing!)
Grab the fish shocker, nets, and camera (this is not actually necessary). For all of you who have never seen a fish shocker check out the pictures. It looks like something out of Ghostbuster. There is a backpack with batteries that supplies the voltage to a stick with a metal ring on the end of it. The purpose of it is to stun the fish so that they stop swimming, rise to the surface, and are easier to catch
Wade into the stream.
Walk upstream putting the metal ring of the fish shocker into the water. Don’t touch the water with exposed skin! It will hurt (but not injure).
Observe the water for stunned fish and when you see one catch it with the net.
Put the fish in a bucket, look at what type of species it is, take a picture with the fish, and then put it back in the stream.

The whole experienceship was pretty amazing. The weather was great; the fish experts were hilarious; and all of the students seem to enjoy touching with stunned fish.

Kortni Seegmiller (Museum Educator)

Another great birding experienceship

2008-09-13T10:46:00.001-07:00

We had 25 people and 25 spots in the three BYU vehicles we took on our bird watching field trip this morning. We saw a total of 22 birds in two hours and most of the birds were very cooperative and stayed put so that all 25 of us could get a good look - they must have gotten my memo (I told them we were coming).

One of the highlights was watching these Turkey Vultures on this dead cow.

Here are the species we saw:

Cattle Egret
California Quail
Starling
Vesper Sparrow
California Gull
Brewer's Blackbird
Mallard
Sandhill Crane
Snowy Egret
March Wren
Great Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Clark's Grebe
Osprey
American Kestrel
Black-billed Magpie
Turkey Vulture
Common Yellowthroat
Song Sparrow
Canada Goose
Black-capped Chickadee
Yellow-headed Blackbird

Here are some photos:

Museum Expansion - what do you think?

2008-05-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Now that we've celebrated our 30th anniversary, we are ready to expand!

We want to hear from you!!!

Please comment and leave your feedback and suggestions.

Rescuing Bandit

2008-05-07T13:56:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday (April 30, 2008) we took some of the live animals on an outreach. When we got back we discovered that Bandit, the milk snake, was not in his box. This was alarming because 1) Bandit had been in a Tupperware box and the lid was still on it. How did he get out? And 2) if he wasn’t in the box, where was he? Bandit is red and black, about 4 feet long and has the diameter of a quarter. He has been known to escape before, but never from a Tupperware box. After a careful search of the car, Bandit was discovered under the driver’s seat. He had wormed his way into a little hole in the upholstery and was actually underneath the carpet. There was no way to get him out so we just decided to let him be. He would come out when he got hungry or cold enough. This wouldn’t be the first time Bandit had been lost in the car and the last time it had happened he had survived out there for several months. It was only a matter of time.

The next morning I had to take the car on another outreach to Pleasant Grove. I was a little bit nervous about driving with a snake loose in the car, but I got there and back without any sign of him. Upon my arrival back at the museum I was promptly instructed to take the car to the auto repair shop and “get the snake out!” Apparently the rest of the museum staff, who also drive the car, were not so comfortable with the idea of just waiting for what could be months for the snake to come out on his own. We called the auto shop to let them know about the situation and let them know that I was on my way.

When I got to the shop I stepped into the office and announced that I was the girl from the Bean Museum with the snake in the car. This announcement was met with silence and a whole room of blank stares. Finally someone said “You mean you really do have a snake lost in your car?” I answered that, yes, we did. “We thought that was joke!” the secretary said. I assured them that it was no joke, that there was, indeed, a four-foot milk snake lost in the car and that we really would like to find him and get him out. They asked me to wait while they tried to find a mechanic who would be willing to help me. From inside the garage I could hear things like “Are you serious? There is seriously a snake in the car?” and “I am not working on any cars with snakes in them!” But after a few minutes of waiting I was instructed to move the car to the last slot in the garage – as far away from the office as I could get.

Of course, a large group had gathered to watch. It isn’t everyday that the auto shop has to find a lost snake in a car, and nobody was about to miss this. Before we got started I explained that Bandit was a nice, tame snake that doesn’t bite people (unless provoked), that he was not venomous, and that he was probably really cold because temperatures had dropped below freezing the night before. Cold blooded animals, like snakes, can’t move very fast when they are cold, so even if he wanted to strike, he probably wouldn’t be able to move fast enough. I was worried that someone might try to pull the snake out and in so doing hurt the snake. This, as it turned out, was not going to be much of a problem as nobody even wanted to touch him, let alone pick him up. It was decided that I would be the one to grab the snake as soon as he was found, which was fine with me. I assured them that there was nothing to be scared of. I don’t think they really believed me. But we got started.

Bandit had last been seen beneath the carpet in the front seat so I suggested that we start there. We did a thorough search of the car before we started taking the seats and carpet out. Everybody was really nervous and jumpy and we had some false alarms that turned out to be cords and cables. I assured them that they would know Bandit when they saw him. He is bright red and black. We finally got the front seat out of the car and tore the carpet up. No snake. That made everybody a little more nervous. Where had he gone? We started playing the “If you were a snake, where would you be?” game. We knew that he would have gone to the warmest place he could find. I was worried that he had gotten into the engine and that I had “fried” him when I had driven to Pleasant Grove that morning. We popped the hood, but, much to the relief of all, there was no snake. So where was he?

We decided that the warmest place he could have gotten to would be the heating cables that run down from beneath the dashboard between the two front seats. The mechanic started working his way to that while I called the museum to let them know what we had found, or more accurately hadn’t found. While I was on the phone I suddenly heard screaming and saw everybody backing away from the car. I heard somebody yelling “Oh my gosh! There it is! That’s a snake!” I happily let the museum know that we had found Bandit and then I hung up. I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess form all the screaming I thought that they had at least seen the head. But all that was visible was about 2 inches of body. It wasn’t even moving.

They pointed it out to me and told me to “get it” which, of course, I couldn’t do without risking hurting the snake. I also didn’t know where its head was, so I didn’t want to just grab him and pull without knowing where the rest of him was first. We went at it again from the passenger side. As soon as we got the carpet up I was easily able to pick him up and gently pull him out.
There was more screaming and panicking and almost some swearing, not from me (the only girl among them), but from these big, strong, manly mechanics. I was just happy to see Bandit alive and well. He was pretty cold and immediately tried to slither up my sleeve for warmth. But once he calmed down a little bit, he was fine. I called the museum again the let them know that I had the escapee in custody and would be bringing him home. Some of the mechanics even got brave enough to touch him, once I was holding him.

All in all it was quite the adventure. But it had a happy ending. Bandit is doing fine (once we got him warmed up), I have a great story, and the auto shop got a break from the norm that they will probably never forget.

by Melissa Landeen
May 6, 2008

Nature Experienceship - Leigh Johnson

2008-04-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wildflowers with Leigh Johnson - April 26, 2008

Why do you love the Bean Life Science Museum?

2008-03-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

Share your thoughts HERE

In the early years, mom and dad were just getting started with their farming career. They had just a couple of small “units” of ground and were struggling with all aspects of eking out a living from the just-inaugurated and newly irrigated desert sand. Isolation, minuscule financing, overwhelming forces of nature and limited equipment were matched by their unlimited and tenacious desire to work and succeed.

One Saturday evening in the fall of 1960 when I was five, a very unusual sight settled upon our humble abode. A caravan of fancy Lincoln Continentals and Cadillacs pulled up to our door and a large group of men exited. (Little did any of us realize that 21 years later, some of the same group would be witnesses and participants to a farming accident that almost killed me.)

They introduced themselves as bird hunters from Seattle and asked if it might be possible for them to hunt pheasants, ducks and geese around our farm. My folks soon found out that most of them were originally from Utah and were Mormon. Dad invited them to come to church and have Sunday dinner with us the next day. They accepted.

This memorable evening was the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship. Three brothers formed the core of the group. They were Monte (ML), Stan and Eugene Bean. The Bean brothers had grown up in Richfield, Utah after their schooling, had worked their way north.

ML worked for Skaggs Department Stores in Portland, Oregon in the 50’s and worked his way up. He also was called as the first stake president when the Portland Stake was organized.

ML was a very successful businessman, eventually starting a chain of several hundred Pay ‘N Save drug stores, Ernst Hardware stores and Malmo nurseries. He was on several bank boards and before the time of Bill Gates, I heard he was the wealthiest man in the State of Washington although he never talked about his money. I also remember hearing that one year ML was honored with a ticker tape parade in downtown Seattle.

Stan and Eugene owned a chain of Seattle Sporting Goods stores. Their hunting comrades included dentists, psychiatrists, doctors and other professionals. Most of them were LDS and often attended church with us when they came out to hunt in the fall. They were all genuinely nice guys.

They always showed up on the Saturday morning of hunting season, which was usually around the first week of October. They brought No Hunting signs that got posted around the boundaries of dad’s and a few other farms. Pheasants were plentiful then. The weather always seemed beautiful. Hunting season started at noon. When the clock struck twelve, 12-gauge gunshots began ringing out for miles around. Being a beautifully-feathered game cock had it’s disadvantages on those fall days. Everyone usually limited out with 3 roosters apiece.

Those Saturday afternoons were heaven for this little boy that they let tag along, After they had tromped through a cornfield with their dogs scaring up birds, they would take a break by their cars, listening to the University of Washington Huskies football game on the radio. Soda pop, chips and candy were a rare luxury to our family but a common staple during those Saturdays in October. This yearly experience was a delight to my family and I. They often brought gifts of food, a shotgun for my dad, footballs and other items that we wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Dad was always off working but I got to tag along and listen to their banter. I loved those experiences.

In 1965, the “hunters” as we called them, invited us to go to Illwaco, at the mouth of the Columbia, and go deep-sea fishing with them. Several of our neighbors were also invited. For some reason, I was the only kid who got to go.

They charted 3 boats as there was probably 30 or 40 “hunters” and “farmers” going. I went on the boat with my grandparents. ML was also on our boat.
ML was a longtime sportsman. He regularly fished and hunted, even going on several safari’s in Africa. Many years later, he donated the funds and many stuffed animal specimens to build the Monte L Bean Life Science Museum at BYU.
We fished through the morning. Our skipper was a young tanned buck that thought he knew it all. I was standing by ML and he was showing me how to let my line out and reel it in. The skipper came up and started giving ML instructions on how to fish. ML was a tall, mustachioed, very dignified and deep-voiced individual. He looked at the skipper and said, “Son, you don’t need to tell me how to fish. I was fishing long before you were in diapers.” As a ten-year old and just barely out of diapers myself, I got a kick out of that.
Everyone on our boat caught fish. It was great. The day wore on. I had caught two 15 or 20 lb. salmon. I really wanted to catch my limit of three. All of a sudden, a big lunker hit my line. I fought and reeled for at least 30 minutes. We both were exhausted by the time we met up at the side of the boat. Just as the deck hand reached out to net him, he chewed through the line and got away.

Everybody agreed that it was the biggest fish anyone had caught on our boat. They said it was at least a 30-pound King. I was greatly disappointed but I was glad it was over. I was tired!

I had just got my hook baited and my line out again when the skipper said to reel in, we were done for the day. As I started reeling in, I got another bite. This was another winner! I could tell by the way he was trying to pull the little 10 year-old out of the boat.
I was determined not to lose him. Everyone on board was excited that I had hooked another one, except for maybe the homesick captain. I fought and reeled and struggled as another 30 minutes ticked by. Eventually I got him up to the boat. We landed Mr. King without a problem. I was worn out. After we got back to the docks, he weighed out at 32 pounds. I weighed in at just a few pounds more.

We went out several more years after that. In August of 1968, ML invited my folks and I to spend a couple of days fishing with him and his wife on their new yacht, the Lady B. I was still on crutches as this was the summer of my head-on crash with the missionaries from 3 months earlier.

His boat was a beauty. Everything was either chrome or painted gleaming white. It was the biggest boat anchored at Illwaco. ML had to make special docking arrangements, as they didn’t have a slip big enough for it. ML had a retired navy skipper hired full time to pilot the boat. When we started the journey from the ocean back to port on the first day, the skipper motioned me to hobble up and sit at the controls. There were many shiny gauges and switches but the heart of the controls was the big chrome steering wheel and the two throttle handles for the motors.

It had two large diesel motors that powered the boat. It went fast enough that ML told us he had pulled his grandkids on water-skis. I thought I had died and gone to heaven as I steered and throttle the Lady B back to port.

We went fishing with them for 2 days. We caught fish and had an even more memorable experience the second day out. The first day had been sunny and nice but the second day was bleak and rainy. Later in the morning, the ocean started getting choppy enough that we couldn’t continue fishing. We headed in and when we got to the bar (where the Columbia meets the sea), it got worse.

As we motored through the big swells, we saw a small boat (18 feet or so) racing through the water. We all started making comments about how those people were nuts. Just as the speeding boat passed by us on our left side, it hit a big wave and it’s front end flipped over and the boat assumed an upside down hull heading the opposite direction. I’ve never seen anything like that except when unlimited hydroplanes decide they would rather fly than sail.

Our skipper, being the experienced navy guy, immediately got on the radio and called the Coast Guard, giving them the coordinates of our location. They said they would have a cutter out there ASAP.

Soon, one guy popped up at the side of the capsized boat and then another. I’m sure they were cold, scared and disoriented. We waited for the rescue craft for about 5 minutes. We finally saw it coming and the entertainment continued. As the cutter sped toward us, we could see a couple of sailors up on the deck, stripping their clothes off and donning wet suits.

As the rescue boat reached the capsized craft, the frogmen dove off the relatively high cutter deck and into the sea. They swam to the boat, grabbed one guy and assisted him over to their ship. The deck was so high that they had to lift him up from the water and crew from the cutter leaned down to grab his outstretched hands. The frogmen then swam back and looked like they were trying to get the second guy to leave the boat. He wouldn’t go. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was. All of a sudden, the frogmen started diving under the overturned boat. We realized there must be someone else under the boat.
I thought whoever was under there was a goner. The boat had been upside down for at least ten minutes by that point. After a few dives, the frogmen grabbed the guy and forced him to go with them to the cutter. We could tell he was upset and didn’t want to leave.
The cutter quickly motored its way to the front of the boat. The crew threw a rope and lashed it to the cutter while the frogmen tied the other end to the front of the bellied-up boat. Everyone was moving very fast. As soon as the swimmers could grab hold, the cutter took off, pulling the boat in tow.

The boat flipped upright immediately. The divers crawled in and began working at something that was hidden from our view. Soon, they pulled a young girl out but just as they did, the boat rolled over again. They swam the kid to the cutter and lifted her up to outstretched arms. We could see that the girl was alive and functioning. I felt it was a miracle, seeing she had been underwater for so long. She must have been strapped in the boat but able to find an air pocket to breathe in during those long minutes.
The drama wasn’t over. The divers swam back to the boat and the cutter took off once again. Again, the boat flipped up and the divers crawled back inside. There must be another one! We were shocked and worried that maybe this one had drowned.
He hadn’t. Another little kid was unbuckled and the divers hustled him to the cutter. We were incredulous at what we had just witnessed. The cutter took off, pulling the no-longer-speeding craft behind it towards the port. The skipper of the cutter called our skipper and thanked him for the excellent directions and help he had given. Even though the fishing was lousy that day, we all felt great. We had observed an exciting rescue with no fatalities.

Many years later, in the late 70's, my folks got an invitation from ML to attend a dinner and the dedication of the ML Bean Life Science Museum at BYU. They couldn't make it but forwarded the tickets to me. It was a grand affair and I got to spend a few minutes afterward with ML. I have always treasured the relationships and experiences I had with the Beans and their companions.

September 26, 2008
Ben Casper

One of my fonder memories of the museum happened quite recently. As a museum educator I give live animal shows and a few weeks ago I was halfway through a presentation about invertebrates when I reached into a cage to retrieve our Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. They like to hide under a little log we keep in their cage so I usually just pick up the log so people can get a better look. Well what to my wondering eyes should appear but our two adult roaches and several dozen babies. I let out an involuntary “Whoa!” and then tried to save face by calmly replacing the log. Exciting, and very gross. I love this place. There’s always something new.

April 1, 2008

Matt Meese
Museum Educator

March 29, 2008
From Museum Visitors:

I really Liked the aquatic animals. I hope you get more fish.

I like that it has Alaskan animals (moose, polar bear, brown bear, silver salmon, king salmon, red salmon and artic fox). I like that you have these things because I love Alaskan animals because I lived almost all my life in Alaska and I was born there.
Eliana

Reptiles - snakes, lizards, turtles
We come often for 6 year old grandson to see the animals and talk about where and how they live. Never ending enthusiasm!

I met the love of my life at the Bean Museum....I worked at the information desk and one day my future husband came up to use the phone. He asked me to go fishing and then the rest is history!!

The Bean Museum is a wonderful resource; there is no other place to see so many animals from so many places anywhere in Utah Valley. Our kids love to come and do the scavenger hunts and listen to the live animal shows. We are very lucky to have this museum available in our community.

The Most Amazing Thing Is The Whole Display Of The Butterflies,Very Gorgeous And Colorful.This Is Going To Be My Best Memory,Because I Came Here With My 2months Year Old "Ezkiel".My Name Is Alqwendolene From Page Arizona,And Currently Living Here In Utah Now.It's So Awesome When I Can Learn More About Other Living Things In This World,And So This Museum Is Amazing Plus More,I'm 26 Yrs Old.

March 28, 2008
From Museum Visitors:

I came to the Bean Museum when I was little, and I loved it because of the shell exhibit. That love stuck with me, and now I'm at BYU as a student. And I get to work here! I love being able to see all the exhibits. I've been excited about Open Collections night ever since I saw the poster about it in the custodial office. I love the Bean Museum!
Leila Watts

The bean life science museum teaches a lot to many!
THANK YOU!

I love this museum cause it was free!!!

I really enjoyed coming to BYU and seeing the museum! I was amazed at variety of animals, birds, and insects that I will probably never be able to see in person! Thank you!!

It was free!

When the museum opened my mother invited me, my husband and children to join her for a museum visit. We came frequently, especially when we had out of town visitors. It was a fun learning place. Today I am here with my husband, four of our children, and 9 out of town grandchildren. We are enjoying the museum, and are busy doing scavenger hunts. My mother always ended our visits with a trip to the BYU creamery. We will go there when we leave the museum. My children think it is the essential end to the museum visit.

I plan Saturday Safari at the Bean Museum and, while trying to decide on one favorite memory of the Museum, a lot of my experiences during Saturday Safari came to mind. Here are just a few:

The time our tarantula, Rosie, spun webs all over my hands and the kids all came up and pulled on the silk—even though some of them were afraid of spiders.
The time we got permission to go into the ornithology room in the basement of the Bean Museum during a Saturday Safari and we explored hundreds of different types of birds and nests.
When we played the rhino charging game. We blindfolded the "rhino" and the "rhino" had to charge at us.
When we brought out Oatis (our African spurred tortoise) and put a carrot at the end of the “runway” and timed his race across the carpet.
When Rosie (the tarantula) went to the bathroom on my hand . . .
When Oatis went to the bathroom on the stage . . .
When we all watched a video of an octopus eating a shark!
When we pretended to be Horned lizards and squirted ketchup at a target to see our aim (horned lizards squirt blood out of their eyes . . .)

March 27, 2008

Emily Kuttler
Museum Educator

March 27, 2008
From Museum Visitors:

IT IS AWESOME. IT IS COOL.

This place is my favorite place to come in the summer. Me and my friend come here every week. Ben Calaway

I LOVE THIS PLACE

I HAVE BEEN COMING TO THE BEAN MUSEUM SINCE BEFORE I CAN REMEMBER. ALL THE ANIMALS STILL CREATE THE SENSE OF WONDER AND AWE THAT I HAD WHEN I WAS A CHILD. I AM AMAZED AT THE VARIETY THAT GOD HAS CREATED AND AM GRATEFUL FOR THE DISPLAY OF BEAUTY FOR MY THREE CHILDREN MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS AFTER I ENJOYED THESE WONDERFUL EXHIBITS.
TANNER, AGE 30, ASHLAND, OREGON

Dr. Clayton White, the curator of birds here at the museum, often remarks that most people miss their own funeral by only a few days. Well . . . I had the privilege of attending Clayton's "funeral" at the museum . . . and so did he! It was a surprise party, thrown by his wife and children, for his 70th birthday. They devised an elaborate ruse to get him to the museum on time; he thought he was supposed to give a tour of the collections to some important dignitaries. The museum occasionally has catered dinners for special University events, so it took him a while to realize that the party was for him! He was shocked into speechlessness. Following a lovely dinner, family, friends, and colleagues adjourned to the auditorium, where vulture mounts had been hung from the ceiling and a casket had been placed on the stage. We sang hymns like I'm a Pilgrim, I'm a Stranger (look at verse 2 about those who stray becoming the vulture's prey) and "Pore Clayton's Daid," a parody of the song from the musical Oklahoma. I played the piano. Family members talked about how great their father/grandfather is and about their memories of him. It was great fun!

March 27, 2008

Janene Auger
Assistant Editor
Western North American Naturalist

I have always loved going to museums. When I was little, the highlight of visiting Grandma's was driving downtown to the Smithsonian and seeing all the dino fossils and stuffed animals. Learning small bits about these awesome creatures in the museum inspired me to learn more on my own. While I learned more about one creature, it led me to learn more about other things, and so I learned more about the natural world. As you can imagine, with this kind of background, working at the Bean is heaven! Not only do I get to be surrounded by natural history all the time, I get to share my passion for it with others. Some of my favorite memories at the museum are of me balanced on one foot, holding a monitor lizard aloft on the other, and explaining how a lizard's third eye works. Any scratches procured while posing as the interim climbing post are of course worn as badges of honor! And you can really see the miracle of teaching when a toddler is trying to coax his mom to touch the nice snake. Being able to share what I love with others is the most rewarding part of working at the Bean, and that's what this museum is about, teaching one another so we can make a better future.

March 26, 2008

Cassie Andrew
Museum Educator

My first experience with the Bean Museum was only three months ago when I first began working here. Since then, I have come to know the museum as a wonderful place filled with opportunities to discover and meet some of the most caring and knowledgeable people.

These are some of the perks I’ve found to working at the Bean museum:

• Watching the displays in the making and seeing the finished product
• Meeting young children when they occasionally put their noses to the glass of my office door and ask, “what’s in here?”
• Getting to see different animals every time I walk down the hall to run an errand
• Seeing an entire first grade class line up with their small change to buy something from our museum store.
• Opening packages delivered to us containing artificial animal snouts for displays.
• Getting to answer to people on the phone, “Yes, our museum is free and open to the public!”

And here are some perks to working with the people I do:

• Looking through a roll of quarters to find the missing quarter for a co-worker’s quarter collection.
• Hearing a number of renditions from Broadway musicals being sung in the break room
• Printing out a schedule every Monday for the custodial staff (way to be on top of it!)
• Receiving emails from the other secretaries with clearly outlined TO DO lists
• Getting various notes and apologies on the deposit every morning from store employees
• Typing Ken Packer’s memos

Thanks for the good times!

March 26, 2008

Rebecca Peterson
Student Secretary

I love the Bean Life Science Museum! It is a place of wonder and learning. There are so many things to see, and so much to learn about. As an employee, my favorite part is watching the kids on school field trips. They are so excited and run from animal to animal with shouts of "Wow, look at this, and look at this"! It is so exciting to see them so excited and watch as they take it all in. They are like sponges soaking up every detail!

March 26, 2008

Patty Jones
Assistant to the Director

March 25, 2008
From Museum visitors:

DEAR MUSEUM:
YOU HAVE THE BEST MUSEUM EVER.
FROM LAUREN BACON
AGE :5

THIS IS AN AWESOME MUSEUM!I AM NOT KIDDING YOU. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANIMALS THIS BIG.

I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE AN AWESOME MUSEUM.

My memories of the museum began as a child visiting the Museum with my local school – I remember wandering around looking at the details of the animals and observing the characteristics that differentiated them from one another. I particularly loved the vividly colored butterflies! Now, as a student at BYU, it’s been a great opportunity to work at the Museum, being able to brush shoulders with some excellent coworkers. It’s also fun because you can’t help but learn about our world through the conversations with curators, various exhibits and live animal shows. I’ve also been able to bring groups of students from local schools that are learning about the opportunities available to them in a college or university – the Bean Museum has been one of their absolute favorite places to enjoy and it’s a joy watching them have learn and have fun!

March 25, 2008

Jacquie Carter
Student Secretary

I remember visiting the museum for some of my art classes when I was going to BYU in 1984-1986. I enjoyed the wide selection of specimens to draw...especially North American mammals. I also remember coming to see the Ramsey display around 1987.

March 25, 2008

Randy Baker
Museum Graphic Designer

I've been working at the Bean Museum for several years now. I got started at the museum because I have always had a love for animals and nature, and heard that they needed to hire a reptile caretaker over the summer. While doing that, I also began to help with shows, and to share my love of nature with the public, and especially with children. It's hard to find one specific memory that I like the most from my time here (there are many great memories) but one that I particularly like is a Japanese Reptile show that I gave. (Not Japanese reptiles, but a reptile show given in Japanese). The Japanese people are lots of fun, especially the high schoolers. Whenever I would bring out a large reptile such as Ringo, ShiShi or Oatis, the room would fill with excited students going "Eehhhhh!" or sometimes jumping, up, acting scared, just having fun. The teachers and other chaperones would also react in great ways. That's an example of one of the many fun memories that I have from the Bean Museum. Being able to bring nature to families and to watch their excitement, help them overcome fears, and to see them gain a greater respect and love for our world.

March 25, 2008

Brent Beardsley
Museum Educator

March 24, 2008
From Museum visitors:

IT IS AWESOME, THAT'S ALL I KNOES

Today I was here looking at the ducks. My favorite was the Bufflehead. I turned to my roommate and said, "Hey, Bufflehead!" and then made a face as if to say, "What are you gonna do about that?!?" All she could come up with was, "Goldeneye!" I took it as a compliment. Now I go by Goldie. Yes, the Bean Museum changed my life and my identity... forever.

I love the Monte Bean Museum because it smells like beans. I love beans. Especially Pinto. So good in a soup. I also enjoy looking at the stuffed ostriches. Garbanzo beans make great hummus. Hummus is a middle-Eastern food that tastes great with rye. And it rhymes with Pumice. A rock I believe I have seen here. I love the museum!

They give me and my family a chance to see animals up close, that we would never get a chance to otherwise. After coming to the museum, we all have a great appreciation and understanding of the natural world.

As a new professor, this was the only location we could afford to take our children for learning and entertainment -- and they never tired of coming.
Thank you.

Because it is wholesome and free! It is the first place I took my now wife on a date. Thanks a bunch!

I have always loved the Bean Museum. When you grow up in Utah County then you are almost sure to have visited the museum at least once. Some of my fondest memories of the museum include running around with the other third graders in my class trying to decide which animal each of us looked most like, being scared to death when someone put a plastic snake from the museum store in my hair, and my favorite story of all is that this was the very first place I held a boys hand!!! (I was in second grade!).
When I came here on field trips I never imagined that I would be working here as a university student—but I do now and I love it. I am confident there is no other job on campus that can relate to being a secretary at the Bean Museum. It has been such a great learning experience to see what goes on beyond the exhibits that I saw as a young school girl and to see the importance of the collections here. Most of all I have enjoyed getting to know the faculty and staff members that work here and see the incredible contributions to the museum and BYU that they make every day. They will forever be my friends.

March 24, 2008

Kendra Duncan
Student Secretary

I first started working in the museum in 1996 as an undergraduate student when I got a job in the lichen lab with Dr. St. Clair. I have been on many lichen collecting trips all over Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Montana. I have so many memories of these trips and I enjoyed everyone of them. I have been associated with the museum in one way or another since that time. Currently I work with the student employees who serve as educators. I think the museum is cool not only because we have green carpet (its my favorite color), but because we have excellent exhibits which allow people to see animals up close (including Shasta the Liger). Not to mention the millions of specimens behind closed doors in our research collections. I love to watch and listen to little kids as the discover the wonders of nature that they can experience inside the Bean Life Science Museum.

March 24, 2008

Katy Knight
Education Coordinator

In the few years that I have worked here at the museum, first as a student, and now as part of the museum staff, I have learned many things and grown in many ways. I would like to take a moment to thank those that helped me get to where I am today. First I would like to thank Doug Cox for hiring me as a student and believing in me. I want to thank Marta Adair for listening to my ideas even though I was just a student and Katy Knight for always pushing me to do better. Also, Larry St Clair for making my current position possible, Jack Sites for teaching me how to work hard to learn, and Patty Jones for always being willing to listen to me regardless of what I have to talk about. I have to thank all the children whose wonder at the natural world makes my job so rewarding, and lastly, I would like to thank all the wonderful students I have worked with here at the museum. Their devotion to and love of their jobs makes the museum what it is to many people including me. The Monte L Bean Life Science Museum is truly a wonderful place to work and the staff here are wonderful people to work with.

March 21, 2008

Tashina Chipman
Education Specialist

When I was ten years old, I would ride my bike after school to the site of the museum construction, and watch the building slowly come together. My friends told me that they were going to have all sorts of animals in there including dinosaurs. I watched the workmen closely, and waited in great anticipation in hopes that I might catch a glimpse of a T. rex being lowered from a great crane into the atrium. I was of course misinformed about the types of animals the museum would house, but that experience helped establish in my mind what a wonderful and mysterious place the museum would be.

I remember clearly the day the museum opened the doors to the public for the very first time. The collections areas of the museum were opened for the public to tour through, and I was among the mass of people being shuffled through the various collections. I recall going through the herpetology collection and seeing Doug Cox handling a live snake. He even let me hold it. I remember walking through the insect collection, being fascinated by drawer after drawer of beetles, butterflies, and other bugs. They seemed so wondrous to me with all their shapes and colors and hues, and I had never known there were so many kinds of bugs in the world. I stopped at a drawer of honeybees and examined them more closely. They were all lined up like little soldiers, row after row of them, and the drawer was full. I recall thinking to myself, “why in the world does anyone need so many dead honeybees that all look the same?” Then I recall Stephen Wood telling me that just as everyone in the room looked a little bit different, all of the honeybees in that drawer looked different to an entomologist.

It was this experience that sparked my first real love of entomology, and as I became older, I had all sorts of experiences with the museum. Little did I know that some 30 years later, I would be responsible for all of the dead bugs, and that they would still fascinate me.

March 21, 2008

Michael F. Whiting
Curator of Insects

I worked here a few years ago when the elephant was being built. I got to watch the entire mounting proccess from beginning to end and I happend to be working the night that Skip, our taxidermist, finished putting the final touches on it. He told me and my co-worker that the scaffalding would be comming down and the display would be open the following day. He then asked if we would like to sit on top of it and take a picture before it all came down. Of course we did! We each took our turn climbing up and getting our picture taken. Climbing up was no easy task. First I climed onto the scaffolding, then up a ladder, and then I had to step onto Skip's hands and let him boost me the rest of the way up. It was a real stretch to straddle it, too, and the skin felt prickly. But it was all worth it! That was a great night and a great picture!

One time I had to go on an outreach to Eagle Mountain to do a Reptile Show. I got out of class late and ran up to the museum where one of my co-workers had everything ready to go. I grabbed the bags with the live animals and threw them in the back seat and we sped down the freeway trying to get threre on time. Just after I exited the freeway and took off on the highway I felt somthing brush against my toe. I was running late and didn't have time to stop and look. I didn't think too much about it until I felt somthing brush against my other foot. It was then that I looked down and saw, to my great surprise and horror, our California King Snake, Oliver, wrapped around both my feet and the break pedal! Oliver, it turns out, is an escape artist. He can get his head between the zippers and push them apart until he can slither out of his bag. (We now know that a well placed saftely pin is an effective solution to this problem.) Somehow, between my panic and fear of hurting the snake, I did manage to stop the car and untangle Oliver from my feet. I yelled at him for a good 5 minutes (none of which he heard or understood) until my heart rate dropped back down to normal and then put him and his bag on the front seat where I could keep an eye one him. We did make it to our show and back without further incident, but that is definently one trip I will never forget!

March 21, 2008

Melissa Landeen
Museum Educator

31 years ago I was working in an area behind the Museum’s exhibits in the Heber J. Grant building when I overheard a mother and her young 4 year old son conversing. The youngster was exited as he kept expressing his happiness to see all of the “animules”. I’m exited about “all of the animules” in the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum. It is always an adventure to be involved with this Museum from its beginning to now and to have known ML and Birdie Bean for a short time. Happy 30th Anniversary!

March 21, 2008

Wesley “Skip” Skidmore.
Museum Taxidermist and vertebrate collections manager

The museum has been a real blessing in my life during the past four or five years. I have had an interest in marine biology with special focus on molluscan taxonomy since childhood. My career has taken me in a different direction pursuing the disciplines of biochemistry and biophysics. Having the opportunity to assist with curation of the shell collection has therefore allowed me an avenue to use expertise and satisfy interests that would otherwise be neglected. An added benefit to my family is that I have been able to involve one of my sons who has also developed an affinity for shell classification. He was able to foster that interest with an Eagle Scout project and then participate with me in organizing and reclassifying parts of the collection. I appreciate very much the chance to continue to be involved and mentor students in this fascinating area of biology.

March 21, 2008

John Bell
Curator of Mollusks

I joined the BYU faculty in 1982, and as an after-thought was asked to curate the Herpetology collection. At the time there were no funds to support curatorial work, I had no released time to actually do the work, and the collection had not been actively curated for at least 4 years. Specimens of great scientific worth were dried in jars from which all fluid-preservative had evaporated and several hundred had to be re-hydrated, records of loans to other investigators were in disarray, and the catalog of numerical records was inaccurate. Since that time, funds have been made available (through the growth of museum endowments) for curation of all collections, curators have secured released time for their work in the research collections, and the museum now regularly also provides partial support for research-based field work and student mentoring. Several collections are now computerized and data bases are being developed for the others, and these collections are widely recognized in professional circles as comprising unique and irreplaceable resources for basic and applied research, conservation and management of natural resources, classroom teaching, and public education and outreach. The collections serve as an irreplaceable biodiversity library resource to the College of Life Sciences, Utah Valley, the Utah System of Higher Education, the people of the State of Utah, a broad range of state and federal resource management agencies, non-governmental organizations, and colleagues in the biological and conservation communities across the nation.

March 20, 2008

Jack W. Sites, Jr.
Maeser Professor of Biology and
Associate Director (Research and Curation),
M.L. Bean Life Science Museum

As a new hire at BYU I was excited to be appointed as an Assistant Curator in the museum. An added perk was the opportunity to attend the Museum Christmas Party each year. In my second year on the faculty I was recruiting a postdoctoral candidate to work in my lab. It happened that he was on campus at the same time as our Museum Christmas dinner, so invited him to join us. Not being accustomed to the BYU culture, I warned him ahead of time that this would be a ‘dry’ party. Imagine his surprise when Hal Black jumped to feet after dinner and began shaking his key ring calling for music. It wasn’t long until everyone had their keys out—the best surrogate available for sleigh bells—and was singing Christmas carols. With a somewhat surprised look on his face, my postdoc candidate turned to me and said, “Wow! All of this with no alcohol!”

March 20, 2008

Jerry Johnson
Assistant Curator of Fish

I have been formally associated with the museum for going on 20 years – as curator of nonvascular plants and now director. The M.L. Bean Life Science Museum is a remarkable place to visit and work! Over the last 18 months I have made it a point to regularly spend time simply walking around the museum and observing our patrons. The children, especially the younger ones are particularly interesting to watch. You can see the wonder and excitement in their faces as they approach the wolves just outside the museum offices. You can clearly see that they have this almost uncontrollable desire to reach out and touch the wolves’ snouts! I have often wondered if it was simply an issue of trying to see if they are really alive or just the pure excitement of seeing something so beautiful up close. In most cases fear seems to have nothing to do with their interest – rather an almost reverential awe seems to permeate their minds and hearts. Not occasionally, I see the same response in our adult patrons. Tragically, the older we get the more restrained and “mature” we tend to be with our excitement about the world around us – but even as adults the museum’s exciting and beautiful creatures bring us to our feet and restore the wonder to our hearts – come, come and enjoy the wonders of the museum let your heart feel the beauty and power of God’s creatures while your mind is renewed by their message of hope!!

March 20, 2008

Larry L. St. Clair
Professor of Biology &
Director, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum

Happy Birthday Bean!

2008-03-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

It’s the Bean Museum’s 30th Birthday!

On March 24, the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. And museums sure know how to party! The staff here at the Bean has made sure that this is one birthday you will remember. In honor of the anniversary, events have been planned all month to help celebrate. The bulk of the events will occur during the week of the birthday (March 24–29). Here’s a schedule:

March 24th (Monday)

-Family Night: Bring your family or your friends and explore the museum’s specimens and history in a treasure hunt! Prizes will be awarded to those who complete it. Also, patrons can enjoy the museum’s two live animal shows and take home a balloon animal!

March 25th (Tuesday)

-If you were born in 1978, you can join us for a birthday lunch! (To be included on the guest list, contact Patty Jones, patty_jones@byu.edu)

March 26th (Wednesday)

-Shasta pictures (6–8 p.m.): Have you seen the museum’s liger, Shasta? For one night only, come get your picture taken with her!

-Coloring contest entries due TODAY (to download the coloring page, see here).

March 27th (Thursday)

-Tanner Lecture at 7:00 p.m. “Evolution of Darwin’s Inspirations: Giant Galapagos Tortoises” by Jeffrey R. Powell and Adalgisa Caccone from Yale University

For more information, take a look here.

March 28th (Friday)

-Open Collections Night (6–8 p.m.) This is your chance to check out all of the collections, including some things that are normally behind closed doors! The curators will be available to answer your questions and teach you about some of the museum’s incredible specimens.

March 29th (Saturday)

-MUSEUM BIRTHDAY PARTY!
-Live animal passports from 11 a.m. to noon: Hogle Zoo will be joining us for this special event, where people can meet live animals from all over the world!
-Birthday cake at NOON
-COSMO visits the museum from 1 to 2 p.m.

LICHENS WITH LARRY - Saturday, March 15th

2008-03-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

There’s still time to sign up for the next Nature Experienceship. Turn off the Discovery Channel for a day and join the experts live in nature! Nature Experienceships are Bean Museum events in which participants (ages twelve and older) can sign up to learn about a certain nature topic from an expert in the field. The expert often takes the participants on a brief field trip to allow participants to get a better look at nature in action.

This month’s nature experienceship will be led by Dr. Larry St. Clair, a BYU botany professor and the curator of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum’s nonvascular cryptogams. Dr. St. Clair will talk especially about lichens found in the Rocky Mountains. Each participant will receive a copy of Dr. St. Clair’s book Common Rocky Mountain Lichens.

Why learn about lichens?

1) Lichens are one of nature’s most interesting mini-ecosystems! A fungus and a photosynthetic partner come together in a symbiotic relationship to form something complex and beautiful (Lichens, by William Purvis, page 5). Kind of like people, right? As individuals, we are unique and wonderful, but when we come together in communities, we can accomplish a lot of great things!

2) Lichens are found all over the world, including in some of the weirdest places imaginable— toxic waste piles, Antarctica, on grave stones— and virtually in all other types of environments.

3) Lichens are an important part of understanding our planet’s health. Because lichens are sensitive organisms, pollution can kill them off more quickly than many other organisms in nature. The amount of lichen growth or decline can help scientists to assess air quality in an area! Basically, lichens are one of Earth’s natural pollution-o-meters! (Lichens, by William Purvis, pages 4 and 101)

4) Lichens are beautiful. They come in many beautiful colors and shapes. The pictures below will give you a taste of lichens’ natural beauty.

5) The Bean Museum has one of the largest collections of lichens in the world, which makes this one of the best places to learn about lichens!

We hope to see you this Saturday at the Nature Experienceship. Call 801-422-5051 to sign up. The cost is $10, and included in that cost is admission to the Nature Experienceship and a copy of Common Rocky Mountain Lichens.

This lichen is called Xanthoria candelaria. You can find it on certain trees and shrubs and on rock in western North America.

Check out the lichen on slate boulder rock in the Sierra Nevada foothills in California. It looks like someone splashed paint all over the rock, doesn’t it?

2008 Photo Show February 8–March 1

2008-03-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

There’s one week left to check out the photographs from the Bean Museum’s Annual Nature Photography Competition and Exhibition! The exhibit is located on the third floor of the museum and showcases the photography of professional and amateur photographers from several places in the U.S. The contest’s publicity usual spreads by word-of-mouth, according to Randy Baker.

Photo categories include “Animal Wildlife,” “Bird wildlife,” “Man & Nature,” “Landscape,” “Nature,” and “Water.”

This year’s winners were announced at a reception held on February 8 at the museum. Winners can pick up their photographs from March 15-27th.

Here are just some of the many winners:

Animal Wildlife
1st: “The Approach” by Jason Sims

Bird Wildlife
1st: “Duel” by John Blumenkamp

Man & Nature
1st: “Smoky Morning at Glacier National Park” by Lisa Thompson

Landscape
1st: “Bonneville Salt Flats” by Dan Ransom

Nature
1st: “Leonida” by Tiera Cox

Water
1st: “The Subway at Autumn” by Howard Knudson

Other Awards
Best of Show: “Green Lizard on Red Leaf” by Darrell Stacey (Animal Wildlife category)
Museum’s Choice Purchase Award: “Tiger Longwing” by Ronald Day (Animal Wildlife category)
People’s Choice Award: “Mother & Child” by John Steele (Animal Wildlife category)
Allen’s Camera Excellence Award: “Sunrise on the Golden Gate” by Adam Barker (Man & Nature category)

This free exhibit is sure to please your family, your roommates, your date, or simply yourself!

To whet your appetite, check out a few photos from the 2007 contest:

“Corn Lily” by Rodney G. Myatt

“Raindrop on Dogwood” by Jeff Beck

Nature Experienceship - Bald Eagles with Merrill Webb

2008-02-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Nature Experienceship - Bald Eagles with Merrill Webb

Specify Software Training @ LSU

2008-01-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

Back in November I traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to attend a workshop. I learned about how to use a specialized database software called SPECIFY. This software is designed specifically for Natural History Collections like the collections we have here at the Bean Life Science Museum. The workshop was helpful and I learned a lot. I also bought this T-shirt for my brother while I was there.

The man doing the training on SPECIFY gave me this T-shirt:

Katy Knight, Education Coordinator

Hogle Zoo Career Day

2007-11-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend another museum employee and I had the opportunity to attend career day, representing the museum, at the Hogle Zoo. I was surprised that it was so much fun! On the way there, we got lost because my directions were not correct, so we had to stop and ask for directions, and we couldn’t stop laughing because we felt ridiculous. Once we arrived at the zoo, we walked in and went into the auditorium and set up our little table. It was funny because the Education Director in charge of the career day went to the University of Utah for graduate school and kept pestering us about the rivalry between the two schools.
During the time the auditorium was open for guests to get information about various jobs involving animals, we were able to talk to multiple people. It was interesting to see their faces when we asked if they had ever thought of working at a museum before. Many of them had never thought of it and were surprised there were so many jobs at a museum. But overall, Shasta was the topic of the day. Once we told people that the museum houses Shasta, they knew exactly what museum we were.
Overall, it was a lot of fun! I am pretty sure they will be doing another career day next year at the zoo, and I would definitely go because it was a good time. They also had other things going on around the zoo with lectures and live animals. It was really interesting!
Mary Ryder, Museum Educator

Nature Art Show

2007-11-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

This year Ken Packer, Randy Baker and I, Julia Tian, put on the Fall 2007 Nature Art Show. We had about sixty entries from Utah artists that were juried by two judges. This was my first experience in curating, coordinating, and designing an art show. I enjoyed it enormously. Randy and I worked on the fliers, posters, newspaper ads and the initial organization of the artworks. Ken helped us finalize the artwork arrangement, and Clark assembled all the walls, hooks, frames, wires, lights, and everything else technical. The show opened my eyes to the teamwork that goes into a museum exhibition, as well as the myriad considerations that go into putting on an art show. I want to also acknowledge Katy’s and Patty’s secretaries’ contribution to the show, they were very helpful. And, of course, a huge thanks to Dr. Larry Saint Clair.
My favorite part about the show was that I got to learn so much as an artist in the art world. I was able to see other people’s styles, mediums, techniques, and personalities through their artwork. I also learned more about how judges, curators, and designers see the works of art submitted to the show, which will help me when I submit my artwork to shows in the future. Another aspect of the show that I enjoyed was thinking of it in terms of a life science museum. I had the opportunity to consider how the show would best serve the artists, the museum, the university, and the community. This Spring Randy Baker is directing the Spring 2008 Nature Photography Show, and I am very excited to work with him on that. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and/or will contribute to either show!

Julia Jin Tian, Assistant to the Graphic Designer and the Exhibits Coordinator

a part of nature

2007-11-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

One nine-year-old girl came up to me and Brent today and said, "I used to not like nature, but seeing this [museum] is making me feel like a part of nature." I wished I had had a video camera there so we could put it in our commercial.

Carly Ferrin, Museum Educator

Halloween Night

2007-10-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

As a Museum Educator, I get a lot of job satisfaction. I interact with several hundred museum patrons every week, and I get to show off an assorted variety of live reptiles that may or may not cause me bodily harm. Tell me that’s not exciting. But the special one-time Halloween show was quite possibly the most fun I’ve yet had. Imagine a dark auditorium located in the basement of the Bean Museum. The fact that we have a basement is almost as big a secret as the museum itself. Scores of patrons file into the room, greeted only by the darkness and the theme song to “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour”. When the last visitor has found a seat, the few lights left on are extinguished and a hush falls over everyone. And then it begins. With the aid of a simple flashlight, an ordinary Timber wolf is transformed into a fearsome beast of the night. A live snake seemingly emerges from nowhere and, with a few fishing lines, the silhouettes of a pair of bats steal the show as they flutter about on center stage. And the question and answer session at the end of the show was one for the ages. To my knowledge, I may be the first Museum Educator that has had to answer questions regarding vampires and the estimated werewolf population of Orem, Utah. In short, it was a big success and a good time had by all. And to be honest, I really can’t wait to see the Christmas show…

Matt Meese, Museum Educator

Nature Experienceship: Trees and Shrubs

2007-10-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

This was probably the museum's most interesting experienceship yet. It rained the entire time we were out looking at the trees. Luckily everyone came prepared with jackets and umbrellas. Professor Furniss did a wonderful job. We identified trees and shrubs all over campus, and even found a tree that was a little confused - with the change in day length it thought it was spring and was in bloom! Here are some photos from our experience:

Tashina Chipman, education department

Nature Experienceship - Bird Watching with MW

2007-09-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, September 22nd, 2007 was the Bean Life Science Museum's second, successful bird watching Nature Experienceship. Mr. Webb (Merrill Webb) took us down to the Provo Airport Dike where we saw the following birds (30 total):

Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Pied-billed Grebe
Western Grebe
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
White-faced Ibis
Osprey
American Kestrel
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Marbled Godwit
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Capian Tern
Forster's Tern
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Say's Phoebe
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Vesper Sparrow

It was an enjoyable experiecne as well as a great learning opportunity for all. Thanks Mr. Webb!

Here are some photos:

Bean Life Science Museum Blog

2007-09-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone -
We've decided to start a blog for the Bean Life Science Museum. This will be a forum for our patrons to read about the events and exhibits going on at the Museum in a less formal, candid format. People will also have the opportunity to post their thoughts and comments about our events and exhibits.