Dr. Guy Narbonne in the Globe and Mail

Dr. Guy Narbonne is featured in an article in the Globe and Mail, titled, “New ROM gallery showcases the weird, wonderful first drafts of animal life on Earth”. The article explores a new permanent gallery that recently opened at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) named "The Willner Madge Gallery, Dawn of Life". The gallery showcases life on Earth from its origin up to and including the Triassic Period (about 250-200 million years ago), when dinosaurs and mammals first evolved, and highlights many milestones along our own evolutionary path.

The article paraphrases Dr.Narbonne’s thoughts on the gallery, noting “…visitors are likely to perceive other themes that are equally striking. One is the intertwined relationship between life and global change, evident in the mass extinction events that have repeatedly truncated and redirected Earth’s biodiversity.”

An opening event for the new gallery was held on Monday, December 6th. Queen's University Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering attendees at the opening included Dr. Guy Narbonne, Dr. Carolyn Greentree, Adjunct Professor, Queen’s Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Dr. Marc Laflamme, PhD’07, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, Mississauga, and Dr. Linda Tsuji, Museum Curator for the Miller Museum of Geology. Dr. Narbonne, Dr. Greentree, and Dr. Laflamme have all done extensive research at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland (UNSECO World Heritage Site)and other Ediacaran sites that contributed to the interpretations in the Mistaken Point display in the gallery, as seen in the image.

Dr. Tsuji was hired at the ROM as a Contract Assistant Curator to work on the Dawn of Life gallery and was there for almost 4 years before coming to the Miller Museum of Geology.

Learn more about this new gallery by reading the article in the Globe and Mail.