Local Exhibits
Numismatic Collection
Nickle Galleries
Libraries and Cultural Resources, University of Calgary
The Nickle Galleries’ Numismatic Collection is the largest and most important academic coin collection in Canada, and a rich teaching and research resource for the University of Calgary’s students and faculty. The collection consists of 23,000 artifacts spanning from the beginning of coinage in the 6th century BCE to the modern period, including ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Medieval, Jewish, Islamic, ethnographic and modern currencies.
Ancient money represents a vital source of information, and offers a unique line of inquiry allowing students to experience connection with the past. Nickle Galleries provides direct access to ancient artifacts, and offers interactive and collaborative research environment. In addition, the Nickle collection is supported by a large selection of numismatic books and periodicals housed in the University’s Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL) and The High Density Library (HDL).
Possible research areas:
- Architecture: buildings, bridges, monuments
- Ancient engineering
- History of medicine: human body and diseases
- Ancient technology and metallurgy
- Economics
- Metrology
- History of plants and animals
Marina Fischer is Collection Specialist for Numismatics at Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary. She holds an M.A. in Ancient History with specialization in Art History from the University of Calgary, and her research focuses on ancient Greek and Roman coinage. Marina is also Instructor with Continuing Education, and is a recipient of 2018 University of Calgary Teaching Award.
The Military Museums of Calgary, Alberta
The Military Museums of Calgary, Alberta is the largest tri-service museum in Western Canada and the second largest military museum in the country.
It consists of the four founding regimental museums and the Naval, Army and Air Force Museums of Alberta. We are also home to The Founders' Gallery and The Military Museums Library and Archives (University of Calgary).
The Military Museums is supported by The Military Museums Foundation, a non-profit organization that develops and delivers Alberta curriculum based education programs.
Arctic Institute of North America
Photographic Archives
The Arctic Institute’s photographic collection consists of over 4000 photographs dating from the late 1800s through the 1900s. Consisting mostly of black and white prints, but also some negatives and slides, the bulk of the collection dates to the first half of the 20th century. The photos were taken on a variety of expeditions and patrols by scientists, mountaineers, police and military patrols, and other Arctic explorers.
The collection is particularly valued for its insights into history, culture, and science. Much of the content includes an emphasis on Inuit cultural life and various scientific themes such as geology, glaciology, archaeology, and oil and gas exploration. Some of AINA’s larger collections include those from D.A. Nichols, Patrick D. Baird, M.H.W. Ritchie, Colonel Walter A. Wood, Henry Larsen, and Margaret Oldenburg. The collection has been professionally archived and is now available online.
Special collections- General Overview
University of Calgary's Arctic and Northern Studies Digital Collection
Department of Biological Sciences
Research and Teaching Collections
The Department of Biological Sciences supports research in many areas and promotes the development and work of numerous research labs that are affiliated with the department.
Zoology Museum
Located in the Biological Sciences building the collections of this education and research oriented museum are surprisingly diverse in content and use. The zoology collections have been used for teaching over 20 undergraduate courses in Biological Sciences as well as courses in Museum and Heritage Studies, Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Environmental Science, and Engineering. Recent research by faculty and staff associated with the zoology collections have included projects on comparative vertebrate morphology, West Nile Virus (in association with Dept. of Ecosystem and Public Health), biological surveys of the National Parks of Thailand, cloud forests in Costa Rica, rainforests in Panama, and currently a survey of the invertebrate fauna of the Kananaskis Valley, and books on the fly fauna of Africa and South America. Funders for this research have included: NSERC, The National Science Foundation (US), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the UN Environment Programme.
The collections are also used extensively for public outreach such as the University /Biological Sciences’ open houses, and presentations for University Schools Week, Minds in Motion, Mini-U, and the Alberta Science Network. For more information about the museum, its holdings, activities, and volunteer opportunities, please click on the above link.
Departmental Greenhouse
University of Calgary Plant Growth Facilities
The Plant Growth Facilities (PGF) includes greenhouses, head house support areas, and environmental growth chambers. Although the PGF are available to the entire University of Calgary community, they are used, primarily, by the Department of Biological Sciences.
Teaching and Research Greenhouses
The University of Calgary has approximately 4500 sq.ft of greenhouse space available for use by faculty in support of plant growth research and teaching. Contact staff for services. Service charges are assessed for all greenhouse users.
Plant Growth Chambers
Forty six environmental growth chambers are owned and maintained by the Department of Biological Sciences. These are located on the third floor of the Science A building. Departmental chambers are, typically, assigned to departmental projects. If available, chambers may be assigned to researchers from other University departments. Fees are charged for use of growth chambers.
Departmental Herbarium
Calgary's Herbarium has been providing indispensable botanical resources for teaching, research and industry for over 40 years. With an extensive collection of land plants from Alberta and around the world, the herbarium is dedicated to the collection, preservation and documentation of past and present plant biodiversity.
We hope to make an online collection of the resource in future, providing convenient access to collection information and pictures of the specimens housed in the Herbarium located in the Biological Sciences building at the U of C.