Collections
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Lichen Minded
Published06/09/2020 , By Eve Daniels
Next time you’re out in nature, take a moment to look for the lichens. You’ll see their unique colors and patterns on the rocks, trees, and stone structures everywhere from Northern Minnesota to the world’s deserts, tropics, and tundras. A symbiotic organism that’s part fungi, part algae or cyanobacteria, lichens… -
International Day for Biological Diversity
Published05/18/2020 , By Adam Hartman & Heather Cummins
As we kick off the first day of the week leading up to the International Day for Biological Diversity on Friday, let’s take a look at what it is and why it matters. The short version is that it’s a day the United Nations declared for increasing understanding and awareness… -
Adventures in Plant Evolution
Published05/13/2020 , By Eve Daniels
Ya Yang hiked to a glacier in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Lightning cracked in the distance. Yang and her collaborators found the plant they were looking for, pulled it from the icy water, roots and all. -
Reeling in the Centuries
Published05/11/2020 , By Eve Daniels
There are around 1.4 million licensed anglers in Minnesota, and they are surrounded by some 4,500 good fishing lakes. Whether you’re one of those 1.4 million, or you simply have a fascination with fishes, you can take some local pride in the fishes collection at the Bell Museum. -
Statewide Biodiversity Survey
Published05/07/2020
In 2019, Bell Museum curators embarked on the creation of a baseline biodiversity survey to document plant and animal species on six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recreation areas, with a particular focus on locating species of conservation concern. -
Reading the Signs from Salamanders
Published04/30/2020 , By Eve Daniels
While the “Salamander Capital of the World” isn’t a top roadside attraction, it does tell us a lot more about the past and future of our species than dinosaur sculptures ever will (no offense to Dinny the Dino). Located in the southern Appalachian mountains, this region is a rainbow of… -
Exploring Plants and Their Chemicals
Published03/31/2020
Ya Yang, our curator of plants, is leading a $1.4 million collaborative project with Sam Brockington at Cambridge University, Hiroshi Maeda at University of Wisconsin, and Stephen Smith at University of Michigan. Support for Yang’s team here at the University is $480,000. We sat down to get some details on… -
Something Fishy at the Bell
Published03/27/2020
Keiffer Williams, Alex Franzen, and Claire Rude are UMN students using the Bell’s fish collections for research. -
Meet Ficus umbrae
Published
George Weiblen, our science director and curator of plants, along with student Zacky Ezedin described a new species—Ficus umbrae—in 2019. -
Predicting the Future With Plants
Published01/22/2020 , By Eve Daniels
What do a rare coconut from the Seychelles and a 100-year-old wildflower from Minnesota have in common? This might sound like the setup to a bad botany joke, but there’s a serious connection between them. Found on only two islands in the world, the endangered double coconut is currently threatened…