Sensing a bit of Husky pride...

Posted by: Julia Swan

The sun is shining (for now), cherry blossoms are blooming, and Washington Huskies, past and present, are flooding the UW campus. This weekend is the biggest showcase of University of Washington achievements of the entire year—Washington Weekend. Just about every campus department has something exciting going on! Check out the schedule for a full listing of events.

Of course, the Burke Museum is eager to get in on the fun. We’ve decided to offer free admission to all UW alumni and their families for the whole weekend (Friday-Sunday). So for all those UW alum out there who miss the perks of being a student, this is the perfect time to come visit the museum for free! All you need to do is bring your Alumni Association membership to the front desk.

We’ve also got a major event happening Saturday here at the museum. The Plateau Native Arts Celebration is going on from 10 am – 4 pm. We are bringing nine distinguished artists from the Yakama, Cayuse, and Nez Perce nations to demonstrate their crafts. If you liked what you saw in Peoples of the Plateau or This Place Called Home , then this is the perfect opportunity to witness the living arts of the Plateau region. And if you haven’t yet seen these two wonderful exhibits, why not come when you can meet practicing artists in person?

I’ve got my fingers crossed that the nice weather persists and that we have lots of sun for Washington Weekend. Come see the UW campus in all its glory, and while you’re at it, check out the Plateau Native Arts Celebration.

- Julia

Photo by Storms Photographic.

Taking a look Behind the Scenes of the Burke

Posted by: Julia Swan

If you attended Members' Behind the Scenes night last week (or even if you didn't!), check out the photos from the evening. It was a lot of fun! I had the honor of following around our wonderful photographer, which was great, because I got to see just about everything that was going on.

If you see a photo of yourself or someone in your family, please email me at burkepr@u.washington.edu, and I'll send you a copy!

- Julia

All photographs are courtesy Storms PhotoGraphic.

The Burke loves UW student research!

Posted by: Julia Swan

One of my favorite things about the Burke is our connection to the University of Washington. As a campus museum, we are privy to some of the region’s best researchers in a number of different fields. The relationship between the University of Washington and the Burke Museum is a mutually beneficial one. Many of our curator’s teach classes at the University of Washington, and university researchers have easy access to our collections. But it’s not only the seasoned professionals whose research impacts the Burke—it’s also a home to many students, both undergraduate and graduate, who work at, visit, and study the collections of the museum.

A great example of the student-museum partnership is the upcoming Bill Holm Center “Spring Lecture Series” happening at the museum. Starting this month, five graduate students holding Bill Holm Center Research Fellowships, will be presenting their research about Northwest Coast Native art to the public. Each lecturer will highlight their graduate research. Topics range from Chilkat tunics to Haida jewelry to Tlingit daggers! For full details about the spring lecture series, click here.

- Julia

Warning: Excessive cuteness may lead to increased awareness of global warming

Posted by: Karyn Gregory

Flocke the polar bear (not to be confused with last year’s Knut) was presented to her adoring fans in Nuremberg on Wednesday, April 8. She is now 4 months old. The presentation video is here thanks to National Geographic.

If you are in the area and would like to learn more about the plight of the polar bears and how their lifestyles are being dramatically impacted by climate change, visit The Last Polar Bear opening at the Burke Museum on June 28.

For additional cuteness, here’s some CNN footage of Flocke learning to crawl:

-Karyn

Jurassic Park lives on!

Posted by: Karyn Gregory

When I was younger, I was completely, entirely, and utterly obsessed with the film Jurassic Park. I even stood in line to place an advance order on the VHS tape (and if that doesn’t date me, nothing will). Last week, the BBC warmed my heart with the following announcement:

“Secret ‘Dino Bugs’ Revealed”

Enormous X-Ray machines have given scientists a glimpse of the tiny creatures trapped inside opaque fossilized tree resin (amber). So far, 360 fossil animals have been identified from the 600 chunks of amber.

"...Tafforeau and colleague Malvina Lak [from the University of Rennes] have put kilos of opaque amber chunks in the way of this beam and have found a treasure trove of ancient organisms. From more than 600 blocks, they have identified nearly 360 fossil animals. Wasps, flies, ants - even spiders. There are also small fragments of plant material. All of it caught up in the sticky goo of some prehistoric tree and then locked away until modern science provided the key..."

Now it’s simply a matter of waiting for a creative scientist to check for prehistoric DNA samples and begin a dinosaur cloning process. I’m willing to stand in line for advanced copies of a miniature triceratops too.

-Karyn

Burke Members: Come see our cool stuff!

Posted by: Julia Swan

Not everyone realizes that the objects and specimens they see when they visit a museum exhibition are just a teeny tiny fraction of the entire museum collection. Nearly all museums keep and care for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of items that the average person rarely has the opportunity to see.

The Burke Museum‘s permanent collections include over 12 million specimens and artifacts (holy cow that’s a lot of stuff!), and for obvious reasons, we can’t manage to put all of it on display in our public galleries. It’s a shame too, because with nearly a dozen different collections departments, ranging from ornithology to archeology to arachnology, we have a lot to show off!

That's why one of the most rewarding perks of having a Burke Museum membership (other than free entry to the museum all year, of course) is having the chance to attend the annual Burke Members’ Behind the Scenes Night. At Behind the Scenes Night, members are invited to take an exclusive look at what goes on beyond public view. Each of our departments brings out the best of their collections for members to tour. Our curators and collections staff are there all night to talk about the collections and brag about their cool research. All in all, it’s a really fun night! And this year it’s all happening Tuesday (that’s tomorrow!) from 6 – 9 pm.

Don’t miss this members’ favorite!

- Julia

Photos by Storms PhotoGraphic.

A new fish family?

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham

It looks like this handsome fellow...

...might just represent a newly discovered family of anglerfishes, according to Burke Curator of Fishes Ted Pietsch, one of the world's leading authorities on anglerfishes.

Though its missing the tell-tale prey-attracting lure that usually sprouts from anglerfishes' heads, the fish's eyes, flat-face, and leglike pectoral fins clued Dr. Pietsch in that this is most likely an anglerfish.

Pending DNA and morphology studies to confirm this classification, this fish could represent the first new family of anglerfishes described in a long, long time. In fact, according to Dr. Pietsch, in the last 50 years, scientists have described only five new families of fishes and none of them were even remotely related to anglerfishes.

Read more about its discovery over at uwnews.org.

- Rebecca

Photo by M. Snyder, starknakedfish.com/divingmaluku.com.