UBC Undergraduate Research

The AC Brooks legacy : a historical narrative told through the Cowan Tetrapod collection Matzinger-Woudzia, Alexandra

Abstract

This report traces the historical narrative of the two highly acclaimed naturalist biologists, Allan Cyril Brooks (1896-1946) and his son Allan Cecil Brooks (1929-2000) though the 697 species that the men themselves have awarded to the Cowan Tetrapod Collection housed within the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC. The report contains information about the establishment of the museum itself, the history of the Cowan Tetrapod Collection, and chronicles the lives of these two extremely adventurous men. The analysis preformed in the scope of this report corresponds with the Beaty Museum’s core value of promoting collection-based research in which the user interacts with the exhibit at a very intimate level to learn. The ‘Brooks Legacy’ that is left behind by these two naturalist collectors enhances the museums ability to convey messages that reflect the core values of collection-based research. ‘The Legacy’ is a valuable teaching and learning collection that the museum has benefited from greatly. The scope of this report will illustrate the lives of these two men, and how their donations enrich the museum to an elite standard of education.

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada