UBC Beaty Biodiveristy Museum

Vancouver’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC features a collection of biological exhibits including animal, plant and insect specimens and fossils.

The museum has been designed to shine a spotlight on why biodiversity is so important and how we can help maintain it.

This article contains the following information about the museum:

Hours and Admission Rates | Beaty Nocturnal Nights | Biodiversity Museum Exhibitions | Other Information

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC

Home to around 2 million specimens, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum displays all kinds of biological organisms including insects, plants and mammals.

The facility’s address is 2212 Main Mall at the University of British Columbia. It was the first biodiversity museum in Canada to publicly display its scientific findings, in order to help educate visitors on what they can do to help the current environmental crisis.

Next to the museum is the Biodiversity Research Centre. Scientists at the centre conduct biological diversity research that’s crucial to thwarting the degradation of biodiversity due to the perils of climate change.

Note: The Biodiversity Research Centre is currently undergoing expansion. The Beaty Biodiversity Museum remains open during this expansion period, which started in April 2023 and is due to complete in the spring of 2025.

Hours and Admission Rates

The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Tuesdays to Sundays. It’s closed on Mondays and also on public holidays.

Admission rates as of January 2025 are the following:

Adults – $18
Seniors (ages 65+), Students (with ID) and Youth (ages 13 to 17) – $15
Children (ages 6 to 12) – $10
UBC Students and Employees – Free
Families – either $35 or $55 depending on the family size

Children 5 years old and younger get in for free. There are also annual memberships available for $45 per adult, $35 per senior, student or youth, and $60 to $90 per family.

Beaty Nocturnal Nights

The museum hosts its Beaty Nocturnal event on the third Thursday of each month. These are special evening hours from 5:00 pm until 8:30 pm and admission is by donation during these times.

Dates for Beaty Nocturnal in 2025 are January 16th, February 20th, March 20th, April 17th, May 15th, June 19th, July 17th, August 21st, September 18th, October 16th, November 20th, and finally December 18th.

For more information about these and other events, see the Beaty Museum’s Calendar.

Biodiversity Museum Exhibitions

Permanent exhibits displayed at the museum include the largest blue whale skeleton in Canada at approximately 86 feet long. There are also casts of dinosaur footprints that were discovered in British Columbia. A timeline of earth’s history is included which depicts when various organisms lived and then went extinct over time.

The museum has many temporary exhibits that often change too. It’s also possible to access online exhibits without having to go to the building itself.

Other Information

See the official Beaty Biodiversity Museum website to learn more about the museum.

If you’re on campus and want to visit other places of interest then check out the Museum of Anthropology, UBC Botanical Garden or Nitobe Memorial Garden. The Botanical Garden also includes the Greenheart TreeWalk.

If you want more information about the UBC campus, then see our article about the University of British Columbia.

Other museums and related places of interest in Vancouver include the following:

Museums and other places of interest in other parts of Metro Vancouver you might be interested in include the following: