Doors Open Day Festival at the Graham Kerr Building, Saturday 21st September
Published: 8 October 2024
As part of the recent Glasgow Doors Open Day Festival the Graham Kerr Building opened up with staff past and present providing a variety of activities and events
Graham Kerr Building Doors Open Day 2024
As part of the recent Glasgow Doors Open Day Festival, the Graham Kerr Building opened up on Saturday 21st September. Staff past and present put on a variety of activities and events for the ocassion.
Transforming Glasgow
Professor Roger Downie gave two lectures titled ‘The Transformation of Glasgow Zoology’ in the newly refurbished Main Lecture Theatre. He talked about the life and work of Glasgow Zoology’s founder, Sir John Graham Kerr, including his hazardous expeditions to South America, his career in Glasgow with the construction of the Zoology Building, including its museum, then his life as an MP representing the Scottish Universities where he attempted to persuade the navy to camouflage its ships using biological principles. The lecture then outlined the transformation of Glasgow Zoology since Kerr’s time and outlined the forthcoming book on the history of the department.
Tours and Activities
Three tours of the building were conducted by Maggie Reilly, the previous Curator of Zoology. She highlighted the architectural features including the exterior, and showed visitors a typical office, the refurbished main laboratory, the departmental library and then finished in the Zoology Museum. Every tour was over-subscribed as the opportunity to see behind the scenes proved too much to resist.
Meanwhile, Mike Rutherford, the current Curator of Zoology, helped by Hunterian museum staff, was in the Zoology Museum answering queries and explained the self-guided tours and activities to visitors.
This year’s Open Doors Festival theme of Diversity and Diaspora lent itself well to a trail around the museum that looked at animals that migrate and move. There were also origami birds, turtles, whales and butterflies to make, which were very popular judging by the small menagerie that had formed by the end of the day. Also in the museum, Dr Anna Mcgregor, ably assisted by her son, put on a great show for kids telling a tale of oysters and how they are being reintroduced into the seas around Scotland where they play a crucial role in the environment. Two students, Martha Stone-Shepherd and Emma Plant helped to manage guide our visitors.
By the end of the day around 200 people had taken part in the various events and many were asking when the museum would be open on a Saturday again.
First published: 8 October 2024
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