News and stories

• The Western Australian Museum has won the 2011 Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Sector Management
• The successful project Exploring the Marine Biodiversity of Northern WA is a partnership between the WA Museum and Woodside Energy Ltd

A rare species of trapdoor spider has been found by chance in the backyard of a Grass Valley home in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region.

Join renowned conservationist and naturalist Dr W. H. (Harry) Butler to hear his tales of travels to remote Australia to record his legendary wildlife television series In the Wild.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney (II), the Western Australian Museum - Geraldton will present two special programs from November 16.

• 23 video clips featuring unique marine life of the Kimberley
• The videos are a day by day account of scientists working in the field
• Scientists have collected six species and one genus believed to be new to science

Until ground breaking fossil discoveries in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 2008, seeking evidence of fossil sex has been perhaps one of the most difficult endeavours in palaeontology.

For up to 8,000 years the fauna on many of the 170 islands that make up the Houtman Abrolhos off Geraldton have evolved in isolation, providing a fascinating laboratory in which to study adaptive patterns in many species.

Over its 120 year history the Western Australian Museum has often received donations of collections from members of the public that provide unique insights into the people and places of WA.

The arts and cultural opportunities available to local children and young people and the positive impact creative learning can have on their development will be explored when the Western Australian Museum – Albany co-hosts a new initiative of the Commissioner for Children and Young People Michell

Strong interest in Unearthed: Mining Stories from the Mid West has resulted in the Western Australian Museum - Geraldton extending the exhibition until Sunday 20 November 2011.

Culture and the Arts Minister John Day today unveiled an exclusive collection of rare and important objects from the British Museum which will be exhibited in Perth.

In the heart of the Weld Range hills in WA’s Midwest lies the Aboriginal site of Wilgie Mia where for thousands of years, extraordinarily bright red ochre has been mined from deep below the surface of the ground.