Have you ever wondered how we know how the landscape, forest, and climate have changed over millennia? The answer is “proxy” data, which can be used as direct indicators of the past. For example, we can use preserved pollen in lake sediment to tell us about what types of plants were present hundreds of thousands of years ago. There are many types of proxies, ranging from chemical, physical, or biological. Each proxy is like a small puzzle piece; when connected to other types of proxies they help complete the puzzle so we can better see and understand what the past was like. The Quaternary Environments lab at the museum looks at preserved plant material as proxies of past landscapes. We also look at modern pollen to learn more about Alberta’s grasslands and native plants. Come and learn about the diversity of pollen and plant macrofossils, and how they and other proxies gathered from ice patches, lake sediment, pollinators, and mountain caves, can help us learn about Alberta’s past.