Written by cultural studies researcher Heike Hartmann, this chapter of the virtual exhibition “Ludwig Leichhardt: A German Explorer’s Letters Home from Australia” presents Dr. Leichhardt’s collecting of botanical specimens.

In this chapter of the virtual exhibition “Ludwig Leichhardt: A German Explorer’s Letters Home from Australia,” cultural studies researcher Heike Hartmann presents the deeds, fate, and legacy of Dr. Leichhardt’s companion John Gilbert.

This exhibition tells the story of Mabel “MB” Williams, an extraordinary, ordinary woman who became devoted to national parks and engendered that devotion in others. Historian Alan MacEachern documents her role in shaping the philosophy of Canada’s Dominion Parks Branch (the precursor to Parks Canada) in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Digitized photographs and letters from Williams’s life, her guidebooks and other publications, and audio interviews with Williams herself reveal her influence on, and love for, Canada’s national parks.

In this exhibition, ENHANCE ITN doctoral researchers showcase short virtual reality video installations that emerged out of their own empirical and ethnographic fieldwork. The videos work by tracking, rendering, and displaying full-field visual, sonic, and tactile data in a context in which the viewer has full control and is empowered to decide what to look at, listen to, and feel—or which story to experience.