Summer intern interviews: Meet the fresh faces of NCC's Saskatchewan region (Part one)
Summer interns of NCC's Saskatchewan region (Photo by NCC)
Every summer, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) hires students from across the country to work in its summer intern program. The students help complete valuable conservation and fundraising work during their time here. They are also the...
Something old, something new
Tending a community garden (Photo by Bob Nichols/US Department of Agriculture, Wikimedia commons)
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been enchanted with the magic of gardening. The way I see it, gardening has the power to give life and mark new beginnings, turning something old into something new. Better yet, there’s nothing like...
Summer at a desk: Why it is more important than you think
Work behind the computer can still contribute to on-the-ground conservation. (Photo by NCC)
I have always been passionate about nature. My summers have always involved being outside, either for recreation or for work. This summer, however, I have the opportunity to be involved in conserving nature — from indoors. I am the summer...
My first month as an intern
NCC's 2018 Alberta Conservation Interns group shot (Photo by NCC)
Birds, barbed wire and brome, oh my! The first month of my internship with the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Conservation Volunteers (CV) program in the Alberta Region has been busier than I ever could have imagined. From...
Bird homes: Location is everything
Juvenile American robin (Photo by Sarah Ludlow/NCC staff)
On May 17, Conservation Volunteers helped install 14 nest boxes on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Edenwold property in Saskatchewan. These nest boxes were designed with certain species in mind ― tree swallows and mountain bluebirds....
Giving the grass a haircut
Maymont 5 property, SK (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Last summer I gave the grass a haircut. It seemed like a strange idea, but I was excited to learn something new. As I arrived at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Maymont 5 property in Saskatchewan, I was struck by the number...
The return of the swamp forest
Conservation Volunteers planting trees at Minesing Wetlands, ON (Photo by Robert Britton)
Imagine, if you will, an abandoned-looking farm in the southern Ontario countryside. You park your car and start walking into the back sections of it. After a while, you find yourself in a thickly grassed and soggy area with a tiny stream running...
Long live loons and their research
I paddled hundreds of kilometres searching for loons and their nests. (Photo by Kent Prior)
In the 1970s, North Americans were already concerned about the effects of human activity on the common loon, a large charismatic diving bird that breeds on lakes. My bachelor’s thesis at Queen’s University examined this concern on...
Welcoming our summer visitors
Canada warbler (Photo by Gerald Deboer)
Spring at the cottage is so exciting. I have many clear memories of those first steps out of the car each year after the lake ice has broken up…The scent of trees coming back to life, humidity from breezes blowing across the waves, the...
Learning by doing: A prof’s perspective
Maddox Cove, NL (Photo by NCC)
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a question adults often ask young children. Through high school and university, many students start to think about the answer to this question in terms of what kind of career or job they...
