The void of indifference
American badger near its burrow (Photo by Gerald A. DeBoer/Shutterstock)
I often take forays out to wilderness areas for what I call it my sanity break. So it was one August afternoon, as I turned my vehicle down a gravel road, that I made an abrupt stop. There, about a quarter of a mile away, I spotted some creature...
Out for a walk
Approaching the Bay Bulls lighthouse with the last of the daylight (Photo by Lanna Campbell/NCC)
An unnatural thirst for physical pain and the lure of making memories set the stage as we carefully planned out nine days’ worth of trail food. My tent-mate, Megan, would later ask me a few days in, “Did I want to do this hike, or did...
Pollinating the prairies
A parasitic fly pollinating a hairy golden aster (Photo by Diana Bizecki Robson)
It was with some sadness that I finished my last field work of the season at Yellow Quill Prairie. It will be many long, cold months before I get to go out again. However, I was eager to get back to the office to crunch some numbers and see how...
A two-for-one solution for climate change
Ogilvie sunset on forest, BC (Photo by NCC)
A wide recognition of the acceleration of climate change and its impacts – increasing incidents of extreme weather events among them – has triggered a range of actions across Canada. Government, corporations, academia and non-profit...
A walk in the woods: The forest through the lens of a photographer
Forest along Long Tusket River, NS (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
For me the forest is always a welcoming place. As a child, I always knew what to expect when wandering off: always predictable, friendly and ever welcoming. A forest was a place to immerse myself in and experience nature. Photographing it was...
What I discovered spending the day in an outside classroom
Smiling faces of the outdoor education students from Greenall High School in Balgonie, SK. (Photo by NCC)
Growing up in a rural town, I would love to say we all got out to see nature on a regular basis. However, with the draw of technology and the lure of multimedia, not many of us go out as much as we should. And these days, finding a habitat...
Celebrating Canadian species: Grizzly bear
Grizzly bear (Photo by Peter Sulzle)
When I put my boots on in the morning, I never really expect or seek to see a grizzly bear. Despite the fact that my Rocky Mountains backyard is home to many brown bears, any encounter always feels like a surprise. Meeting a bear in the wild...
Restoring the dunes of James Island, BC
Volunteers at the Broom Bash event on James Island, BC (Photo by Ann MacDonald)
“Covenant,” from the French word "convenir," means to come together. And this fall, 11 of us did just that as Conservation Volunteers with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). We spent a sunbaked autumn day yanking gorse and Scotch...
The science behind fall colours
Kettle Island, Quebec (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
In the fall, Canadians pile in their cars and get out into nature to “leaf peep.” Canadian forests are a symphony of colour for a short few weeks in autumn - and as with everything that happens in nature, there’s fascinating...
A walk in the woods: Land of giants among dinosaurs
Walking through a BC forest dripping with witch's hair lichen (Photo by NCC)
I have been fortunate enough to live in some of the most beautiful parts of British Columbia, from the Rockies to the west coast. My life began in the Kootenays in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, among slopes blanketed in montane and Columbia...
