Driving Miss Hazel
Hazel Bird Nature Reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)
Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff like to say that science drives our conservation work. This is true, but sometimes while following the science, we stumble into something unexpected and truly amazing. Let me explain. Back about 20 years...
We can recover Canada’s wildlife: Five examples of species NCC is helping save
Small white lady's-slipper (Photo by Melissa Grantham)
These are tough times for many wildlife species and their habitats. Over three-quarters of Earth’s terrestrial ecosystems (excluding Antarctica) have been directly modified by human activities1 , and most of our shrinking global wilderness...
The future of conservation is female (part three)
Megan Quinn, conservation biology coordinator in Ontario (Photo by Charles T. Low Photography)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), over the course of the month we have been celebrating three young women working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Ontario Region. We spoke with them about what led...
The future of conservation is female (part two)
Esme Batten (Photo by Esme Batten)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), over the course of the month, we are celebrating three young women working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Ontario Region. We speak with them to learn more about...
The challenge of beaver dams in Blanding's turtle habitat
Blanding's Turtle (Photo by NCC)
The beaver and the turtle: it sounds like a Jean de LaFontaine fable, but for my colleague Milaine Saumur, the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) project manager in the Outaouais, Quebec, it's a true story. A couple of months ago...
My bucket list adventure in the Galapagos Islands
Kristyn Ferguson in the Galapagos Islands (Photo by Jeff Verberne)
For many biologists, the Galapagos Islands are usually near the top of their list of places to see in this lifetime. On my bucket list they were annotated with an “!”. When my mentor and good friend James Duncan passed away suddenly in...
A trip to dive for
Diving next to the Cozumel sign (Photo by Stephen Mancuso)
Last November, I went to Cozumel, Mexico, on a scuba diving trip. This Caribbean island is a diver’s paradise and is renowned for its crystal clear, aqua-coloured waters, pristine coral reefs and drift diving, a type of scuba diving where...
A cozy nest for a common gartersnake
Common gartersnake (Photo by Hugo Tremblay-CERFO)
You won’t be surprised to hear that my fellow scientists spend a lot of time in the field in the spring and summer (for species inventories, invasive species control, property monitoring, etc.), but when the snow flies and temperatures drop...
Hibernation with a hiss
A drawing of a snake (Photo by Darwin Online)
Snakes are such misunderstood creatures. Many people fear them, but that might be because they don’t know how awesome snakes are! Snakes are limbless reptiles with scaly skin. They are very diverse, with different sizes, colours and...
The best defence is an eco-fence!
Conservation Volunteers, NCC staff and Bruce Peninsula National park staff (Photo by NCC)
Ontario’s Saugeen Bruce Peninsula is well known for its unique biodiversity and natural beauty. As budding naturalists with a particular interest in reptiles and amphibians, my husband and I jumped at the chance to participate in the Nature...
