Citizen science: Conserving nature and communities for mutual benefit
Twenty-four people came out to NCC's Dundurn property in Saskatchewan to learn about citizen science and land conservation. (Photo by NCC)
If you see a group of hikers with their eyes glued to their phones, do not despair. They are likely just using the citizen science app iNaturalist to identify species; you can literally smell the roses and then use an app to find out what kind of...
Grab your binoculars and get outside
Cedar waxwing (Photo by June Swift)
Grab your binoculars and get outside. Listen, and scan the trees and sky with your eyes. That’s what I, a few fellow Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) interns, staff and friends did on June 14, 2019. At 6 a.m., we started out on a walk...
Black bear versus trail cam
Black bear (Photo by NCC)
Last summer, Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) Saskatchewan Region employees identified possible Canada lynx tracks on the Nathan Lang Memorial Property. This prompted them to find a way to monitor what species could be recorded on the property...
A break from the screen: NCC’s 2019 National office field trip
2019 National office field trip participants (Photo by NCC)
On May 24, approximately 70 Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff from the National office in Toronto, and some who were in town that day, visited our MacMillan Nature Reserve property in Vaughan, Ontario, for our annual staff field trip. The...
Getting a fresh perspective
Fresh Perspectives photo exhibit at 10C in Guelph, ON (Photo by NCC)
Pictures can capture the beauty of the world around us, evoke memories and feelings, and allow us to see nature in a different way. If taking and seeing photos of nature can do this for adults, imagine what it can do for children. Encouraging...
Volunteering abroad for nature
Clearing reed bed vegetation (Photo courtesy of Megan Quinn/NCC staff)
I don’t vacation very well. The problem with loving my job as a conservation biologist is that I have a hard time taking a holiday (and even when I do, I usually keep an eye on my work email inbox). So when I had the volunteer opportunity to...
Support local biodiversity by avoiding invasive plants in your garden
Winged euonymus (Photo by John Ruter/University of Georgia/Bugwood.org)
With gardening season upon us, the warm weather brings hope that your favourite plot of soil will be better than it was last year. At the Invasive Species Centre, we have one request as you mull over your garden plans for 2019: please avoid the...
Bossing the burn: Part two
Morgan Kanak, Emily Little, Michael Burak, Dale Gross and Gabriel Foley admiring the black line we established using the tools of the trade, including flappers and a drip torch. (Photo by NCC)
This is part two of “Bossing the burn.” Click here to read part one. Have you heard the Tragically Hip song, “Lonely End of the Rink”? I’m pretty sure it is a love song that also describes the toughest position in...
Bossing the burn: Part one
Prescribed burn at OMB (Photo by NCC)
Those of you who have met me know that I’m a pretty big, intimidating guy. Braggadocios, people have said. Bold, even. I mean, you know if you’ve seen me that I’ve got what you’d call a bit of swagger when I walk across the...
Paddling through the “Everglades of the North”
Kayaking through the canopy in the Minesing Wetlands, ON (Photo by NCC)
It’s a foggy spring morning, quiet and still, not a whisper of wind in the air, and you’re paddling through a forest of silver maple, hackberry and bur oak trees. The canopy above is perfectly reflected in the glass-like water, which...
