The fossils of Camden East Alvar
A particularly exposed section of the Camden East Alvar, an NCC property just west of Kingston, Ontario. (Photo by NCC)
Doing field work in the middle of the summer can be hot, but doing it on an alvar feels even hotter. An ecosystem formed with little to no soil on top of limestone bedrock, alvars typically have large areas of low-lying vegetation and exposed...
Volunteers make Big Valley flourish
Volunteers and staff prior to planting (Photo by NCC)
The Qu’Appelle River Valley is one of Saskatchewan’s prominent scenic landscapes. Its picturesque slopes and waterways host a wide variety species and offer views unlike any other in the province. I’ve driven through this region...
A week away: Cape Breton Island
Cain's Mountain (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Being able to work directly in nature is one of the reasons I love working as a conservation intern for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Gaining more field work experience at NCC as the summer weeks progressed made for an epic, four-night...
What we know about lake-safe sunscreen
Shoreline of a lake (Photo by Salome Guruli via Unsplash)
I always felt very lucky that I didn’t inherit my mother’s propensity to sunburn. I wore sunscreen constantly as a child because I was afraid I’d turn crispy from mere moments in the sun. To this day, I always wear sunscreen on...
Ode to a nature commute – part 4, summer
A bee on wild bergamot plant (Photo by Gayle Roodman/NCC)
This is part four of a four-part series on bike commuting through nature. Read part one – fall here, part two – winter here, and part three – spring here. Silly me, hoping that for part four of this blog I’d be back on...
Clowns of the sea: the Atlantic puffin
Atlantic puffins (Photo by Laurel Bernard/NCC staff)
The summer of 1999 was a unique one for me. I spent three months living on a small 23-acre (9.5 hectare) island 16 kilometres away from the nearest land. Machias Seal Island in New Brunswick was home to two full-time lighthouse keepers, three...
Introduction to NCC and field work
Samantha Stegen at Prospect, NS (Photo by NCC)
Since a young age, I have had a deep appreciation for nature, leading me to complete a bachelor of science degree in environmental science at Acadia University in 2020 and begin my master’s of resource and environmental management at...
Unlikely animal pairings: Part two
Brown-headed cowbird (Photo by David Dodd CC BY-NC)
This is part two of a two-part series on unlikely animal pairings. Check out part one, the hunting partnership between an American badger and a coyote, here. Another unlikely animal partnership features a bird that is known to take advantage of...
Unlikely animal pairings: Part one
Coyote (Photo by Paul Turbitt)
Have you ever seen the internet stories entitled “unlikely animal friends”? Usually, they are stories about a dog and a cat that sleep together, but sometimes they are about more exotic couplings, like an ostrich and a giraffe, or a...
Paw in claw: Friendships in the wild
A sea anemone hitching a ride on a hermit crab. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Friendships are one of the most organic things that can happen between humans. An often magical thing, these bonds are strong and can last a lifetime. While these human connections are no doubt valuable, for animals, “friendships,”...
