Paula Noël

Paula Noël

Director of conservation, Atlantic region

Paula.Noel@natureconservancy.ca

Tel: 506-292-6614

Paula Noël has worked for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) since 2006, and is the program director for the Atlantic region.

Having earned degrees from both the University of New Brunswick in Saint John along with McGill University in Montreal, she was looking for a new challenge — one that could help provide solutions to some of our big problems we face on the planet. Paula first joined NCC as an intern, then took on a stewardship role before becoming New Brunswick's program manager.

"I am proud of the way NCC gets involved in communities where we work. People have very strong connections to the land where they live and it is important to introduce ourselves and be respectful of the local knowledge and history of the land. Also by doing this we are able to do our work much better and more efficiently," said Paula.

The Musquash Estuary Nature Preserve in southern New Brunswick is a great example of this. In collaboration with many partners, NCC has conserved almost 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) here, to date. It's rewarding to see the community still very involved in stewardship at Musquash, she says.

"What we do is simple, and it is permanent — we protect land by owning it and taking care of it. So we know these lands will continue to be healthy and provide homes for wildlife. Environmental issues can be overwhelming but the work NCC does makes an immediate impact on protecting biodiversity."