A great island in a Great Lake
Batchewana Island, ON (Photo by Gary McGuffin)
Like so many residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Lake Superior cottagers and travellers on the Trans-Canada Highway, Batchewana Island floats on the horizon of my summertime memories. I remember childhood picnics with my grandparents at Batchawana Bay...
How AI can benefit conservation
The Where to Work tool that allows users to set priorities on parameters such as (biodiversity, climate and ecosystem services) and receive a visualization of potential areas that is suitable for the goals we want to achieve.(Screenshot courtesy of NCC and Carleton University)
AI, or artificial intelligence, is in the news a lot lately. The stories range from very positive to doom and gloom. With all the talk about AI these days you might wonder, does AI play a role in the work that the Nature Conservancy of Canada...
Birding for beginners
Child with binoculars (Public Domain)
I wouldn’t consider myself a birder, but I am one of the many people who started getting more tuned into the nature around me when the pandemic started. Working from home and making a habit of taking walks around my neighbourhood has made me...
Reminiscing about nature in Dhaka
Montreal in April (Photo by Syeda Zareen Rafa/NCC staff)
I arrived in Montreal from Dhaka, Bangladesh, in August 2019, equal parts excited and nervous to start a new chapter of my life in a completely new city. It has been a while since then, and Montreal has seen me through my undergrad at McGill...
Sparrows, sparrows, everywhere!
Harris's sparrow (Photo by Mhairi McFarlane/NCC staff)
I must admit to having a bit of a soft spot for sparrows. Often overlooked by people, and underappreciated by many, written off as “just” sparrows by birders, or “just” a brown bird by people in general, I think they do...
Surviving the storm: What happens after the trees come down?
Downed trees in Gillies Grove after the freezing rain thunderstorm in spring 2023 (Photo by NCC)
Whenever we experience a big storm in eastern Ontario, my thoughts turn to the Gillies Grove Nature Reserve. Home to some of the last remaining old-growth forest in eastern Ontario, this Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) project is considered...
Native plants look different across Canada
My garden has come a long way in two years! (Photo by Jaimee Morozoff/NCC staff)
As my colleague Wendy mentioned in her blog post, native plant gardening is full of trials and tribulations. Depending on where you live in Canada, sometimes the “typical” native plant looks quite different. Across the Prairie...
No easy task: Ayla Peacock on battling invasive species in the Crown of the Continent
Getting to Conservation Volunteers site often involves a scenic hike through the land. Blind Canyon, AB (Photo by NCC)
I’m lucky enough to work in within the Crown of the Continent, a region straddling the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains that covers corners of Montana, Alberta and British Columbia. This unique landscape features magnificent and...
The wonder of new discoveries
Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria, Colombia (Photo by Mark Stabb/NCC staff)
It is heartening to know that there are pockets of the planet where, with the right eyes, new natural history discoveries are waiting to be made. I recently had the privilege of visiting the Republic of Colombia for a two-week birdwatching and...
For the love of our landscapes
Part of a naturalized lawn where goldenrods are in the foreground (Photo by Chelsea Vieira)
For so long, most western societies have valued groomed lawns and manicured gardens; those considered beautiful for their lack of weeds, crisp edges and often symmetrical landscaping. Having lived in urban areas most of my life, it wasn't until...
