Treasure hunting: The quest for queen snakes
Queen snake found on the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula in 2017. When these snakes are observed, not only do we look for signs of snake fungal disease, we also examine them for signs of injury and measure them so we can better understand the number of young versus adults in the population. (Photo by NCC)
Paddling across the lake, fellow staff from the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and I couldn’t contain our excitement. It was the first day of our annual queen snake surveys, and we were all curious about what we might find. I often...
Stopping the sixth extinction needs to start at home
Blanding's turtle (Photo by Gabrielle Fortin)
I can still remember the day I saw a Blanding’s turtle for the first time. It was at Point Pelee National Park, in Ontario, in 1990 while working as co-op student studying rare plants. I thought it was an amazing animal, with its high, domed...
Nature may “need half,” but it needs to be the right half
Bartholomew River, Miramichi, NB (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
My first introduction to protected areas targets was during my undergraduate at the University of Waterloo. Our Common Future (also known as the Brundtland Report), from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, was hot...
A summer for the (at-risk) birds
Canada warbler (Photo by Gerald Deboer)
I groggily open my eyes, and by the faint moonlight filtering in through my tent, I find my phone to check the time: 4:29 a.m. — one minute before my alarm is set to go off. I turn it off before the artificial sound interrupts the chorus...
Building homes for bats in the prairies
Conservation Volunteers from across Saskatchewan joined together to build bat boxes. (Photo by NCC)
Every year, the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) Saskatchewan Region holds a Conservation Volunteers event at its Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area (OMB). This year, one of the activities involved building bat boxes...
Species at risk need our help
Harbour seal (Photo by Ryan Murphy)
As an animal lover, I pride myself on my knowledge of all creatures furry, feathery and scaly. But when the federal government announced that it was adding nine more animals for protection under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), I was surprised to...
Getting schooled in bee conservation
Grade 2 students learning about pollinators (Photo courtesy Bee City Canada)
The Bee City Canada School program, created by Bee City Canada, was brought to life not in a boardroom, not in front of a computer screen, but in a classroom. Ashleigh White, a teacher at Tredway-Woodsworth Public School in Scarborough, Ontario,...
Something's Fishy: Life in the slow lane
Western silvery minnow (Photo by Karen Scott, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
In my day-to-day life working in Canada’s largest city, I often find myself rushing from one thing to the next. People are always advising me to stop to smell the roses. I don’t like the smell of roses, so this unwavering, kind-hearted...
Something's Fishy: Cat's got my tongue
Channel catfish, Fat Fish series (Illustration by Al Lau)
Before all you cat ladies and cat fanatics start reading this blog, I need to disclose something: I’m a dog person. It’s not that I don’t like cats. Who couldn’t love their long whiskers and unpredictable behaviour? I just...
How the Great White North can change the world: Canada's role in global biodiversity conservation
Powder Islands, Lake Superior, ON (Photo by Alan Auld)
I still remember a time when thinking about conservation made me feel disappointed in Canada. During my undergraduate years at the University of Waterloo in the early 1990s, I learned about the pioneering work of Norman Myers and read subsequent...
