Lasagna garden
My dog, Kahlua, in her new backyard (Photo by Carys Richards/NCC staff)
This summer I purchased a house, and alongside the responsibility of being a first-time home owner came the excitement of having my own yard to create a garden in. When I took possession of the house, the backyard looked a lot like this: flat and...
The birds of southwest Manitoba
In July 2019, I visited southwest Manitoba for a research scouting trip from the University of Oklahoma. (Photo by Paula Cimprich)
In July 2019, I visited southwest Manitoba for a research scouting trip from the University of Oklahoma, where I am a PhD student in the biology department. I was scouting for bird species and potential study areas to help with a University of...
Get your shinrin-yoku on this fall
Bunchberry Meadows Conservation Area, AB (Photo by Kyle Marquardt)
The first time I heard about shinrin-yoku, I was stuck in westbound traffic along Highway 401. The radio was tuned to CBC, where the content discussed on the morning show usually offers a reprieve from whatever lies ahead on the commuter-packed...
A summer of reconnecting with nature
Toronto's Don Valley (Photo by Adam Hunter/NCC staff)
This past summer, Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) staff across the country were fortunate enough to receive two days to spend connecting with nature. Called Nature Days, these were meant to be used anytime between summer solstice (June 21) and...
Learning to listen: Bringing students closer to nature
A teacher conducts a lesson in the forest (Photo by the Nature Office for the International Day of Forest Kindergarten)
Children and young students face a world that competes for and demands their attention every second of every day. Teachers face an even more daunting task, as they work to hold their students’ attention while educating and nourishing their...
Making friends with the solitary bees
Blue orchard bee (Photo by Robert Engelhardt)
When you think of bees, your mind probably goes to honey, hives and stingers. But what if I told you that there was a species of bee, native to the Saskatchewan prairies, that didn’t make honey, live in a hive or (usually) sting? Mason bees...
On top of the Lion’s Head
Lion's Head Provincial Park Reserve trail sign (Photo by Hai Lin Wang/NCC staff)
As a communications intern at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I write a lot of stories about our conservation technicians and interns, who spend most of their time out in the field, soaking up the scenery of some of Canada’s rarest...
Take the people you love to the places you love
Maia Herriot and her parents (Photo by NCC)
Every summer I come back home to Saskatchewan from university in New Brunswick and stay with my parents. I always work a full-time summer job, and my parents spend most weekends at our cabin. So, despite living in the same house, we always end the...
Grandfather nature
My grandfather and I on a sailboat at the 2013 Hunter Family Reunion at Inver Huron Beach, ON (Photo courtesy of Adam Hunter/NCC staff)
I partly owe my love of nature to my grandfather. He likely developed his own fascination with nature from growing up on a farm in the historic Meadowvale Village in Mississauga, Ontario. When I was three years old, my grandfather moved into a...
The language we all speak
Me as a child in China (Photo courtesy of Hai Lin Wang)
One of the most common questions people ask me is why I chose to study conservation. For a long time, I couldn’t answer that question. Unlike most of my classmates and fellow interns at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I did not grow...
