How a fragmented forest helps a flying fish
Redside dace (Photo by K. Schmidt)
The tall trees in the MacMillan Nature Reserve stand like an island of green within the urban matrix of Vaughan, Ontario. Sprawling and sparkling new subdivisions splash up against three sides of this natural area; a five-lane roadway borders the...
Women in conservation: Mhairi McFarlane
Mhairi McFarlane with leucospora (Photo by NCC)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re celebrating eight female conservationists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) who are working to create a stronger future for Canada’s landscapes.For Mhairi McFarlane,...
Something's Fishy: Shock me like an American eel
American eel (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
The electrofishing boat gently rocked against the current of the water below. It was a scorching summer day in late August on a tributary in Lake Ontario, and no amount of SPF could have saved my freckled shoulders from the sun’s...
A species' international highway
White-tailed deer (Photo by Lorne)
Humans aren’t the only creatures on Earth that need to get around. Animals in the wild have to travel as well, some to migrate, some to hunt and others to find mates. And that explains the importance of the Frontenac Arch, a...
Women in conservation: Kathryn Folkl
Kathryn Folkl (Photo by NCC)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re celebrating eight female conservationists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) who are working to create a stronger future for Canada’s landscapes. Growing up on the...
Adventures restoring Lake Erie Farms
Norfolk, ON (Photo by NCC)
Not everything goes according to plan. It was June 2009, the third growing season at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Lake Erie Farms ecological restoration property in Norfolk County, Ontario. I was the ecological...
Biting down on the eastern subterranean termite
Petri dish trials to examine behaviour patterns in eastern subterranean termite populations. (Photo by Vicki Simkovic)
Watching a termite farm through a glass aquarium is fascinating, as you peer into the life of a mysterious species whose activities are normally hidden from view. Workers can be seen excavating tunnels, using their jaws to move soil grain by...
Something's Fishy: An impending invader
Northern snakehead (Photo by National Aquarium, Washington, DC)
I have an inherent fear of the dark. I’m not ashamed to admit that, without the company of my snoring pug, Molly, taking up half of my bed, I need to sleep with the light on. It’s not so much the darkness that scares me; it’s the...
Why Canada matters on World Wetlands Day
Wetlands in the Marion Creek Benchlands, British Columbia (Photo by Tim Ennis/NCC)
While other nations have picked wetland wildlife, such as Finland’s whooper swan or Pakistan’s Indus crocodile, to represent their country, Canada is the only country in the world that has selected a wetland engineer as its national...
Something's Fishy: Somewhere over the rainbow
The Rainbow Fish (Illustration by Marcus Pfister)
It’s no surprise that my favourite childhood book to cuddle up with my mom to read before bed was The Rainbow Fish, by Swiss author and illustrator Marcus Pfister. After my mom tucked me in, I would close my eyes and dream of swimming...
