What I discovered spending the day in an outside classroom
Smiling faces of the outdoor education students from Greenall High School in Balgonie, SK. (Photo by NCC)
Growing up in a rural town, I would love to say we all got out to see nature on a regular basis. However, with the draw of technology and the lure of multimedia, not many of us go out as much as we should. And these days, finding a habitat...
Forestry girl in a grand communications world
Capping fence posts with tin cans to increase visibility for sage grouse at Old Man on His Back, SK (Photo by Mark Taylor)
If you told me six months ago that my second UBC forestry co-op work term would be with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) working as the national communications intern, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Fast-forward nine weeks, and...
How to camp with a baby/toddler (relatively) stress-free?
Camping with young ones doesn't have to be stressful (Photo by Quincin Chan/NCC)
Camping is many Canadian's favourite pastime in the summer. What's better than falling asleep under the Milky Way and waking up to the sound of chirping birds and the wind in swaying trees? Once there’s a baby in the picture, however, the...
Nature Days: Healthy children in healthy spaces
Students from Adrienne Clarkson Public School spend a day exploring NCC's Goldie Feldman Nature Reserve in Ontario (Photo by Sandy Nicholson Photography)
In recent years, a number of reports have suggested that screen time has taken a serious toll on children’s mental and physical well-being. But when kids ditch their screens to get their hands dirty in nature, amazing things can...
NCC's new Happy Valley Forest Hike Series
Participants listen in as Todd Farrell talks about the plants in Happy Valley Forest (Photo by Evelyn Senyi)
City, meet nature “How far do you think we are from Dundas Square?” It’s an odd question that Todd Farrell, coordinator of conservation biology in central Ontario for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), poses to a group of...
Book review: The Vascular Plants of Bruce Peninsula, by Joe Johnson
The Vascular Plants of Bruce Peninsula (Photo by Bill Moses)
The Vascular Plants of the Bruce Peninsula, by Joe Johnson, is a landmark book in the history of botany on the Bruce Peninsula — a place described as being Ontario’s most well-known botanical destination. The first person to attempt...
Memorizing bird songs made easy with mnemonics
Yellow warbler (Photo by Wikimedia Commons)
I recall when I first heard a yellow warbler’s song; it was music against the backdrop of residential traffic in my suburban neighbourhood. At the time I had no clue where the bird was and I had no idea what bird was making this sound. I...
Like a rock, elm that is
Short, gnarly side branches all the way up the tree (Photo by Bill Moses)
My interest in botany came late in life. To compensate, I have restricted my primary interest to approximately 175 species of native woody plants of Grey and Bruce Counties. I try to give each one of them equal status and attention. Building on...
Five tips to avoid #fieldworkfail
NCC Ontario staff identify meadow marsh plants, Lower Maitland River Valley, Ontario (Photo by NCC)
If you haven’t already explored the hilarious misadventures of field scientists and conservation workers through the hashtag #fieldworkfail, it is well worth a look. Fieldworkers are sharing incredibly honest and amusing anecdotes of when...
Be a beaver believer
Beaver (Photo by Makedocreative/Wikimedia Commons)
Aside from the long list of initiatives celebrated today, April 7 is also a day to celebrate beavers! For starters, here’s a little beaver-inspired anecdote from our Alberta office: “There was once a young man who walked to work...
