Where the river stops: Why habitat connectivity is critical for healthy fish populations across Canada
Spawning Chinook salmon (Photo by Fish On in the Yukon)
Before you read any further, stop and think about a fish migrating up a river. Chances are that fish is a salmon and that river is in BC. There’s good reason that salmon in BC have come to symbolize fish migration. The return of millions of...
The clock is counting down: It’s time to have a tick talk
Adult deer tick (Photo by Scott Bauer/Wikimedia Commons)
Whenever I hike with my non-naturalist friends, I give them the usual safety spiel: wear long sleeves and long pants, stay hydrated, watch for poison ivy and nettles, and bring along some bug spray. But, as of late, I find myself adding a fifth...
Hummingbirds: The forgotten pollinator when it comes to pesticides
Female rufous hummingbird (Photo by Jennifer Kepler CC BY-NC)
When life is leaping forth in its freshest tender green and shrubs are casting their best wine-rich blooms of colour, there comes a humming. Not just from the song of spring rising in the world, but from wing beats — 52 to 62 per...
4 mental health benefits of volunteering outside
Tree planting Conservation Volunteers event, Johnson's Mills, NB (Photo by NCC)
Research shows that spending time in nature benefits benefits us not only physically, but mentally. Just taking a walk in a forest can regulate blood pressure, lower the risk of illness, reduce stress and boost mental health. You may be surprised...
Beech leaf disease: A new problem for Ontario trees
Early-stage leaf striping (Photo by John Pogacnik, Ohio Department of Natural Resources)
Beech bark disease began ravaging beech trees in Ontario in the late 1990s, after spreading west from Atlantic Canada. But recently, a new beech disease has emerged in the province. Beech leaf disease was first detected in North America in 2012 in...
Plogging: What it is and why you should try it on your next run
Plogging, a combination of jogging and picking up litter, is a trend that is dashing across the world. Originating in Sweden in 2016, it has now made its way to other parts of the world, including Canada. It began as an organized activity to...
Christmas trees make a great cup of tea
White spruce with cones (Photo by Manitoba Museum)
Every day, the Google search engine is inundated with searches for the next superfood, health trend or nutritional qualities of certain foods. Sadly, very few people know that you can make a beverage high in vitamin C from...Christmas...
Greenspace makes for great headspace
Hikers in Happy Valley Forest, ON (Photo by NCC)
The natural world has always been my fall-back position. Whenever life got too busy, scary or stressful or even when it was at its most fulfilling, I seemed to want, in fact to need, to find some green space to process it all, for a while. As a...
Beech bark disease in Canada
Roots of an old American beech tree at Clear Creek Forest (Photo by NCC)
While hiking through some of Ontario’s forests, you may notice that the beech trees look infected by something. During my undergraduate studies in biology at Western University (formerly known as the University of Western Ontario), I learned...
Dissecting the dandelion
Dandelion (Photo by Yinan Chen, Wikimedia Commons)
This past summer I found myself in an unexpected scenario: on a wild foraging expedition in the heart of a concrete jungle, in my own backyard. The middle of a backyard, from house to gravel alleyway, is not the first place that comes to mind when...
