The boreal forests of Wilson Island

Wilson Island, ON (Photo by NCC)
It was time to do a deep dive into the boreal forests of Wilson Island, near the north shore of Lake Superior. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) acquired these amazing 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) in 2008, and it was time to conduct an...
Something’s fishy: Know your limit, fish within it

Ice fishing (CC0 1.0)
One of my favourite winter activities is bundling up and heading out to sit in front of a hole in the ice on a nearby lake for hours on end. While ice fishing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, some of my most cherished memories are made...
Tiny beauties: Orchids on the Bruce

Broad-lipped twayblade (Photo by NCC)
As a former conservation technician intern at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I was lucky enough to see and learn a lot about nature and how to conserve it. When I worked for NCC, I had the opportunity to explore many different ecosystems...
The importance of boreal forests

Boreal forest by Fort McMurray, AB (Photo by Michel Rapinski)
This past summer, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) participated in the protection of the largest contiguous area of boreal forest in the world. This amazing feat was achieved in partnership with the Tallcree Tribal Government, the...
No species left behind: Reflections on wildlife conservation for the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s 56th anniversary

Plains bison (Photo by Mark Taylor)
One hundred and thirty years ago, there was not a single living wild plains bison left in Canada. The planet was a few hundred bulls, cows and calves away from witnessing the extinction of one of North America’s largest living land animals....
Hibernation with a hiss

A drawing of a snake (Photo by Darwin Online)
Snakes are such misunderstood creatures. Many people fear them, but that might be because they don’t know how awesome snakes are! Snakes are limbless reptiles with scaly skin. They are very diverse, with different sizes, colours and...
Location, location, location: Building real estate for cavity dwellers

Black-capped chickadee (Photo by Lorne)
The number of tree cavities are often limited on the landscape, but there are many different species that require cavities for their home (such as squirrels, bats and birds). As a result, cavities that suit the needs of a given species are a hot...
How plastic waste threatens marine organisms

Plastic waste is often seen washed up on shorelines (Photo by Kevin Krejc/Wikimedia Commons)
Ocean plastic pollution has grabbed worldwide attention in quite a short period of time. This is because the impact of plastic waste on marine plants and animals is tremendous. Plastic garbage patches the size of small countries floating on the...
How animals judge distance

Peregrin falcon, BC (Photo by Stuart Clarke)
Animals can jump great distances, dodge predators and catch fast moving prey. How do they do it? They use their binocular vision to judge the distance in a millisecond. The question of how this works came to me from a curious Saskatchewan...
The foxes of NCC

Red fox (Photo by Alex Badyaev)
Growing up, my favourite book was Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was no surprise that the Christmas following the first time I read (and then re-read over and over) the ionic children’s novel, I asked Santa for anything and...