Riverbank rescue!

Riverbank Rescue CV event in Crowsnest Pass, AB (Photo by Angela Luck)
The Crowsnest Pass holds a special place in my heart. Whether I’m overnight backpacking with my children to enjoy the serenity of Window Mountain Lake, bird watching in the Alison Creek area, peacefully kayaking around Crowsnest Lake or fly...
Three important environmental skills you can only gain through hands-on work

Danielle Horne (NCC), Jamie Fraser (NCC) and John Caraberis on the brick beach, NS (Photo by NCC)
I have always wanted a job that allows me to work outside. Last summer, I was one of the lucky few students to have an internship with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). In an average work week, I spent two to three days working in the...
Eel-grass: A moment in time

Eel-grass, Port Joli, Nova Scotia (Photo by NCC)
As we bushwhack through dense alder thickets, we hear the drone of a small plane flying back and forth over the Pugwash Estuary. It is a perfect summer day in August with a clear blue sky, perfect for capturing aerial imagery of Pugwash. The...
Hunting orchids in Minesing wetland

Eastern prairie white-fringed orchid (Photo by NCC)
As an intern with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I often find myself walking a fine line between work and play. Even the toughest days are balanced by the realization that my workplace typically consists of wetlands, grasslands and...
Dealing with the periwinkle problem

Hand pulling periwinkle (Photo by NCC)
Jill and I did some follow up to some invasive species removal we did last year at Lathrop. Just a few fragments of the very invasive Periwinkle left! We picked them out by hand, leaving the native mayapple, trillium, Jack-in-the-pulpit and...
Jetbead: A new threat to conservation
Mhairi McFarlane with leucospora (Photo by NCC)
Conservation is full of mysteries. Recently, my colleague Jill Crosthwaithe and I found ourselves having to turn to gardening literature in order to identify the many non-native, ornamental shrubs and other plants that we kept stumbling across in...
Heterogeneity in grassland conservation? These university students say yes!

Buffalo Valley, SK (Photo by NCC)
Should heterogeneity be a new buzzword in grassland conservation? OK, maybe it’s not the easiest word to say or remember but according to ongoing research, the answer is a resounding, "Yes." During the winter of 2014, students in a...
Making peace with the Scotch pine (I mean, Scots pine)

Young volunteers tackling Scotch pine on an NCC reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)
When it comes to Christmas trees, I am a balsam fir man through-and-through. I like the form, the smell and the smooth, soft needles. I also admit that I am not crazy about Scotch pine, a main alternative here in Ontario. You could say we have...