A Labour of Love: National Volunteer Week
Seeding at Brighton Wetland, ON (Photo by Chelsea Marcantonio/NCC Staff)
Show me the spreadsheet: Unveiling the wonders of working landscapes
NCC Stewardship Coordinator, Casey Rempel, engaging with Aberdeen Pasture patrons during a field event. (Photo by Matthew Braun/NCC staff)
What crazy jobs we have. Did you think when you were a young student that shuffling numbers on a spreadsheet for a school project would be the key bit of experience you’d need for conservation? Yeah, me neither. Let me explain by going on a...
High notes in the bur oaks: Songs of the Manitoulin savanna
Manitoulin Island, ON (Photo by Steve Maxwell)
A bouncing ping-pong ball, buzzes, bugles and booms: these are the sounds of the savanna. For someone unaware, the symphony of bur oak savanna on Ontario’s Manitoulin Island may seem unfamiliar. For many species of grassland birds, however,...
Twelve Mile Creek: Niagara’s last remaining cold-water habitat
View of lower pond and adjacent embankment crest at Lathrop Nature Preserve, ON (Photo by Noel Boucher/ NCC)
In the urban landscape of Niagara, Ontario, lies a hidden gem: Twelve Mile Creek. This stream holds significant importance as the last remaining cold-water habitat in the region, serving as a critical lifeline for native species, including brook...
Gardening: Small choices make a big difference
Megachile (leafcutter, mortar, and resin) bee on swamp milkweed (Photo by Sarah Ludlow)
Well, it is that time of year again — when the hope of spring and warmer temperatures is edging ever closer, especially in my home province of Saskatchewan. It is also the time when I begin starting my seeds to plant in my garden this...
Spotting the spotted wintergreen: Research on rare woodland plants in Ontario
A tagged spotted wintergreen plant (Photo by Amy Wiedenfeld/NCC staff)
As summer approaches, I look forward to getting out into the field. This includes visiting many of the spotted wintergreen populations in Ontario for my PhD research, supported by the Weston Family Conservation Science Fellowship Program. Spotted...
Walking the walk at the Milburn Creek Nature Reserve
Milburn Creek tile mosaic by Sharon Freeman (Photo by Jennifer Gagne)
This is my 10th year living in Battersea, Ontario, and I have walked the nearby Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) trail around Milburn Creek many times, passing through woods and meadow, and stopping to admire granite outcroppings, the meandering...
Collaborating for conservation
The cutting crew, comprised of staff from NCC, Georgian Bay Forever, Parks Canada, and the Severn Sound Environmental Association (Photo by Carolyn Davies/NCC Staff)
The natural world really is incredible. Spending time in it is a continual process of discovery, which is great for someone like me who is a life-long learner. For the past year and half at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I’ve had...
Finding fantastic finches during February’s Great Backyard Bird Count
Pine grosbeak in winter (Photo by Sean Feagan/NCC Staff)
Some people relish raptors. Others prefer partridges. Me, I’m a songbird guy. At this time of the year, my favourite birds, neotropical migrants like our wood warblers, vireos and flycatchers, have left us for warmer locales — and who...
Working landscapes, conservation and COP28: my takeaways
A wooden panel describing the importance of building soil carbon (Photo by NCC)
As the manager of agriculture policy for the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I went to COP28 to understand how agriculture and ranching contribute solutions to the climate crisis. Here’s what I learned: ⚡️ The ambition is...
