Women in conservation: Carissa Sideroff
Carissa Sideroff working in the field. (Photo by NCC)
In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), we’re celebrating eight female conservationists at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) who are working to create a stronger future for Canada’s landscapes. In a small northern...
My winter hike at Big Valley
Looking out over Big Valley, SK. (Photo by Bill Armstrong)
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has a knack for giving their properties memorable names. On a (relatively) mild February day, I set out to get acquainted with Big Valley, north of Regina, at the southwestern edge of Last Mountain Lake in...
How we can save our songbirds
Cerulean warbler (Photo by Bill Hubick)
By now, I'm hoping that many of you have heard about declining songbird populations and the numerous threats that these birds face, which are, typically, physical threats to their survival. However, I’d like to discuss a different type of...
Nature Conservancy of Canada: Canada’s Agriculture Day is a time to celebrate environmentally sustainable agriculture
On Canada’s Agriculture Day, I want to talk about environmentally sustainable agriculture. As a professional agrologist working for a conservation agency, my perspective on how the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) operates often includes...
Uncovering the magic of winter wildlife
Meeting Lake 03, SK (Photo by NCC)
While attending college in Winnipeg, my classmate and I used to walk north from the campus at the corner of Shaftesbury and Grant streets to explore the different sections of Assiniboine Park. As the school year was between September and April,...
Adapting to realities: From conservation science to sleeping outdoors
Evening sky at Old Man on His Back Ranch, SK (Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj)
I was about a half hour out of Saskatoon when I realized I had forgotten to pack my tent. It was the middle of September and I was planning on camping at the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Old Man on His Back Prairie and...
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...
Why Canada’s prairies are the world’s most endangered ecosystem
Rolling prairie at Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area, SK (Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj)
Updated November 7, 2018 Ask any Canadian kid to name the world’s most endangered ecosystem, and chances are you’ll hear one of the following answers: 1) rainforests; 2) coral reefs; 3) leave me alone. Ignoring the last answer,...
A walk in the woods: Nebo in the boreal forest region
Nebo, SK (Photo by Mike Dembeck)
Remember that scene in Stand By Me, where our intrepid heroes set out on their journey towards adulthood along the railway track of life and chase a bunch of cows off the rail bed and into the pasture beside it? No? How about the scene where the...
The perfection of the morning redux: Old Man on His Back Prairie and Heritage Conservation Area
Morning sun shines on the grassy plains at OMB (Photo by Gail F. Chin)
Getting up at 5 a.m. to catch the morning sun cast blinding rays across the grassy plains at Old Man on His Back (OMB), I stood in the receding darkness in awe of the sublime. There was no silence! The din of insects carried on. An occasional...
