Canada in bloom: Rare treasures of Strathcona Provincial Park
Western columbine from Strathcona Provincial Park (Photo by mspringle, iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0)
As a keen hiker, I spend much of my time gazing in wonder at some of the incredible views on offer across Canada’s magnificent hiking trails. From the awe-inspiring, snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, to the rugged coastline of western BC, it...
The race against rats: The most successful invasive species in the world
Brown rat (Photo by Dunpharlain, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Everyone has a rat story, except for, maybe, Albertans (the lucky ones); I’ll explain why in a bit. In Hong Kong, where I grew up, rats and mice were collectively called lo shu in Cantonese. The term was probably tossed around by parents to...
Human-created noise pollution impacts wildlife
A bat hanging upside down (Photo by Unsplash)
Just as noise pollution negatively impacts human health, it also affects wildlife. It can interfere with animal communication, hinder their foraging abilities and impact where they live. A recent study published in Biology Letters found that...
Getting wetland conservation right will help solve many issues
Forested wetlands in summer (Photo by Mary Gartshore)
Earlier this winter I watched as a record amount of January rain filled the swamp at the back of our property outside of Guelph Ontario. With the ground still locked in a hard freeze, there weren’t a lot of places to hold this deluge. This...
Exploring the boreal forest with an interactive story map
Canada warbler (Photo by Gerald Deboer)
Imagine taking a flight across Canada’s vast and breathtaking boreal region, which stretches across approximately 60 per cent of the country. Now take a step back from this picture of grandeur to focus on the littlest bird residents flitting...
Weston Family Conservation Science Fellowship Program
Sundial lupine in the oak savannah (Photo by NCC)
It’s a sunny June day with only a slight whisper of wind in the trees. I am walking slowly through an oak savannah with Angela Demarse, a master's of science candidate at the University of Guelph in Ryan Norris’s lab. We are in search...
Digging badgers: A close encounter
A badger at its burrow. (Photo by J. Sayers, Ontario Badger Project)
“A badger? On my property? There are no badgers here!” is often the response I got from landowners in southern Ontario during my short stint as a field technician for the Ontario Badger Project. American badgers are difficult to spot;...
Conserving what we value
Children from Pelee Island Public School help collect seeds for restoration projects. (Photo by NCC)
It was my time to finally get my message across. About a 15 years ago, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) was beginning to purchase properties on Pelee Island, in Ontario. The community, however, was uncertain of conservation —...
Reducing light pollution is a simple way to help insects
Frosted elfin butterfly (Photo by Geoff Gallice, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0, generic license, Wikimedia Commons)
Have you ever noticed moths vigorously flapping around your porch light? Well, they’re probably mistaking it for the moon, according to The Guardian. And sadly, most insects trapped in this cycle are dead by morning, either from exhaustion...
10 highlights that show progress and should give us hope for the coming decade
Next Creek watershed (Photo by Steve Ogle)
At the dawn of 2010, the world seemed ready for change. There was increasing awareness about nature and the environment, and voices calling for action on climate and nature conservation were growing louder. A transition to true sustainable...
