Whenever I hike with my non-naturalist friends, I give them the usual safety spiel: wear long sleeves and long pants, stay hydrated, watch for poison ivy and nettles, and bring along some bug spray. But, as of late, I find myself adding a fifth element to this pre-hike chat: beware of the blood-thirsty, Lyme disease-bearing, blacklegged tick (also known as the deer tick).

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I believe that the best place to start with poetry is nature. Nature makes us all poets. The vastness and the tiny worlds, the familiarity and the novelty of nature — we have all stood before nature and felt the poetry of that place or moment.

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One species seems to always steal the show during conversations about snakes. It also happens to be one of the rarest snake species in Canada: desert nightsnake.

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As this past summer’s Nova Scotia conservation engagement intern with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I was given the opportunity to explore the province from one tip to the other, seeing parts of the province I had never seen before, all while learning how exactly NCC was contributing to conservation.

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Before I began working at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I spent six years studying the pollination of two species of lady’s-slipper orchids in Manitoba and the northern U.S. Let me tell you about why I find them — and their pollination — so cool.

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I want to tell you a little bit about Darkwoods, one of my favourite places in BC. It is a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) conservation area near Nelson, and it stretches from the shores of Kootenay Lake almost to the U.S. border.

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I have always had a passion for nature, like many people in the conservation field. Growing up, I was always outside surrounded by nature, observing the plants and animals around me.

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Check out Scouts Canada's favourite NCC Nature Destinations.

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Right after the end of my communications internship at the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), I had the pleasure of embarking on a 12-day journey through Alaska. We travelled by land and sea, everyday discovering more and more of the state’s natural treasures, fascinating culture and welcoming people.

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In celebration of Family Day this year, my family tested our bond and squeezed into a “tiny house” for the long weekend. According to Tiny Home Builders, the tiny house movement is “the architectural and social movement that advocates living simply in small homes.”

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