Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority

In the spring of 2017 I volunteered at the annual Niagara Children's Water Festival where I ran an activity tent that taught children about how wetlands function and why they are important.

American Association of Zookeepers

My sister runs fundraising events for rhino conservation and I have helped at 3 of the events in the past selling merchandise, tickets, and taking donations.

Society for Ecological Restoration - Niagara College Student Chapter
​2015-2016

I was the secretary for the club, responsible for keeping meeting minutes, as well as an active member of the Plant Material Management and Research working groups. We worked on a project that is attempting to eradicate Phragmites australis from the campus over time. I helped to do vegetation monitoring along transects on the 'Escarpment Toe', where over the years our professor has been monitoring and has seen notable changes in the density of Phragmites, with more and more dying back each year.

We chose a plot at the front of the campus to conduct an experiment - chopping down the Phragmites and re-planting it with quick growing species such as willow and dogwood, as it is believed that the cause of the die back is due to Phragmites being out-competed by these species, particularly pussy willow. The project itself will take years of monitoring, but the implications could be great!

I have contributed to the club's blog a few times as well. If you would like to learn more about what we've been up to, here is the link:
http://serncsa.wix.com/sernc#!blog/c1nv8)

 Ecosystem Restoration Graduate Certificate Year-long Projects

Everyone in the Restoration program is worked on a year-long project in groups of 3-4 (Find out about mine here). One of the requirements for each project was to hold a task management exercise where you organize your fellow classmates for an activity related to your project. My group did and Ecological Land Classification survey where we organized about 15 people to help us collect data.

Through attending other group's task management exercises we get the opportunity to expand our learning experience. I have participated in the following activities:

• Wildlife Corridor Modeling - The data and variables were given to us for different groupings of animals. I used the 'Least cost path' tool in GIS to determine the likely movements of my group of species around the partner lands.
• Ash tree assessment in a park in Fort Erie, Ontario, where we flagged and measured the trees infected with Emerald Ash Borer.
• Removal of invasive Black Alder trees from a wetland site in Welland, Ontario.
• Bird box building for Tree Swallows - These bird boxes will help enhance habitat at the site.

The Hamilton Naturalist's Club

November 2015
I participated on a 'work day' in the Short Hills Nature Sanctuary. Along with a wonderful, informative hike with 2 experts who enhanced our knowledge of invasive species and forest pests/disease, we were responsible for flagging and girdling Norway Maple trees and helping to free some important endangered species from a dense tangle of grapevine.

Student Environmental Sustainability Committee

Niagara College - 2010-2012
I was a member of this group for both years I was in school. Our primary goal was to undertake initiatives that would help make the campus a more sustainable operation. We initiated a campaign for the installation of water bottle refill spouts in the existing water fountains to help encourage students to use refillable bottles rather than continuously purchasing bottled water. We campaigned for this by communicating with faculty, college administration, and the facilities management staff. Unfortunately I graduated before the logistical issues were sorted out, but I can happily report that there is now a water bottle refill spout on every fountain in the school!