What happened to Canada’s plastic ban?
When we found tiny pieces of plastic in water under the North Pole sea ice in a 2021 study, it…
Preliminary study of water quality in streams discharging into Fulford Harbour raise questions about land-based pollution
Water is vital to life, and on the Gulf Islands, efforts to understand, monitor and protect watersheds are increasingly needed…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: Protect and connect
Connectivity is the linkage of habitats, species, communities, and ecological processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Connected places provide…
Open letter regarding killer whale behaviour around boats
Although our work as Raincoasters is focused on coastal BC, many of us are members of broader scientific communities, and…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: All about fungi
Coastal Douglas-fir forests (CDF) and associated ecosystems are widely known for their charismatic megaflora like towering western redcedars and twisting…
Biosolids pose a threat to healthy waters
Wastewater includes everything that is flushed down toilets and drains from households, businesses, and some industries and institutions. In Canada,…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: So much more than just forests
In the Salish Sea archipelago, island geography has fostered enormous biodiversity. In addition to the charismatic megaflora that make the…
Wolves, whales, and elephants: animal personalities, culture, and conservation
Although detailing a moment in the lives of two completely different species, these field notes have much in common. Both…
Wolf Stories: Sustaining the wellbeing of people, animals, and nature (Part 2)
PAN Works is a new ethics think tank dedicated to the wellbeing of animals. Drs. William Lynn, Kristin Stewart, Liv…
Embracing complexity: Exploring carbon sequestration in two highly interconnected ecosystems
During my undergraduate studies, I couldn’t pinpoint my ecological interests to a single ecosystem type, species, or phylum. However, my…
Wolf Stories: Sustaining the wellbeing of people, animals, and nature (Part 1)
PAN Works is a new ethics think tank dedicated to the wellbeing of animals. Drs. William Lynn, Kristin Stewart, Liv…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: All about owls
As the worst fire season in Canadian historyーdriven by climate change, ecosystem fragmentation, and long-term land-use mismanagementーdecimates forests across the…
Wolf Stories: Reflections on science, ethics, and moral practice (Part 2)
Drs. Michael Paul Nelson, John A. Vucetich, and Joseph Bump share their insights on ethics and moral practice in conservation…
The inertia of broken paradigms
As a part of my doctoral research at Simon Fraser University with Drs. John Reynolds and Elizabeth Elle, I spent…
Wolf Stories: Reflections on science, ethics, and moral practice (Part 1)
Drs. Michael Paul Nelson, John A. Vucetich, and Joseph Bump share their insights on ethics and moral practice in conservation…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: Classifying place
British Columbia’s Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification system divides the province into 16 disparate, but connected zones. Such systems provide insight into…
Reflecting on the recent IPCC report and what we can do
This spring marked the release of yet another report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the AR6 Synthesis…
Delegating to the Islands Trust: The 30×30 challenge
On March 7, 2023, Forest Conservation Program Director Shauna Doll made a delegation to Islands Trust Council urging them to…
Reduced genetic diversity: another challenge facing the Southern Resident killer whales?
As charismatic mega-predators, killer whales have no equal. Historically feared, respected, in some cultures revered, we now know them to…
Maxwell Creek Watershed Project Field Files Part 5: Experimental forest restoration methodologies
Tal Engel lives in the Comox Valley on land called Honey Grove where he practices ecoforestry and manages an organic…
Local engagement: letters to elected representatives can help make change
As a science-based organization focused on habitat and wildlife conservation on the vast coastline of BC and a land trust…
Maxwell Creek Watershed Project Field Files Part 4: Managing fire in a climatically uncertain future
As previous installments of the Field Files series have established, since settler arrival in the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) zone, forests…
Guide government action for Southern Resident killer whale recovery before Feb 19
The federal government is accepting your input, through a survey, for this year’s recovery and threat reduction measures for endangered…
The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: The biodiversity potential of privately-owned land
Reports of the immediate actions required to prevent further global warming and biodiversity loss are becoming increasingly frequent. One of…