Summer Outreach Ambassador - Bella's Blog part 2
Welcome to the second installment of Isabella Johnston’s blog. With funding support from the Canada Summer Jobs program, Bella, a third-year University student with a passion for sustainability, is gaining real-life experiences in the field while supporting the ongoing outreach and engagement with the community about the Biosphere.
Bella’s first installment of her 12 week employment, May 13th to June 16th can be read here. Bella writes:
June 17th - I attended two events in West Vancouver. The first event was in Lions Bay at the Mary Comber Miles Indigenous Plant Garden. The event highlighted how to support native biodiversity by planting pollinators. They had master gardener Jane Sherrott give a presentation on how to plant for four bloom seasons. They had tons of native plants to give away as well for attendees to put in their gardens. A great community event that inspired people to support the local bees and butterflies.
I attended the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society Annual General Meeting in the afternoon. This was a great chance to learn about the amazing work the society is completing, such as their wheelchair-accessible trail and new tree cookie with a fantastic history. At the end of the AGM, I gave a presentation about the biosphere. The group was passionate about the area and engaged with great questions.
June 21st - I attended the online Gambier Island Conservancy Annual General Meeting and gave a presentation about the biosphere. It was also a great chance to learn about the society's fantastic work on the island. I learned more about one of our joint projects, Coastal Tailed Frog Monitoring, which is being led by an island local and biologist, Mike Stamford.
June 23rd - I attended the Ocean Watch Action Committee meeting over Zoom alongside Ruth Simons
and Mica Anguita from the biosphere. There were presentations from Ocean Legacy and the Dead Boat
Society. An inspiring group from all sorts of backgrounds passionate about protecting the Howe Sound waters.
June 28th - I went to marinas in the West Vancouver area of the biosphere to deliver conservation posters on rockfish provided to us by the DFO. Our goal is to increase awareness about protecting rockfish species in the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere. By having these resources on display at marinas/marine stores we can hopefully catch people’s eyes as they are heading out onto the water. These posters are now on display at eight high traffic zones in the Howe Sound. While delivering these posters, I was thankful for the positive feedback and enthusiasm that workers in the marine industry had to protect rockfish.
July 13th - I headed to Gibson’s to partner with Sunshine Coast Tourism. We set up a joint booth at Gibson’s Landing to promote the biosphere and answer any questions from the public. I then headed to hike up to Soames Hill as part of my research for the Amazing Places project that might start in the biosphere soon. Soames Hill is an amazing place! The view at the top is stunning with views of Keats Island and Gibson’s harbour.
July 14th - Ruth, Mica, Rebeca MacDonald the new Marine Debris Coordinator, and I met with MP Patrick Weiler to give him an update on the biosphere at Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver. Before he arrived, we headed to a beach near the park to search for marine debris. We found a significant amount of styrofoam on the beach and tried our best to pick up all we could. A beautiful park to have a meeting in! Patrick told us about the new legislation he was a part of creating, which is the right to a healthy environment for all Canadians. Inspiring changes are happening in Canada!
July 15th - Rebecca (Marine Debris Coordinator for MSI) and I headed to Lions Bay to support the Second Annual Lions Bay Shoreline Cleanup. The Lions Bay Bird Friendly Society led this event. Residents collected an impressive amount of garbage from Lions Bay beach, which was awesome! We also had some productive conversations with locals about MSI and HSBRIS.
July 18th - I headed up to Squamish with Rebecca and Melany from MSI. We partnered up with the Squamish River Watershed Society at their Community Conservation Corner in Downtown Squamish. Their education coordinator Tiffany created a Jenga food web. It was a great educational tool for combining a fun game with environmental learning!
On July 30th - I headed to Gambier Island to present at Sea Ranch, a development at the head of Long Bay. This is a unique, tight-knit community that is completely off the grid. I presented to owners in the community about the biosphere, conservation projects on Gambier and environmental concerns in the Howe Sound. There was a great turnout of owners that were engaged to learn more about the region.
August 5th - I’ll present to another off-grid Gambier Island community, Brigade Bay. This will be my last presentation and day working with the biosphere. Between these outreach events, I have completed several projects for the BIosphere working from home.
The past three months with HSBRIS were an amazing learning experience. Hopefully, I will be back in the future to work more in this biodiverse-rich region. Thanks to the Howe Sound Community, it’s been fun! Now off to Victoria to finish my undergraduate degree in Geography and Environmental Studies.
