© Lora Denis
October 29, 2026–Emily Edgley
Environmental Education•Habitat•Nature Reserves•Pollinators•Protected Places
Insects are often underappreciated and overlooked. Our surroundings are teeming with insect life. New estimates of the global number of insect species are at least 14 to 20 million, but at the same time populations are dramatically decreasing worldwide. Research shows a 40% decrease in insect species with one-third of species being labeled as endangered. ...
A child observing monarch butterflies, Tommy Thompson Park © Leslie Bol
With National Volunteer Week now underway, it’s an ideal time to reflect on the role people play in protecting Ontario’s biodiversity. Community science is one meaningful way to get involved. And as spring returns to Ontario, pollinators begin to reappear in fields, forests, wetlands, and gardens making them a natural group of species to observe ...
March 5, 2026–Allanah Vokes
Community Science•Habitat•Nature Reserves•Pollinators•Wild Species
Volunteer team at moth sheet, Sydenham River Nature Reserve © Allanah Vokes
“How about doing a moth survey at Sydenham?” “A moss survey?” Asked Roberta Buchanan, local property steward for Sydenham River Nature Reserve, who didn’t quite hear me while we were walking outside. “No, moths. Like a nocturnal equivalent to the butterfly survey. Who knows what we’ll find?” It was 2023. I knew how unique the ...
“I’m in a bit of a moth phase,” a park ranger friend of mine mentioned as I scrolled through his latest iNaturalist observations. I tried to cloak my inner voices that were equally impressed by his depth of knowledge and perplexed as to why one would ever be in a moth phase. Little did I ...
September 18, 2025–Erin Kobayashi
Pollinator-friendly habitat along a boulevard © Blooming Boulevards
After retiring from teaching, Jeanne McRight found herself back in the classroom to earn a horticulture diploma from the University of Guelph. Among her assignments? Create an urban sustainability project connected to her own garden. But what started as a school project would soon grow far beyond the classroom. McRight was already an avid gardener. ...
Paswe Protected Area © Carter Dorscht