Hope is on the Horizon

The horizon is the line you see in the distance where the earth meets the sky.

Horizon, or more specifically "on the horizon", can also be referred to as something that is imminent, or happening soon.

This year was full of loss, uncertainty, challenges, anxiety, sadness as COVID-19 upended our lives.  The world locked down.  It didn't feel like there was an end in sight as this disease ravaged the world.

As 2020 comes to an end, and we head into 2021, there is hope on the horizon.  While the pandemic is far from over, relief is in sight; there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Let's ring in the new year with hope.  Until then, stay safe, and be well.

Shaping the Future of Parks Canada with Your Voice

Canadians are invited this year to participate and share their views on Parks Canada.  From October 19 to 30, 2020, you can visit www.letstalkparkscanada.ca and provide your input and perspectives.  Discussions are centered on the following themes:

• Urban Parks
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
• Ecological Corridors
• Indigenous Leadership in Conservation
• Protecting our Cultural Heritage

Discussions are held every two years under the Parks Canada Agency Act.  The Minister responsible for Parks Canada is required to convene a round table to seek input from Canadians about Parks Canada.  This year, the Minister's Round Table is held from October 8 to 30 with small discussion forums, and with public consultations from October 19 to 30 through the www.letstalkparkscanada.ca website.

Previous Minister's Round Table on Parks Canada are available here:  https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/agence-agency/dp-pd/trm-mrt

Tree Field Guides: From Books to Apps

The first tree field guide I purchased for myself (during my undergraduate field work days) was Trees In Canada (1995) by John Laird Farrar.  This book was the field guide for trees.

 

I have since added to my tree guide collection, Trees of Ontario: Including Tall Shrubs (2001) by Linda Kershaw, and Fall Foliage: The Mystery, Science, and Folklore of Autumn Leaves (2005) by Charles W. G. Smith.

 

I appreciate guidebooks for their keys to identifying trees - by leaves, flowers, twigs (yes, even twigs for tree identification in winter!), illustrations, photos, and maps of ranges.

 

Tree identification guides have come a long way and evolved since then.  The first tree identification app created was Leafsnap, and has grown to become perhaps the most popular.  It is a tool to make identification easy for anyone.  You snap a photo of your leaf, identify it from the library of images, and share your findings with the database to help map trees in the area.  It's a tool that can engage students as well as a tool to help contribute to citizen science.

Historical Tree Carvings

Trees have been used as a medium for communication and art through tree etchings called arborglyphs.  Arborglyphs are carvings of symbols and shapes into the barks of living trees.  As archaeologists are learning, these arborglyphs are windows into past civilizations.

In the United States, arborglyphs have documented Basque immigrants who worked as shepherds in remote forests from the mid-19th century.  They left their mark on trees throughout the western United States.  As there isn't a lot of Basque ancestral documentation in the United States, the tree carvings are the closest thing to records.

In the United Kingdom, the New Forest National Park Authority urges visitors to help document sightings of arborglyphs.  These arborglyphs have been left by many different people, including foresters, soldiers from WWII, Kingsmen, and from people who wanted protection from witches.

Uncovering and documenting these arborglyphs is challenging, as it is a race against time.  The longevity of the arborglyph is limited by the lifespan of the tree, which can be around 150 years.  The lifespan is also affected by weather, climate change, and vandalism.

There is much to uncover and learn from arborglyphs.  We should not carve into trees, as it may make the trees more susceptible to diseases and pests.  However, we can appreciate and respect the historical carvings that have been left behind, and leave the trees untouched for others to enjoy.

All the Colours of Sand

A beach can tell you its history and makeup based on the sand. 

Sand is formed through the erosion of rocks and minerals by waves.  Beaches with coarse sand are young, while beaches with fine sand are older.  The colour of beach sand comes from its mineralogy and content of the surrounding area.  Here are some of the minerals that make up the vast colours of sand around the world:

• White sand beaches are the result of finely ground quartz crystals, as well as pulverized pieces of dead coral that are made of calcium carbonate
• Red sand beaches and orange sand beaches are the result of iron-rich minerals
• Pink sand beaches are the result of nearby corals.  Pink is formed when white sand is mixed with red shells or calcium carbonate from coral.
• Purple sand beaches are the result of manganese garnet, as well as fine grain pink sand with darker grains
• Black sand beaches are the result of basalt deposits from volcanic activity
• Green sand beaches are the result of olivine, which forms as lava cools

Inspiration Through a Talk

Want to learn something new?  Want to be inspired?  Want to open up your eyes to new perspectives, ideas, and possibilities?  TED Talks and TEDx Talks do just that.

TED is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to spread ideas.  TED started as a one-off conference in 1984 about Technology, Entertainment, and Design, has since expanded to include a diversity of topics.  Week-long TED conferences are held two or more times a year where attendees listen to inspiring talks by expert speakers.  The best of these talks are then posted online and are made freely available to everyone.  TEDx, which is created with TED's mission, but independently run, brings the talks to a local level, to communities around the world.

There are thousands of talks from which to view.  You can browse by topics.  For example, environmentally-related topics can be as general as "Ecology", "Environment", or "Nature".  It can also be as specific as "Bees", "Climate change", or "Plastic".

Start with a video, and be inspired.

Continuous Learning with Online Courses

We never really stop learning.  Indeed, even after finishing our schooling, we continue to take courses.  These may be professional development courses we take for career advancement, or these may be courses we take for our own interests.

Courses have become more open, accessible, and popular over the years, in the form of massive open online course (MOOC).  However, enrollment to these courses has skyrocketed during the pandemic, as people are now home.

With MOOCs, you can take a course, or a series of courses.  Many MOOCs are free, but you may need to pay a fee if you want to obtain a certificate.

Not sure what to take?  Take a browse at any of the MOOC platforms.  For example, here are some environmentally-related courses:

• Environmental Studies courses from edX
• Nature & Environment courses from FutureLearn 
• Environmental Science and Sustainability courses from Coursera

Or, you can have browse at the Class Central website, which is a search engine for MOOCs.

While there are many online lists of MOOCs, here are a few you can check out to get started:

• Beginners Guide to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
• 10 Best Free and Affordable Platforms for Online Courses
• Here Are Some Of The Best Online Learning Platforms Right Now
• 6 Places to Take Free and Affordable Classes Online, on Everything from Programming to Photography

Action and Hope: Earth Day 2020

Today, April 22, marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.  Earth Day was born out of the environmental movement resulting from concerns about the well being of the planet and its affects on people.  Pollution, pesticides, and oil spills were issues at the time.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is the crisis that we are currently facing.  However, it is also important to reflect on our own lives and our relationship with the natural world.  What we do impacts the planet.  When the health of the planet is affected, our health is affected as well.  We are all interconnected.

Earth Day will go digital and live this year.  Check earthday.org for "24 Hours of Action"(able) items, videos, global conversations, calls to action, teach-ins, performances, and personal messages and inspirations from people around the world.  Let's act, and move forward to a better future.

Livestreaming Animals into Your Home

Seeing animals live is a great experience for anyone of all ages.  If you can't experience them live in front of you, you can still see them live, through webcams.  Many animal facilities livestream animals to bring the animal watching experience to your home.

Here are some animal webcams to help you get started:

• Ripley's Aquarium of Canada's Shark Cam in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, DC, United States
• San Diego Zoo in California, United States
• Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, United States
• WildEarth from Africa
• Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Tamil Nadu, India
• Zoos Victoria, a zoo-based conservation organization in Australia
• Or explore webcams from around the world through Explore.org

Leap for Leaping Animals

Today is February 29, Leap Day.  In recognition of this day, a day that comes around only once every 4 years, I wanted to highlight animals that leap, jump, hop, and all things related.

So, why do animals leap, jump, or hop?

Some do so to get from one place to another.  An animal that does this is the kangaroo.

Animals can hop, or stot, to flee predators.  An animal that does this is the gazelle.

For those that do the attacking, animals can pounce to catch their prey.  An animal that does this is the lynx.

Animals can jump because of migration.  Salmons do this during their salmon run upstream to spawn.

Animals can jump to communicate.  Whales jump, or breach, and it's always quite the sight to see.

Happy Leap Day!

Following Animal Tracks

When winter arrives, the world gets covered in snow.  Everything that was once exposed, now gets hidden away.

But not so.  Not everything gets hidden.  Animals review themselves through the tracks they leave behind.

You can discover what animals have traversed these paths.  Not only can these tracks tell you what animals are around, but they can tell you the animals' routes and what they were doing, whether they were walking or running.  Did these tracks lead somewhere - did they lead to a tree where the animal then scurried on up, did they lead to a tunnel where the animal then hid underground - or did they end abruptly, as in, did the animal succumb to another animal's meal.

The most useful way to identify animal tracks is by gait (the track pattern of the animal), and by straddle (the width between the track patterns).  Both of these strategies combined will help narrow and identify the animal.  The actual print itself is not a sure way of identification, as clear, well-formed prints are hard to come by.

Here are a few resources from the Canadian Wildlife Federation to help you get started:

• Discovering the World of Animal Tracks 
• Tracking Down Winter Wildlife