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The dilemma began when we challenged ourselves to solve the elemental issue of food security about a century ago. We assumed that the climate would not change, but unknowingly we created numerous environmental issues through industrial agriculture causing the degradation of the natural resources such as soil. We thought focusing on the interdependent human needs – water, energy and food is enough to address the current and future challenge of sustaining humankind while protecting and addressing environmental concerns.

I I just returned from a life-changing five months in the Shetland Islands where I was doing field work for my PhD.

For three weeks in May, students had the opportunity to get hands-on experience in many ecological field skills. Further, students worked towards receiving certifications in some professionally recognized programs.

ERS 283 Ontario Natural History 2019 field course saw 16 students living up in Cabot Head, Ontario for an immersive nine-day field course experience.

As a three week, Monday to Friday field course, ERS 341 Professional Practice I is designed to equip students with the real-world tools and experience that will carry them into their dream jobs, graduate studies, and beyond. Introducing students to monitoring and assessment techniques for mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, soil, freshwater mussels, and plants, students gain hands-on learning experience in collaboration with partner organizations and experts in the field.

The students enrolled in ERS 342 Professional Conservation and Restoration Practice II, a 1.0 Credit course, were provided an excellent opportunity to learn from ecological restoration professionals engaged in forest, prairie, wetland, and marsh restoration in the Long Point World Biosphere.

Nothing about a river is straight, nor is its management straightforward. I quickly learned from my exploratory research, evaluating monitoring indicators in the Muskoka River Watershed, that the supposedly simple task of generating a list of environmental indicators for monitoring watershed health was more about social equity, communication, organizational capacity and partnerships, than it was about managing the watershed – at least at that stage in the monitoring program’s development.

As kids we used dirt for play – ‘mud burgers’ anyone? – and parents demanded that we wipe our feet and wash our dirty hands when we came inside the house. But soil is not dirty! In fact, soil contains an entire universe of organisms – one gram of soil contains billions of bacteria, thousands of fungi and algae. In addition to the billions of organisms, soil is also a mixture of living and non-living materials. The non-living materials include rock particles that have weathered over thousands of years from the bedrock below, plant residues and dead microbes.

Environment and resource problems can seem hopeless at times, especially when governments abandon all pretense of good governance. Before we stop off at the local fast food joint and order a final “Ennui Meal” with extra bathos, it might be best to stop and think of the solutions rather than just the problems.

It always starts with unpredictable inclement weather, which generally includes snowstorms and temperatures below -10. But then it happens, the temperature climbs above freezing, the snow melts, and the moment the ice begins to break up on the smallest wetlands, there are ducks on the pond. This is my happy place. It’s spring in Alberta’s boreal forest and everything is literally coming to life. Spring marks the return of birds to the boreal, which is home to millions of breeding birds and charismatic megafauna that call this mosaic of forests and wetlands home.