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From the field:
Alberta
Morgan Hill
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| Shell Conservation Intern Morgan Hill |
Greetings from Alberta. It’s great to be back for a
second summer as a Shell Conservation Intern based out of
Edmonton. The summer is only half done and I’m already
having a great time working with my colleagues, Sarah Gardner
and Rebecca Vande Griend, learning new plants and animals
as we go. We are monitoring ecologically significant properties
protected by NCC, recording the plants and animals found there.
We are also taking photos on the properties so that we can
compare them with photos taken at the very same locations
(as confirmed by GPS) in previous years. Taking photos from
year to year and comparing them allows us to easily see and
document any changes that occur over time.
I’ve started to learn to identify different grasses
and, hopefully, will be an expert on all plants in the Aspen
Parkland by the end of the summer. I enjoy learning something
new every day, so my project this summer is to learn to identify
birds and bird calls. It is a slow process, but I am enjoying
it every step of the way.
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Coyote Lake in the
Aspen Parkland |
An interesting discovery that we made this summer was a Lance-leaf
Grape-fern (Botrychium lanceolatum) at a property near Pigeon
Lake, an hour south of Edmonton. This plant is classified
as S2 by the Alberta Natural Heritage Information Centre,
which means there are only six to 20 occurrences of this plant
found in Alberta. We have also had many exciting adventures,
including being in Drumheller when the Red Deer River was
flooding.
In the fall I will be returning to the University of Saskatchewan,
where I’m finishing up my degree at the College of Agriculture,
majoring in plant ecology. After that I will be close to home,
a farm outside of Vanscoy, Saskatchewan.
Excited for my next adventure,
Morgan Hill
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