Collaborating with the next generation

Launching the fourth season of the Salish Sea Emerging Stewards program.

As I walk onto campus at the University of Victoria, I am surrounded by the hustle and bustle of students scurrying off to their classes. For the students, their familiarity with the area makes their travel effortless as they weave and bob through the buildings and walkways. As a visitor, the school is a giant maze where the seemingly identical buildings and multiple pathways can easily turn you around.

Visiting a university for the first time can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. It represents options to explore learning, but also decisions that may be daunting for those who may not know where to start. 

As part of Raincoast’s Salish Sea Emerging Stewards program, high school students are introduced to the university environment through a full day of learning on campus. Students learn hands-on about their coastal environment with our community partners, many of whom study, work and teach at the university.

Each year, this day at the university marks the launch of our multi-phase education and leadership program. We introduce ideas and concepts about nature that will be reinforced throughout the rest of the program. This year, the program welcomed 50 high school students from the ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School. 

We can’t do this alone, so to provide a wide perspective on understanding, we collaborate with a host of community partners that include local knowledge holders, scientists, and specialists that share their expertise on nature through hands-on learning stations with the youth. 

We have been fortunate to collaborate with some amazing people who are working hard to study, restore and protect this beautiful area we call home. Our day was started by Barb Hulme, the resident elder for the First Peoples House on campus, who welcomed us and imparted some words to demonstrate the valuable opportunity that lies ahead for the youth.

Raincoast ACS Lab member at the University of Victoria, demonstrating hair collection techniques.
Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab members at the University of Victoria, demonstrating hair collection techniques. Photo by Nathaniel Glickman.

Our very own Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab team, based at the University of Victoria, shared with youth the importance of studying local bears, conservation science, and demonstrated the non-invasive techniques we use in the field to collect data. Students set up their own bear test site outdoors and re-enacted a day in the life of a Raincoast scientist.

 ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School student collecting bear hair sample during a practice session.
ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School student collecting bear hair sample during a practice session. Photo by Nathaniel Glickman.

Hannah Roessler, an ethnobotanist with a wealth of experience in the plant world, helped introduce youth to the importance of ethnobotany and the relationships people have held with plants for millennia. Students tried their hand at weaving stinging nettle into cordage by cracking and removing the tough outer stems then twisting the softened inner fibers into tough, rope-like twine. Hannah had on display a variety of local plants that served as food, medicine and resources as well as samples of stinging nettle tea to help engage all the senses.

 Students trying their hand at cordage weaving using stinging nettle.
Students trying their hand at cordage weaving using stinging nettle. Photo by Nathaniel Glickman.

Ocean Networks Canada teamed up with local archaeologist Nicole Smith to highlight the evidence in nature that has helped us understand the past. Nicole highlighted the importance of these findings and what to look out for, while the Ocean Networks Canada team demonstrated the role of clam gardens in resource management as students set off to construct their own.

Our three Junior Student Leaders (program alumni) served as the day’s guides, leading groups to their sessions and answering questions. They served as resource persons and hosts for the day, while helping close our event by sharing with their peers how the program has impacted their learning and revealed passions they never knew existed.

We are now looking forward to working with these students again in the next phase of the program where they will continue their learning journey, setting sail aboard Raincoast’s 66-foot research vessel, Achiever, to immerse themselves in local wildlife habitats of the Salish Sea.


We are so thankful to this year’s supporters: The First West Foundation, Sitka Society for Conservation, Tides Canada, Telus Vancouver Foundation, Victoria Foundation, TD Friends of the Environment, Barraclough Foundation, Greygates Foundation, Hamber Foundation, Arc’teryx and all our community partners who make this valuable learning experience possible for youth.

 Student team learning key features to look for when setting up a non-invasive bear study.
Student team learning key features to look for when setting up a non-invasive bear study. Photo by Nathaniel Glickman.
Two young students examine inner fibres of stinging nettles at the University of Victoria.
Students examine inner fibres of stinging nettles. Photo by Nathaniel Glickman.

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.

Coastal wolf with a salmon in its month.
Photo by Dene Rossouw.