The best summer camp on earth?
Our research and outreach vessel, Achiever, just returned from one of the most inspiring trips of the year. Let me explain why…
Creating transformative experiences for students on the Salish Sea
These experiences are transformative and what we strive to create for young people with the Salish Sea Emerging Stewards program. The program brings students on multi-day journeys aboard Achiever to learn about coastal environments and conservation challenges…
Breaking new estuary ground on the Steveston Jetty
When we began our research in the Fraser estuary in 2016, the presence of multiple barriers, including the Steveston Jetty, became a significant concern. With the announcement of the Coastal Restoration Fund in 2017, an opportunity to begin addressing these barriers appeared…
Join us in the Great Bear Rainforest in 2019
We watch as her three little cubs slowly take to the high water and make their way to mom. They graze on roots, and search for salmon carcasses that simply aren’t there. The cub’s curiosity…
Advancing non-invasive approaches for monitoring wildlife: considering the ethics of developing new techniques
A theme that underlies our research in the Applied Conservation Lab is that we aim to apply methods that are minimally invasive to wildlife. This ethos emerges in large part from our partners in First Nations communities, who have taught us many important lessons about respecting the people, places, and animals where we work. Our…
Fraser estuary research completed for 2018
After a long five months we have now wrapped up our 2018 field season in the Fraser estuary, our best year yet! This year our team spent 76 days in the field and we captured more than 35,000 fish, including over 6,400 juvenile salmon. While it has been a long and hot season with a…
Moving marine-derived nutrients from the sea to the land
The aim of this research is to inform salmon management strategies given the importance of allowing adults to return to their natal streams to spawn. Considering this life cycle is imperative for management agencies…
Notes from the (pre) field: “Caution – bear research in progress”
With spring comes organized chaos as graduate students and research associates transition from laboratory work, data analysis and writing, to a flurry of preparation for an upcoming season of monitoring bears on the central coast of British Columbia. We are headed to Gitga’at, Heiltsuk, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Nuxalk and Wuikinuxv Territories to join…
A jetty runs through it: restoring lost connectivity in the Fraser River estuary
An amazing spring research season has begun. There was snow, and then suddenly we were in our boats with nets and buckets catching the year’s first juvenile salmon. This year brings renewed enthusiasm as we embark on a big plan to restore connectivity and natural processes on the delta of the Fraser River estuary…
Sailing with Raincoast in 2018
In May, our spring ‘hunts’ visited lush estuaries as the days grew longer and bears were down low grazing on sedges. Marine wildlife started to make their way back to the rich, cold waters of the coast. Their annual migration to foraging areas beginning and lasting well…
First rains bring spawners and bald eagles back to Vancouver Island rivers
Last fall, while the dry start to autumn put the brilliant golds, reds and oranges of tree leaves on display, my mind continuously returned to the rain. Not the rain that many dread, but the rain that floods small watersheds and raises the water levels in the rivers…
Community-based science and communing with the coast
“Rain’s supposed to come down even harder this afternoon,” says our Skipper Murray ‘Moose’ Barton and we lower the canoe into the water…
