Things are starting to getting spooky with Halloween upon us. Bats are a common element of Halloween décor, but did you know they aren’t as scary as we make them out to be? There are a lot of myths about bats — here, we will help you tell fact from fiction for some of the…
Month: October 2020
Introducing Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray: Eastern Comma Artists-in-Residence
We are pleased to introduce Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray as the first of two 2020 Eastern Comma Artists-in-Residence. For the month of October, Rosina and Nicholas will be living in North House, a solar-powered home situated in the rare reserve. Each year, this residency is offered in partnership with Musagetes to welcome artists and…
Enhancing the protection of soil and water resources through integrated environmental research
The Ecohydrology Research Group at the University of Waterloo studies natural and human-driven changes in the environment that threaten ecosystems and soil and water resources. Since 2013, the Ecohydrology Research Group has worked with the rare Charitable Research Reserve on research projects studying the impacts of climate change and agricultural practices on soil and water…
Photo Journal: Blair Flats Tallgrass Prairie Restoration: 2010-2020
Tallgrass prairie formerly covered 80,000-100,000 ha of southwestern Ontario. Now, less than one percent remains. While recovery efforts for the remnant prairie are paramount, there is increasing interest in restoring prairie in areas where it was formerly more extensive. In partnership with rare, Dr. Andrew MacDougall at the University of Guelph began a tall grass…
Acknowledging Indigenous Territories and Stewardship in Ecological Field Research
We all work on Indigenous lands and territories, and as researchers it is our responsibility to ensure the that we acknowledge these lands and the Indigenous stewardship that has helped shape them. Indigenous peoples’ impacts on contemporary ecosystem dynamics is becoming increasingly recognized in today’s scientific literature. This impact has been documented across the globe,…
Sampling Environmental DNA
Hello! My name is Nathanael Harper and I am conducting research at the rare Charitable Research Reserve. I am a PhD student at the University of Waterloo in the Katzenback lab and my research focuses on environmental DNA (eDNA). What is eDNA? Animals shed cells into their environment in forms such as skin, scales and…
My Scientific Illustration Internship
Since the fall of 2018 I have been working through Gretchen Halpert’s Scientific Illustration Distance Program (SIDP). The program consists of four 10 week sessions, progressing from the basics in graphite, pen and ink, and watercolour, to professional scientific illustration practices and workflow. Assignments during the first three sessions are based on online classroom instruction, with…
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