Goodbye TLC! My time as intern has finished, and I just wanted to share my appreciation for the great team who work at TLC and have the passion for conservation. I’ve had an awesome experience as a summer intern: learning covenant monitoring, learning the perspective of a biologist in relation to my geography point of view, conducting my own research project on ecoforestry, writing these posts, and spending time with TLC’s favourite office dog Yogi Bear the golden retriever. I appreciate the skills I’ve developed here, especially the fieldwork and professional writing skills, and highly recommend to anyone to either apply or volunteer with TLC – they do amazing work and have fantastic opportunities for professional growth.
My favourite time here has most definitely been the fieldwork days. TLC does annual monitoring of their covenants, which means our staff gets to go to protected areas, hike around, look at plants and rocks, and learn from landowners about the area. It’s great! My favourite places I had the privilege to visit are DeMamiel Creek and Langvista covenants. DeMamiel Creek is a salmon-bearing riparian area with amazing maidenhair (Adiantum aleuticum) and lady ferns (Athyrium filix-femina), clay deposits and rock conglomerates, and a healthy creek full of caddisfly larvae. Regardless of wet shoes and spiderwebs in the face, monitoring this area was always a joy.
Langvista covenant is located right on Mill Hill with a vibrant Garry oak ecosystem, containing many wildflowers, succulents, and birds including red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), and I recommend looking up this bird’s call, it is highly recognizable! There is also an active White-top aster restoration project in that covenant which was amazing to briefly be involved with and learn more about the plant. Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities with this project!
Thank you for the experience TLC, it’s been a blast!
~ Erin, TLC’s Summer Covenant Program Intern
