The Deertrails Naturalist Program is a multiday, adult workshop that invites connection with B.C.’s natural habitats, and conservation community. The program is designed for students, teachers, artists, naturalists – anybody seeking to build resilience into their lives by connecting with the living world.
Registration
Apply to join the 2026 Deertrails Naturalist Program by completing our Application Questionnaire. Your responses help us get to know you and shape the workshop to better support your learning goals. This workshop is limited to 16 participants. We encourage you to apply early.
Please make sure to answer all questions marked *Required. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. You will receive confirmation of registration by July 31. Bursary allocation and workshop fee payment will proceed after registration confirmation.
Application period open until July 31.
Workshop Dates
Friday, August 21 – Monday, August 24, 2026*
*Optional Advance Check-In available before workshop begins on Thursday, August 20.
Location
The 2026 Deertrails Naturalist Program will be hosted within the traditional territories of the ƛoʔos (Klahoose), ɬaʔamɩn (Tla’amin), and χʷɛmaɬku (Homalco) Nations on what is now known as Cortes Island.
Linnaea Farm, Cortes Island
1255 Seaford Rd, Mansons Landing, BC V0P 1K0
Google Map
Workshop Fees
The base workshop fee includes instruction time and meals from Friday, August 21 (dinner) through Monday, August 24 (breakfast). Accommodations and Advance Check-In options can be added to the base workshop fee.
Bursaries
Up to 50% Fee Coverage Per Person
Bursaries are available for participants in need of financial support thanks to TLC donors who have generously contributed to the Briony Penn Endowment Fund and Ruffed Grouse Endowment Fund held with the Victoria Foundation. To request bursary funding, please fill out the “Bursary” section of the registration form.
Bursary allotment and workshop fee payment will be processed once applicants receive registration confirmation (by July 31).
Program
Linnaea Farm Welcome | Tamara McPhail
This session offers an introduction to Linnaea Farm as a land trust and working community. We’ll explore how stewardship, governance, and care for land and people are woven together in practice, not just theory. Participants will get a grounded sense of how land trusts hold land in perpetuity, how shared responsibility shows up day-to-day, and what it takes to sustain a place over time. Expect stories from the farm, reflections on long-term stewardship, and an honest look at both the beauty and the complexity of collective land care.
Tamara McPhail is a long-time land steward at Linnaea Farm, working at the intersection of organic agriculture, community governance, and emergency care. She brings a grounded, systems-minded approach to rural leadership, shaped by decades of living, farming, and organizing in place.
En-Lichen-ment: Walking with Lichen & Fungi | Juliet Pendray
Join us for a slow walk into the hidden worlds of lichens, fungi, and other participants in the ecologies of this place. Through careful observation and shared discovery, we’ll explore the identities, ecologies and stories of the species we encounter. Together, we’ll cultivate the art of noticing and learn from one another’s perspectives. The walk also offers opportunities to practice photographic documentation with James (see photography workshop description), supporting both creative expression and citizen science. Participants may wish to bring a notebook or sketchbook, as drawing and writing can deepen observation, curiosity, and connection to place.
Juliet Pendray is a naturalist, educator, and facilitator who inspires curiosity about fungi and lichens. Since 2004, she has shared her expertise through courses, workshops, media, inventories, and community events across B.C., collaborating with diverse organizations and encouraging deeper connections with the natural world and our responsibilities within it.
Mobile Nature Photography | James Holkko
An introduction to field photography and species documentation. As social media and citizen science platforms continue to expand opportunities for individuals to contribute biodiversity records, the importance of accurate photographic documentation has grown significantly. Participants will explore both the strengths and limitations of cell phone photography in the field, along with practical techniques and best practices for capturing images that support reliable species identification and scientific documentation. Topics will include image quality, composition, lighting, habitat context, and approaches for photographing key identifying features in natural settings.
James Holkko is an award-winning nature photographer based in Victoria. He has served as a facilitator and instructor at annual nature events and workshops, specializing in species identification and nature photography. His work has contributed to biodiversity projects and has been published in numerous magazines, books, and species field guides.
Our Living Edges | Sarah Smith
In this session, we will explore our living edges: human boundary layers, forest ecology, and the strategy of Wei Qi. Rather than treating boundaries as rigid walls, this session investigates them as dynamic zones of negotiation, communication, and bridges for kinship. We will elevate the awareness of the adaptive protective interfaces between us and our surrounding natural environments.
Sarah Smith is a traditional medicine practitioner and wilderness guide. Sarah has been in practice since 2009 with Chinese & Japanese medicine. These years of experience, combined with 7 years of being a wilderness guide, create a unique lens on the parallels between the landscapes of our bodies and the territories we live in. She has worked in clinics around the world: India, Peru, Indonesia, etc. and led up to 54-day-long expeditions in remote Canadian landscapes.
Writing, Making, and Place | Maleea Acker
Much creative-making is inextricably tied to place. In this session, you’ll hone your writing practice with exercises designed to foster place-based creativity. We’ll explore concepts of place and home, try exercises to support creativity and hone your craft, and foster a deepened attention to place. This workshop will focus on writing (poetry) but may also bring in other practices to enliven and support your writing.
Maleea Acker lives in unceded WSÁNEĆ territories. She holds a PhD in Geography and teaches at the University of Victoria and Thompson Rivers University. She is the author of three poetry collections, including Hesitating Once to Feel Glory (Nightwood Editions, 2022), and a non-fiction book, Gardens Aflame: Garry Oak Meadows of BC’s South Coast (New Star, 2013), which charts the Indigenous stewardship and colonial restoration of an endangered Vancouver Island ecosystem. She has over 20 years of experience as an interpretive writer, journalist, writer and teacher, creating materials that allow both children and adults to learn more about nature and culture.
Session to be Announced | Duane J. Hanson & Autumn Barrett-Morgan
ʔit̓ᶿok̓ʔətᶿ nan Duane J. Hanson, tuwač kʷ ƛoʔos qayɛmixʷ ʔətᶿ qaymɩxʷmɛn nan t̓ɬakwa maxinux, Copper Killerwhale. Offered to me from Lekwiltox, Hereditary Chief Russell Kwakseestahla/ Quocksister during sweat lodge ceremony in Toq. Bachelor of Arts, Indigenous Studies, Vancouver Island University, 2020. Associate of Arts, Degree, Indigenous Government Studies, Institute of Indigenous Government. 1997. Worked in Indigenous communities for over 20 years.
Autumn Barett-Morgan’s passions are woven around environmental and social justice, animal care (wild and domestic), and making food and medicines from foraged and grown plants and fungi. She is a Wetland Steward at Linnaea Farm and a Biological Monitoring Technician for the Friends of Cortes Island Society; who’s primary focus has been on habitat enhancement, species at risk monitoring, wildlife coexistence, monitoring and stewarding wetland restoration projects and educational talks and tours with people of all ages. She also proudly volunteers with the Mountainnaire Avian Rescue Society, a local wildlife rehabilitation hospital. Autumn has lived on so-called Cortes Island for 10 years and continues deepen relationship with the lands, waters, animals & people in the traditional territories of the Klahoose, Tla’amin and Homalco Nations.
Program Itinerary
* Itinerary subject to change. Grey sections indicate teaching blocks.
Food
The workshop will kick off with a Welcome Dinner on Friday and wrap up with a Farewell Breakfast on Monday. Each morning features a continental breakfast and and opportunity for participants to build their own pack-away “field lunch”. Evenings bring relaxed communal dinners on the Education Centre patio. Hot beverage options will be served at breakfast and dinner. Gluten and dairy-free, and plant-based options are available.
Please let us know about any food allergies or dietary restrictions/preferences when you register.
Accommodations
Looking for a place to stay on Cortes Island?
Bunk inside Linnaea Farm’s charming Farmhouse or choose a lakeside tent spot on Education Centre lawn. Optional Linnaea Farm accommodations fees will be added to your base workshop fee.
Farmhouse Stay – $60/night per person (total of $180/person for Aug 21-24)
Farmhouse stay includes a shared dorm (up to 2 people per room) and access to plumbed co-ed washrooms/shower, shared kitchenette, and indoor/outdoor dining areas. Dorms will be divided by gender unless participants have a preferred person they would like to share a room with. We will opt to give you your own room, as space allows.
Camping – $25/night per person (total of $75/person for Aug 21-24)
Tent camping is available on the Education Centre lawn next to Gunflint Lake. The camping area is ~100m from the Farmhouse and ~50m from the vehicle loading zone. Campers must bring their own camping equipment. Campers will have access to all Farmhouse facilities, including washrooms and showers.
Advance Check-In Option – Thursday, August 20
Get settled on Cortes a day before the workshop begins! Check-In between 4 – 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 20. Meals are not included for Advance Check-In option. Participants will have access to shared kitchenette for advance check in. Advance Check-In fees will be added to your base workshop fee.
Farmhouse Stay Advance Check-In – $60/person
Camping Advance Check-In – $25/person
Travel
Participants are responsible for arranging their own travel to the workshop.
Cortes Island is accessed by two non-reservable B.C. ferries departing from Campbell River and connecting through Quadra Island. There is very limited car deck space on the Quadra Island – Cortes Island ferry connection.
Highlighted are the recommended sailings to arrive and depart from the workshop. Please arrive at least 1 hour before your first ferry travelling in either direction. If possible, take the earlier Campbell River – Quadra Island sailing on your journey to Cortes. This will better your chances making the Quadra Island – Cortes Island connecting ferry.
Workshop Contact
Emily Francis
Communications Manager
Office (Tuesday – Friday): 250-479-8053 or toll-free: 1-877-485-2422
Email: admin@conservancy.bc.ca
FAQs
Past Deertrails Naturalist Programs
From April 25 to 30, 2023, participants explored Cortes Island – the meeting place of tidal waters, biogeoclimatic zones, and cultural territories – through a series of naturalist-led walks and talks. Highlighting TLC’s 1,033 acres of protected areas on the island, students walked shorelines, swam in bracingly cold waters, explored a tapestry of sensitive ecosystems, and searched for northern goshawk plucking posts. Students learned about and deepened their connection to the natural world from seasoned naturalists and artists Briony Penn, Ann Mortifee, Rex Weyler, Sabina Leader Mense, Kristen Scholfield-Sweet, and a cast of Cortesians covering a full spectrum of disciplines.
From April 18 to 23, 2023, in the Clearwater River Valley, naturalist students explored a range of habitats from following deer trails to experiencing spring bird migration. Students explored TLC’s 141 acres of protected wetlands, forests, and wildlife corridors in the Valley and neighbouring Wells Gray Provincial Park with experts Nancy Turner, Maleea Acker, Briony Penn, Lyn Baldwin, Nancy Flood, and Trevor Goward. Aspiring naturalists developed a wide array of skills needed to steward local natural places, educate the public and new naturalists, engage in research and inform conservation efforts.
From April 26 to May 2, 2022, in the Clearwater River Valley, naturalist students explored a range of habitats including following the paths of the deer, pausing awhile in their places of sanctuary and places of power. Students learned about and deepened their connection to the natural world from seasoned naturalists and teachers Lyn Baldwin (ecologist and artist), Maleea Acker (poet and teacher), Nancy Flood (ornithologist and ecologist), Briony Penn (artist and author), and Trevor Goward (lichenologist and place-based naturalist), with special guest instructor Nancy Turner (ethnobiologist and botanist).
While the 2021 in-person Deertrails Naturalist Program sessions were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TLC’s naturalist instructors including Briony Penn (author and artist), Lyn Baldwin (ecologist and artist), Maleea Acker (poet and teacher), Trevor Goward (lichenologist and place-based naturalist), Nancy Turner (ethnobiologist and botanist), and Nancy Flood (ornithologist and ecologist) volunteered to host virtual sessions open to all. The recordings from those thought-provoking lectures and discussions can be found below and on TLC’s YouTube channel.
From the volcanic and glacial formations which shape the landscape of Wells Gray Provincial Park to the hair lichen required to sustain mountain caribou, 13 participants of TLC’s Deertrails Naturalist Program spent a week learning about biological diversity from six renowned experts in their respective fields. Lichenologist Trevor Goward, TLC founder and naturalist Briony Penn, ecologists Lyn Baldwin and Nancy Flood of Thompson Rivers University (TRU), volcanologist Cathie Hickson and forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon shared their expertise hoping to inspire the next generation of naturalists.