Jenna Snelgrove conducting Biomonitoring in the Haliburton Highlands. ©Jenna Snelgrove

If you’ve been following Jenna Snelgrove’s blog posts on the CFICE website, you’ll know she’s been working hard to research and prepare some pretty unique event kits for CFICE’s Haliburton Partners, , and .

Through her work, Jenna has prepared 4 event kits – one for each season. These kits all focus on teaching the public how to identify different species of plants, trees, and animals that live and grow in Haliburton. The events have been designed to be interactive as well as informative, turning attendeesÌýinto researchers, or detectives, as in the case of the animal tracking event!

By participating in these events, the hope is that Haliburton community members will feel more connected to the environment that surrounds them. This outcome will contribute toÌýHaliburton Highlands Land Trust and Abbey Gardens’s ongoing work on conservation and sustainable development.

So if you’re a Haliburton community member looking to learn more about your community, or an environmentalist looking to build your own event kit, we welcome you to browse through these kits. Open them by clicking on the images below!

Fall Event: Tree Identification

Winter Event: Tracks and Signs

Spring Event: Spring Ephemerals

Summer Event: Salamanders

As a CFICE research assistant working with Sheila Ziman at the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust and Heather Reid at Abbey Gardens, both located in Haliburton, and U-links with Marie Gage, I have received the opportunity, working with Trent University Professors Tom Whillans and Nadine Changfoot, to learn more about public engagement and environmental awareness in the Haliburton Highlands. My ambition is to work in partnership with these inspiring organizations to involve community members in the appreciation of the irreplaceable environments that surround them. By creating opportunities to encourage the interest of local citizens in the outdoors, this could create a cultural change that could positively support stewardship in this area.

Sheila Ziman with the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust, Jenna Snelgrove, Marie Gage with U-Links, and Heather Reid & Cara Steele with Abbey Gardens discuss upcoming events together at Abbey Gardens. ©Jenna Snelgrove

To be more specific, recently I have been planning day events to educate the public about naturalÌýfeatures that are prominent in the Haliburton Highlands. The first event that will be hosted by these organizations during the winter focuses on recognizing mammal tracks and signs. This will allow participants to better understand wildlife that is often elusive in nature. Next, the spring event will entail a journey to find and identify salamanders hidden under woody debris in the forest. By creating a means for local naturalists to have fun while learning more about the biodiversity in the Haliburton Highlands, this will hopefully establish an even greater interest in preserving natural heritage. This public participation would serve to benefit these organizations as well by increasing visitation at their extraordinary properties. This project ultimately combines the goals of the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust and Abbey Gardens to use environmental education as a method to involve the community in land stewardship right at home.

As the CFICE Research Assistant for and I am creating educational events that highlight the natural features and land stewardship activities of each of these organizations. In order to gain a better appreciation of their unique properties, recently I have been able to complete biomonitoring activities at two locations maintained by the Land Trust to assess the health of the amphibian populations in these areas.

Jenna Snelgrove conducting Biomonitoring in the Haliburton Highlands. ©Jenna Snelgrove

Upcoming tasks of mine include theÌýcreation of four new event packages to allow the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust and Abbey Gardens to encourage community engagement and stewardship activities within the Haliburton region. These events will be focused around each season throughout the year and they include: salamanders, mammal tracks and signs, tree identification, and leeks and ephemerals.

It is my hope that this project will enable the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust and Abbey Gardens to generate even more public interest and knowledge about the outstanding stewardship practices they accomplish. By receiving the opportunity to work on a project such as this, I am learning the value of community partnerships whilst working toward the common goal of environmental education.

Posting for the Positions of

Executive Director and Administrative Assistant

The Haliburton Highlands Land Trust is a leader in environmental protection, research, and education in Haliburton County. ÌýÌýIt is seeking two positions:Ìý Administrative Assistant and Executive Director.Ìý If you are interested in either position, e-mail your resume to admin@haliburtonlandtrust.caÌý by 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 2014 for the Administrative Assistant position or January 24, 2014 for the Executive Director position.

Executive Director

Ìý

The Executive Director is a highly motivated and energetic leader with a strong interest in conservation.Ìý The Executive Director serves as the public face of the Land Trust and provides leadership in the areas of funding development, volunteer and membership development and the management of staff and operations.Ìý The successful candidate brings a commitment to environmental conservation and a background in management, ideally in the not-for-profit sector. You have:

• Proven ability to lead an organization through change to successful growth in its funding, membership base and partnerships.
• An undergraduate or college degree in environmental studies/science, business administration, non-profit management or a related field.
• Experience in fundraising and grant proposals, policy and program development and excellent communications skills.
• Demonstrated ability in building relationships with a wide array of individuals.

This position is funded through a two year Trillium grant.Ìý It is the intent of the Land Trust to make this position ongoing following this grant.Ìý Retention is of course dependent upon funding which is a key focus of the position.Ìý The full terms of reference are available on the website at

Administrative Assistant

Ìý

The Administrative Assistant reports directly to the Executive Director and works closely with the Board of Directors and its committees.Ìý The position involves setting up and maintaining information pertaining to volunteers, memberships (and membership levels), donations, projects, and electronic mailing lists.Ìý The candidate works closely with the treasurer to maintain financial records, to process invoices and payments and to handle the banking aspect (and record keeping) of all donations and payments.Ìý The successful candidate has:

• Demonstrated office coordination and record keeping skills
• Strong knowledge of computer systems and the ability to undertake effective database design and management.
• Experience in processing invoices, handling bank deposits, and financial record keeping.
• Superior organizational skills and is detail oriented.
• Strong people skills Ìýas working directly with volunteers and members of the public is required.

Compensation is $18.00 per hour. The expected regular number of hours per week is fifteen with allowance for additional hours as project workload may dictate.Ìý This is a contract position for 2014 with renewal beyond 2014 dependent upon available funding.Ìý Funding for this position comes through project grants, private donations, and other funding avenues.