News Release

Toronto, Ontario – The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Shell Canada Limited are pleased to announce the 2005 Shell Conservation Interns. Chosen from over 1000 applicants, the 17 Canadian students have begun their stewardship and conservation management work at NCC sites across the country. Created as a unique partnership between Shell and NCC, the Shell Conservation Internship program provides exceptional field experience for students interested in a career in conservation or the environment.

The 17 interns, from 12 universities and colleges, are doing vital stewardship work for NCC properties across Canada that ranges from collecting scientific data related to Semipalmated Sandpipers at the Johnson’s Mills Preserve in New Brunswick to radio-tracking Spiny Softshell turtles in Québec’s Lake Champlain, creating inventories of animal and plant species. 

“I am really pleased to be a Shell Conservation Intern with the Nature Conservancy of Canada,” said Elizabeth Walsh, Interpreter at NCC’s Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Interpretive Centre in New Brunswick.  “I am especially proud to be managing NCC’s only Interpretive Centre.  I love coming to work and knowing that I am helping to protect the hundreds of thousands of shorebirds we see here each day, on the beaches or in the air.  I also get a chance to meet people from all over the world who come to watch this natural phenomenon found only on the shores of the Bay of Fundy.”

“The Shell Conservation Interns play a vital part in the ongoing conservation of our properties, by enhancing natural plant communities and improving habitats,” said John Lounds, president of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “But equally important is the experience they get, the kind of experience that creates future environmental leaders.”

The Shell Conservation Internship Program was launched in 2002. Shell provides the funding and NCC provides the work at their ecologically significant properties across the country. At the end of the summer, the interns come to Shell’s Calgary office for a workshop and field trip, to share the results of their summer work and to talk about conservation challenges with Shell and NCC staff.

“We’re delighted with this partnership,” said Tim Bancroft, vice-president of sustainable development for Shell Canada. “It fits with our commitment to sustainable development; it contributes to the preservation of biodiversity across Canada, and it furthers the education of these quite remarkable young people.”

 

Student	School	Working
Donald Humphrey	Memorial University of Newfoundland	Throughout Nova Scotia, based in Halifax
Melanie Juurlink	St.Francis Xavier University	Throughout Nova Scotia, based in Halifax
Elizabeth Walsh	Niagara College, Mount Allison University	At Johnson’s Mills, New Brunswick
Jean-Emmanuel Arsenault	Université de Québec à Montréal	In Lake Champlain, region of Québec
Alain Du Cap	Concordia University	In Richelieu River, region of Québec
Laura Mousseau	University of Guelph	In Guelph, Ontario
Sarah Piett	University of Guelph	Throughout Western Ontario
Andrew Ryckman	University of Guelph	Throughout Eastern Ontario
James Temple	Ryerson University	In Toronto, Ontario
Chris Milne	Assiniboine Community College	Based in Brandon, Manitoba
Mehan Wady	University of Manitoba	Based in Brandon, Manitoba
Digit Ash	University of Saskatchewan	Throughout southern Saskatchewan, based in Regina
Joel Brimacombe	University of Alberta	Throughout southern Saskatchewan, based in Regina
Sarah Gardner	University of Alberta	Throughout Aspen Parkland region, based in Edmonton, Alberta
Morgan Hill	University of Saskatchewan	Throughout Aspen Parkland region, based in Edmonton, Alberta
Brenden Anderson	Lethbridge Community College	Elk Valley and Upper Columbia River areas, British Columbia
Ian Giesbrecht	Simon Fraser University	Throughout British Columbia, based in Victoria

Interviews, tours and photos are available by contacting NCC.

Charity Landon
Major Gifts and Special Projects Officer
Nature Conservancy of Canada
(416) 932-3202

For information about Shell Canada and its commitment to sustainable development, contact:

Janet Rowley
General Manager - Public Affairs
Shell Canada Limited
(403) 691-3899

Web sites:

www.conservationinterns.ca

www.natureconservancy.ca