Another successful year for the NERDS class

June 30, 2016

NERDs heading down to the lake for canoe training.

Northern Environmental Research and Development Studies (NERDS) is wrapping up for another year. Over the past four weeks in NERDS we’ve been so busy that we haven’t even managed to get a newspaper article in! There just isn’t space to explain everything.

Here are just a few of the things we’ve been doing: Forestry Day at Joy Bible Camp, Golf Tournament and Silent Auction Fundraiser, Lake Access Mapping in the Whitney area, helping build some community gardens with Harvest the North, OBBN stream monitoring, Wetlands Day at Joy Bible Camp, Canoe Training, Canadian Lake Loon Survey in Kawartha Highlands, Relay for Life Set-up, and a visit to the Toronto Zoo.

The 2016 NERDS class, Josh Brown, Samantha-Lynn Bruce, Sam Burnett, Liam Crawford, Veronica Gizuk, Brandon Keller, James Keller, Eric Legge, Jenna Mongraw, Reilly Sheppard, Johnathon Thibadeau, Jessie Whiteside, Dakota Woodcox and Aaron Yantha, and their teachers Colleen Baehre and James Burbidge, would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance this semester. Without the dedicated support of these members of our community we would not be able to run our program.

Assistance at the beginning of the semester – Carl Ziebarth
First Aid/CPR-C – James Burbidge, Carl Ziebarth
Young Worker Safety Seminar – Ron Lucas, Ministry of Labour
WHMIS, Workplace Harassment, Bear Safety – James Burbidge
Ice Rescue Training – Robb and Sue Evis of Paddlefoot/Wilderness Safety Systems Inc.
Duck Box Maintenance and Ice Fishing – Carl Ziebarth and the Highlands Fish and Game Club
Team Building – the staff of YMCA Camp Wanakita, Haliburton
Tracking and Survival: First Nations Style – Ethan Huner, Algonquins of Ontario
Winter Survival Training – OPP Constable Ed White
Maple Syrup Climate Change Study – Danny Bierworth and Scott Graham of Camp CanAqua
Elk Ecology – Lenna Minnie
North Hastings Community Fish Hatchery (weekly inventory, tank cleaning and feeding, fly-tying instruction, fin clipping, and stocking) – Ron Bowman and all the volunteers
White Lake Provincial Fish Culture Station – Tim Drew, MNRF
National Greencheck Advanced GPS Certificate – Colleen Baehre
Ripley’s Aquarium – Doug Isaak, Aquarium Teaching Staff
Lake Access Mapping – Jennifer Card and Erin MacDonald – MNRF
Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Training – Jane Kali of North Hastings Community Trust , Tracey Dale of the Metis Nation of Ontario, Steve Wilkins of the Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, Jaime Whitley and Catherine Betson of NHHS, Tracy Demianchuk of HPEDSB
Spring Littoral Index Netting (SLIN) – Steve Lawrence, Erin MacDonald, Glen Brethour, Jeremy Dynes, Luke Hillyer all of MNRF
Swim Test – Jasmine Scott, Instructor and NLS Lifeguard
Pleasure Craft Operator Certificate – Colleen Baehre
Algonquin College SHSM Forestry Day – Jodi Burgess and staff, and Forestry Technician students
Rockingham Camp
Mini-SLIN Project, Trail Maintenance, Wood Supply Management and Overall Guidance – Carl Ziebarth, Mike and Dianne Whitehead, Highlands Fish and Game Club
First Nations Hunting Tools – Ethan Huner, Algonquins of Ontario
Boundary Line Marking – Warren Musclow, Freymond Lumber
Fly Fishing – Ron Bowman
Species at Risk Presentation and Field Trip – Graham Cameron, MNRF
Forestry Day – Virginia DeCarle and volunteers including staff from Bancroft Area Forest Industry Association and many others, staff of Joy Bible Camp
Bancroft Golf Course – Blair Smith, Fraser Smith, Alayne Taylor
Community Garden Construction – Karen Berry, Bill Kilpatrick and others from Harvest the North
Ontario Benthos Biomonitoring Network Introductory Training – Colleen Baehre
Wetlands Day – Betty Coutu and volunteers from the Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, as well as many others, staff of Joy Bible Camp
Relay For Life Set-up – Flo Vandermeer, Bonnie Simpson and many other volunteers
Canoe Training – James Burbidge, Shauna Switzer – NLS Lifeguard
Canadian Lakes Loon Survey – Erica Barkley, MNRF, Paul Smith – Superintendent Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park, Madison-Montanna Gates, Lifeguard
…and last but not least…
The Toronto Zoo – all the amazing animals

We would also like to thank the following organizations, in general, for their on-going support (expert and/or financial assistance): Bancroft Area Stewardship Council, Bancroft Fish and Game Protective Association, Bancroft Area Forest Industry Association, Bancroft Chapter of the Ontario Woodlot Association, Bancroft District Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Limerick Hunt Club, and the Bancroft Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police.
Finally we would like to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the businesses and individuals who supported our Fifth Annual Golf Tournament and Silent Auction Fundraiser. There were around 120 contributors. This includes those who played in the tournament, sponsored holes, provided items for the auction and for prizes, made food donations, made cash donations, came for dinner, and bought items in the auction. Without your tremendous support we would not be able run our program!
(If we have inadvertently missed someone please accept our sincere apologies!)
Thanks for a great semester! Look for stories about the next group of NERDS in the winter of 2018.
Happy Summer!!

Submitted by Veronica Gizuk