The team at EALT is often asked “What do you do in the winter?”. Amidst our stewardship planning for the coming year, writing reports, and applying for grants, our team also takes time to develop their skills and knowledge. Conferences, workshops, and events allow our team to connect with other conservation partners and learn how to improve our work.
Read on to see the highlights from events our team attended this late fall and winter.
The Wildlife Society Conference
Meghan and Kayleen at The Wildlife Society’s 2025 conference in Edmonton.
Coincidentally, the international association The Wildlife Society’s annual conference was hosted in Edmonton this year! Conservation Team Lead Meghan and Conservation Coordinator Kayleen both attended the 3 4 days of workshops and presentations. Some highlights and topics from this event included:
A science communication workshop to improve our skills when sharing about complex issues
Keynote speakers presenting on Indigenous-led conservation projects and how traditional knowledge can be incorporated into research
An example shared was on the Klinse-Za Mountain Caribou Recovery stewarded by West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations
Preparing and accommodating for neurodivergence in the workplace
Grassland restoration and management
Monitoring species-at risk-protection on private lands
Herptile wildlife crossing structure design and monitoring
Acoustic unit and drone monitoring for birds in grassland and boreal regions
We were inspired by the projects that were shared during this conference and look forward to applying this knowledge in our stewardship and monitoring work in the coming years.
We’d also like to remind our supporters that we welcome inquiries for research and data collection on our conservation lands. You can use our form here to connect with us.
Nature On The Hill
Conservation Coordinator Gary Elaschuk-Pruden traveled to Ottawa at the end of October to participate in Nature On The Hill. Nature On The Hill is an annual event that brings together representatives from nature organizations around the country to represent local perspectives in parliament. The event is nonpartisan, and garners support for nature, throughout the in parliament. These were the key requests of the summit:
Invest in Canada’s identity through nature
Protecting nature is fundamental to a strong and united society
Restoring nature will build our economy
Gary met with several Northern Albertan MP’s and Canada’s first Secretary of State for Nature, Nathalie Provost. Nathalie Provost later joined us at the summit’s closing reception to emphasize that conservation requires nature building projects, not just concrete and steel.
Running concurrently with Nature On The Hill was the Land Trust MP Breakfast on Parliament Hill.
Gary also had the honour of attending the breakfast. The breakfast gave land trust representatives a chance to engage with Members of Parliament, Senators, and their staff.
The Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts also participated in the event, advocating about issues that have implications for land trusts across Canada. You can read more about their work on their website.
Gary was also invited to speak on some of the work being done through the Alliance of Canadian Land Trust’s Indigenous Relations Working Group, such as the project we are implementing to support Indigenous Land Trusts.
Ivey Conservation Leadership Program
At the same time, Rebecca Ellis, EALT Conservation Manager, headed to business school in London, Ontario. She joined 23 other leaders across the land trust sector in Canada at the Ivey Executive Education for the first cohort of the Centre for Land Conservation’s Conservation Leadership Program. Taught by world class leaders in strategic thinking, collaboration, leader character, innovation and negotiation through hands on exercises and group discussions, the group could framed leadership in the conservation sector together and learned from each other’s experiences. Stepping away from the day to day gave Rebecca space to think and reflect on her role at EALT and gain ideas for how to move conservation in the Edmonton region forward.
Land Trust Summit
In November, Gary and Rebecca headed to Victoria for the 2025 Canadian Land Trust Summit, organized by the Alliance of Canadian Land Trusts. Sessions and workshops about reconciliation, climate resilience, monitoring conservation easements, and more gave a wide perspective of topics for all attendees.
Together with staff from the Otipemisiwak Métis Government and other partners, Gary and Rebecca gave a presentation about Land Trusts and Indigenous Partnerships, describing how our two organizations have worked together on land conservation initiatives in the Edmonton region. The newly formed Alberta Métis Nature Trust Society is a first of its kind, following the land trust model to support Indigenous-led conservation.
Other Indigenous-led land trusts in attendance included the W̱SÁNEĆ Lands Trust Society from BC, Mno Aki Land Trust from Ontario, and the Passamaquoddy Recognition Group, part of the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik, who partner with the Nature Trust of New Brunswick.
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