Did you know that many post-secondary programs offer work-integrated learning (WIL) or community service learning (CSL) opportunities that count towards course credits? Programs like these along with other partnerships offer students a way to get in-person experience and learn more about their field of interest. 2025 turned out to be one of our busiest years for these kinds of partnerships.
We’d like to showcase the projects that students completed and the opportunities that will continue in the future.
Business Operations
Grayson and Brenda (volunteer) at an outreach event.
The Government of Alberta’s EmployAbilities program connected us with Grayson. Over a couple of months visiting weekly, he improved our operations manual and assisted at some outreach events. Grayson’s experience also included assisting the Wagner Natural Area Society in digitizing their archive. Thank you Grayson for being part of our team.
Photo by U of A Net Impact
The University of Alberta’s School of Business NET IMPACT Club connected us to a team of MBA students who analysed the role of endowment funds in EALT's annual operations and our long-term sustainability as a charitable organization. Thank you to Jason Law, Varsha Govindarajan and Alexandr Petcovici for providing analysis and insights on our endowments and financial trends to 2030.
Communications
Photo by MacEwan students
MacEwan’s Work-Integrated Learning program connected us with a team of students in a market research course. This team reviewed EALT’s current social media metrics, conducted a general public survey, and provided results on how to improve our engagement and gain new followers on social media. Thank you to Valentyn, Arsh, Paige, Holden, and Aidan for working with us on this project.
Stewardship and Outreach
We had two amazing students join us this summer and fall to assist us through our field season. Jenna and Rio both were connected through MacEwan’s Work-Integrated Learning program for a Field Placement that lasted multiple weeks. Usually meeting once per week, these students joined our team for field days or outreach events. Thank you to Jenna (below) and Rio (right) for taking part in invasive plant control, preparing the Medicine garden, working with wildlife cameras and photos, mapping, talking with the public, and more!
The University of Alberta’s Mini-internship program runs for 3 days during Reading Week and connects students with professionals within their field of study. Eadlin and Lucy (gallery below) joined us this fall to assist in our end-of-season stewardship work which involved junk removal, fixing infrastructure, and checking on wildlife cameras. These students truly got to see how varied the scope of work can be for land trusts.
Two Community Service Learning projects were assigned to students this year from the Augustana campus of the University of Alberta. Both projects were focused on stewardship and outreach done at Pipestone Creek Conservation Land. Earlier this spring, 2 students designed a survey about visitor behavior for visitors with dogs. Cassandra and Belle helped our Paws for Effect campaign get started!
The second project was a Stewardship Assistant assignment where students scouted and mapped the occurrence of black knot at this land. Thank you to Tacey, Logan, and Sarah for expanding our capacity for winter work at this site.
These opportunities connected us with 8 placements and a total of 18 students in 2025! Thank you to everyone who dedicated time to these projects and supported our work.
Ways to get involved with EALT
Inquire about available work-integrated learning programs at universities
Partner with EALT for student-led final projects
Partner with EALT for land-based learning opportunities – if you are an instructor or community leader, we welcome partnerships for you to connect with the land
Apply to our seasonal positions when available – Our Conservation Coordinator seasonal position is accepting applications! This position operates during our field season from May to August.
Volunteer at a stewardship event – these are one-time opportunities to join us while we remove invasive plants, maintain trails, plant trees, and more.
Volunteer from home – our Conservation Outreach volunteers often involve at-home opportunities or working with us at events within the city.
Volunteer on a consistent basis either in our Conservation Land Stewards or Citizen Science programs. Take part in land stewardship and wildlife monitoring.
We send a monthly Volunteer Newsletter to share about all volunteer opportunities and events - sign up at the footer of this website!
We look forward to more partnerships with student programs in the coming years.
Our stewardship and outreach work was supported through volunteers and funded by:
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