Archives for June 2013

Thanks to a generous $10,000 grant from Rudy North, a summer student intern program was launched by the BCIT Rivers Institute for the summer of 2013.

Rudy’s idea was to provide a meaningful summer work experience for students following completion of their first year of BCIT’s Ecological Restoration Degree Program, so the student would gain valuable experience before heading back to complete their second year term in September.

In this inaugural year, three student intern positions were created, thanks to wonderful collaboration and cost sharing between various NGOs and local governments:

• Intern 1, Christina Perkin, is working with the City of North Vancouver’s Environmental Technician,Angela Negenman (a BCIT FWR graduate) with Engineering, Parks and Environment, developing community education and outreach programs for invasive plant species in the City of North Vancouver;
• Intern 2, Josh Retallick, is working with Edith Tobe, Executive Director of the Squamish Watershed Society, monitoring a variety of estuary, stream channel and wetland restoration projects around Squamish BC;
• Intern 3, Taylor Hunt, is working with Dan Buffet, Head of Conservation – BC Coast, Ducks Unlimited Canada, developing wetland and estuary restoration plans for the recently acquired Grauer Proprety, in Richmond BC.

Thanks to all our great project co-sponsors, and we’re looking forward to hearing some great stories form from our students when they return to BCIT in September.

The BCIT Rivers Institute, in combination with the Ecological Restoration Degree program, has embarked on a large-scale, multi-year ecological restoration program of the residual pocket estuaries in Burrard Inlet.  This initiative was made possible via a Creative Sentencing court award to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

Estuaries are among the most productive, yet most endangered aquatic habitats in British Columbia and beyond, hence the emphasis of the River Institute is well justified in terms of raising awareness and restoring critical fish and wildlife habitat.

BCIT students in the Ecological Restoration Degree Program, under the guidance of the Rivers Institute and ER Instructors, engaged the community and requested seed funding from HCTF to develop restoration plans for 5 estuaries and tidal stream reaches in Burrard Inlet:

Seymour River estuary, in partnership with Metro Vancouver (Lead Proponent), Living Rivers and the Seymour Salmonid Society;

Lynn Creek estuary, in partnership with the BC Conservation Foundation (Lead proponent) and Living Rivers;

Mosquito Creek estuary, in partnership with the Squamish Nation (Lead proponent), City of North Vancouver and Living Rivers;

Mackay Creek estuary, in partnership with Northwest Hydraulics (Lead Proponent), Seaspan (Primary HADD funding), Squamish Nation, Living Rivers and the City of North Vancouver;

New Brighton Park Creek, in partnership with BCIT (lead proponent) and the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Parks Board.

The BCIT students presented their Burrard Inlet estuary restoration plans at the recent Pacific Estuarine Research Society Conference in Delta, BC:

36th Annual Meeting

Pacific Estuarine Research Society

April 4 – 7th, Delta, British Columbia

Twos of the student teams won Best Presentation awards for their efforts: Julia Alard-Tomalin, Mike Jeffrey and Courtney Lahue for their presentation on “Restoration Plan for MacKay Creek Estuary’ and Michelle Holst and Deanna MacTavish for their presentation on “Restoration Plans for Mosquito Creek Estuary”.