A Message from the Presidents
As our winter season unfolds and the landscape around us transforms, it has been a joy to witness both the beauty and the ecological rhythms that make this season special. With early snowfall beginning in November, many of us have enjoyed Lake Huron and Georgian Bay beginning to freeze, fostering important habitat benefits for wintering species and creating spectacular ice formations along the shoreline that have captured imaginations both near and far.
Our club has continued to meet outdoors and enjoy the wonders of the frozen world. Beth-Anne and John led a keen group of skiers and snowshowers around the trails at Cobble Beach on February 6th. Jeff Kinchen has another tracking event coming up that is widely popular! We owe a heartfelt thanks to the speakers who have kept us curious and engaged throughout the winter months. In January, Roman Lanno enlightened us on the fascinating world of environmental DNA, expanding how we can explore biodiversity using cutting-edge tools.
David Morris offered an insightful talk on soils, enriching our understanding of the foundation beneath our feet in February. We are excited for our Members Night presentations in March, where individuals from our own community will share their naturalist experiences and discoveries.
A special note of gratitude goes to Michael Rankin for his dedicated service as a director at large. His thoughtful contributions to board discussions and to the governance of the club have been deeply appreciated by all members. All the best with your future endeavours,
Michael!
The Merchandise Committee has been working hard to ensure that the full range of club apparel is available online for your consideration.
Wearing club gear is not only a wonderful way to show your support for
the OSFN, it also makes a great conversation piece that can spark
interest and invite others to learn more about what we do.
As an organization driven entirely by volunteers, we continue to look
for support in a number of areas to sustain the club’s activities. We
currently have three vacant board seats: Vice President and two
Directors at Large. If you have interest in contributing your time and
skills to help guide the club forward, please reach out to Bella or Paul
– president@osfn.ca. We would be happy to answer questions about the
duties involved. Past and current board members are also excellent
resources for insight into these roles.
In addition, we are seeking volunteers interested in helping to create a
Programming Committee. A small, dedicated group has already begun
planning future activities, and we are looking for 2–3 additional
members who would enjoy supporting the curation of the club’s programs in the coming years. If this opportunity interests you, please get in touch so we can discuss how your talents might support the committee’s needs. Special thanks and admiration to John Dickinson for holding this significant role for many years.
This winter, the club has also been able to support other naturalist
activities in our broader community. We hope folks can enjoy the Grey
Roots Museum’s Speaker Series, and we are pleased to have committed to sending two young people to BOEC for summer camp this year. Our Young Naturalists Program has featured some truly wonderful outings, and it is inspiring to see such enthusiastic engagement from our youngest members. A heartfelt thanks goes to Amanda Erickson for her continued leadership of this program.
Our Publications Committee and the team working on the updated Geology Book have been hard at work. We are eagerly anticipating the latest addition to our club’s publications, and we look forward to seeing it head off to the printer in the coming weeks.
Finally, we are so grateful to Norah Toth who is behind the wonderful communication you receive about programming and local initiatives you can choose to be a part of. Norah takes on the large task of collating this wonderful newsletter, and we appreciate her hard work and dedication to ensuring our community continues to stay well-informed! Thank you to all our members and volunteers for the energy, curiosity, and passion you bring to the Owen Sound Field Naturalists. We look forward to gathering together again this spring.
Warm regards,
Paul and Bella