Postcards from the Field: Kai Peetoom

Shell Conservation Intern Kai Peetoom

Greetings from the B.C. coast!

Life this summer has been full of amazing experiences involving breathtaking landscapes and diverse ecosystems. Working as an intern with NCC for the second year in a row has provided me with increased confidence in my ability to perform baseline and monitoring surveys, and to understand management considerations on a range of properties. I love that this job has enabled me to travel to some of the most distinctive and spectacular ecological areas of the province, observing salt marsh estuaries, old growth forests, Garry oak meadows and tidal dunes. Working in these natural environments all day provides me with an immense happiness and a sense of gratitude that these special places are being conserved through NCC’s efforts.

James Island, B.C.

By summer’s end I’ll have worked in the stunning ‘sea-to-sky’ landscape of Squamish, the temperate coastal rainforest of Bella Bella and Haida Gwaii, and islands and estuaries near where I am based in Victoria, on Vancouver Island. One area where I just completed my work is James Island. This property contains the largest occurrence of contorted-pod evening primrose (Camissonia contorta) in Canada, a species ranked S1 (‘critically imperilled’) in the province! 

As a fourth-year student at McGill University in Montreal, QC studying with a B.A. in Environment and Development, this internship has strengthened my goal of a career as an environmental planner. After this summer, I plan to return to Montreal to complete the last semester of my degree before pursuing further environmental work experience in British Columbia.  Eventually, I hope to continue my education with a Master’s in Environmental Planning. 

All the best,

Kai Peetoom