Postcards from the Field: Lauren Sawich

Shell Conservation Intern Lauren Sawich

Greetings from Manitoba!

I have really enjoyed working as a Shell Conservation Intern for the Nature Conservancy of Canada this summer. I have a degree in botany and am entering my second year of Law at the University of Manitoba this fall. I would like to practice environmental law upon the completion of my program.

This summer I have been performing baseline inventories of properties in the Riding Mountain Aspen Parkland region of the province. The land is beautiful, and it was quite the surprise to actually have hills to scale after living in Winnipeg all my life! There are many different habitats around Riding Mountain that I get to see on a daily basis, including bogs, pothole wetlands, mixed wood forests and fescue prairies. My role in preparing baseline inventories has primarily been to complete vegetation surveys. This has been a lot of fun for me, as I have a chance to put my botany degree to use again!

Riding Mountain Aspen Parkland, Manitoba

The best thing about being a Shell Conservation Intern this summer has been getting to work outside and see interesting fauna (black bears, foxes and coyotes, to name a few) and unusual flora (numerous bog orchids and one of my favorite carnivorous plants, Bladderwort ). The battle against wood ticks and mosquitoes seems like a small price to pay for enjoying the beauty of the wilderness and getting to see things I would never encounter in an office.

The opportunity to work for NCC as a Shell Conservation Intern this summer has taught me a lot about how non-profit conservation organizations operate and the challenges they encounter, which I know will help me in my future career. The work NCC does to preserve endangered habitats across Canada is important now more than ever, and I am glad I’ve had a chance to be a part of it.

Best wishes,

Lauren Sawich