Postcards from the Field: Joel Brimacombe

Shell Conservation Intern Joel Brimacombe

Greetings from southwestern Saskatchewan:

So far my summer’s work has focused on NCC’s flagship property in Saskatchewan, the Old Man on His Back Heritage and Conservation Area, located in the southwestern part of the province, just east of the Cypress Hills. My fellow Shell Intern, Digit Ash, and I just returned from a ten-day trip to Old Man on His Back doing extensive vegetative surveys and range health assessments of the 13,000 acres of intact native prairie found there. This is a working ranch, so it is imperative to know the current status of the vegetation, and we will use this data to make any adjustments to the stocking rate as needed. The conservation herd of 50 young Plains Bison reintroduced here in December 2003 from Elk Island National Park in Alberta also pose some unique management and grazing considerations.

Old Man on His Back Heritage and Conservation Area

When I'm not at Old Man on His Back, I spend most of my time doing monitoring and baseline data collection activities in the field at other locations across southern Saskatchewan. The remainder of my time is spent in the office preparing for our field work and compiling all the data we have found. I am finding my experience at NCC to be an interesting and challenging one. Each day brings something new, from hard ranch labour to learning all the vegetative characteristics of prairie grasses and organizing and participating in field days and workshops. The hard-working, dedicated people in the Saskatchewan office, including Digit, make working with NCC all that much more enjoyable. I am sure I will never be bored here.

I am a recent graduate from the University of Alberta, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental and Conservation Sciences, majoring in Land Reclamation. This fall I hope to continue working for an organization such as NCC, focusing on conservation sciences in Saskatchewan.

Joel Brimacombe

More Saskatchewan postcards>>

Final report from Joel Brimacombe (239Kb, pdf)>>