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Everyone loves a beach day. Luckily for me, heading to the beach is “just another day at the office”. This past week, the MABRRI Forage Fish team took a trip to Thetis Island to explore the shorelines in search of forage fish eggs. Surf Smelt eggs, to be exact. These near-shore schooling fish are an important part of the marine food web, and although they are protected by the government here in BC, lack of data on their spawning grounds (beaches) has made it hard to protect these small fish. 

On June 9th the MABRRI team loaded up and headed to Foster Park in Parksville to get ready for the Spring Mini – the third consultation event for the Parksville Parks, Trails and Open Spaces Master Plan project. The Spring Mini was planned with the hopes of bringing community members to Foster Park to get their opinions on what they want to see for the parks, trails and open spaces in Parksville, as well as hold a community event where Parksville residents can come out and enjoy the sun.

On Tuesday June 5th, MABRRI’s Assistant Research and Community Engagement Coordinator, Larissa Thelin, and I, Roxanne Croxall, a MABRRI Research Assistant, visited the first of many Garry Oak Ecosystem (GOE) field sites identified by our predictive mapping. This first field visit on Tuesday took place at Notch Hill in Nanoose Bay. With the help of experts, Dr. Caroline Jossefson (VIU Biology), and naturalist Kent Anders, the MABRRI team was able to begin ground-truthing our remotely sensed predictive mapping.

White Sea Cucumber, Eupentacta quinquesemita

Phylum Echinodermata Class Holothuroidea

Painted anemone, Urticina grebelnyi

Phylum Cnidaria, Family Actiniidae

On May 7th and 8th the summer Research Assistants came together for the first time for MABRRI orientation. The first day began with introductions and reviewing expectations then ended with chasing waterfalls. The Project Coordinators took us to two of MABR’s Amazing Places: Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park and Englishman River Falls Provincial Park. We had the opportunity to see why these parks are considered amazing places, which was immediately apparent through their natural beauty. At Little Qualicum Falls we were provided with a picnic lunch which was delicious.

On the 12th of April, Roxanne Croxall and I got to present at the 2018 CREATE Conference at Vancouver Island University. This event provides students with an opportunity to showcase their research. We got to present and engage with the VIU community about the Garry Oak Ecosystem (GOE) mapping project, a collaboration between Dr. Hannah Wilson (VIU Geography) and MABRRI.

From March 8-10th, as part of the public engagement process for the Ucluelet Official Community Plan (OCP) Revisions, the MABRRI team, in partnership with the District of Ucluelet and VIU’s Master of Community Planning program held a comprehensive weekend of events including two open houses, a community design charrette, and three youth consultation sessions. The purpose of all these events was to update the 2011 OCP to be in line with current community thought and give the community insight on the OCP process.