Volunteer of the Month - Katherine Baird (February 2022)

February 27, 2022

Katherine first became aware of EBC through her involvement in the conservation field. She then learned more about us through our fundraisers, social media, website, and online presentations.
 
Katherine is very passionate about environmental conservation. She participates in a lot of recreation and botanizing along the Niagara Escarpment, so recognizes the importance of conserving these beautiful natural areas to maintain healthy environments and protect the plants and animals we love. She learned more about EBC and volunteer opportunities through her friend, EBC's Regional Conservation Coordinator, Shannon MacDonald.
 
Katherine is an ecologist with work and research experience in southern Ontario, including work with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), Toronto Botanical Garden, City of Toronto, and others. Her main interests lie in integrating field data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to derive science-based practical solutions for natural areas management or conservation. In her most recent work with CWS, she developed and implemented a terrestrial invasive plant species inventory protocol for a National Wildlife Area. This included collecting data on invasive species’ abundance and distribution, and performing analysis to inform CWS’s invasive management strategy and protection of wildlife species at risk. Katherine has a Master of Science in Forestry (MScF) from the University of Toronto and also holds an HBSc in Environmental Biology and Chemistry from the University of Toronto. She also has a post-graduate certificate in Applied Digital Geography and GIS from Ryerson University.
 
Katherine recently started volunteering as the acting Secretary for EBC. She attends board meetings and record minutes, distributes materials to members, and fulfill other administrative duties within the organization. Since she is just starting out in this role and hopes to be more involved through time. Katherine hopes to contribute some of her expertise in ecology, field botany, GIS, and conservation to EBC’s monitoring or stewardship work.
 
Thank you for joining the team Katherine!
 
 
 
 
 
katherine