Community-based Conservation
Destination Conservation
PROGRAMS
Our focus is community-based conservation. We work with individuals, not-for-profit organizations, private companies, and government agencies to provide conservation and restoration consulting services and training. Our economic model is a unique model that generates financial support for our work using a circular economic model rather than a linear model.
PROJECTS
We work in Canada, Costa Rica, and Panama. Our projects focus on amphibians, reptiles, ecology, and restoration using a combination of field surveys, non-invasive monitoring, and drone-based environmental research. Projects include work with northern map turtles, eastern massasaugas, eastern hognose snakes, and leatherback turtles.
SERVICES
All projects include external partners working to build capacity by filling knowledge and skills gaps within their organization. We work to build that capacity and develop the skills that will make them self sufficient. In some cases, we fill a long-term gap in capacity because our partners are unable to fill the gap because of limited human and financial resources.
ABOUT DESTINATION CONSERVATION
My efforts focus on community-based, locally managed conservation projects that address human needs and environmental issues. I believe empathy for people is essential for work in conservation and restoration because effective, long-term solutions revolve around local people with a vested interest in the project's success.
Most of the time, you will find me in central Ontario working at Fleming College's School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences or in the field surveying for amphibians and reptiles in a unique eco-tone between the St. Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. My work in Costa Rica includes regular visits to the village of Parismina (since 2013) and Tirimbina Biological Reserve (since 2017). A new project in Panama is a collaboration with Biocultural Adventures, Mamoní Valley Preserve, Amigos del Bosque, Fundación Biomundi, and Geoversity Rainforest Campus.