Tag Archives: volunteer

cottage life, Invasive Species, Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, owning a cottage, Stewardship, Uncategorized, Volunteer, water

What do you really want to know? Muskoka Watershed Council wants to hear from you.

In cottage real estate we get asked a lot of questions: Is it weedy?; Eeeew! What’s that stuff?; Why don’t we see crayfish anymore?; My boathouse dock’s underwater – what’s with the water levels this year?; Is my water safe for swimming?; etc. It’s really a lot of fun to answer most of the time!
But here’s a chance to have some of what you want to know, perhaps monitored over time and have it reported on every 4 years!

As many readers of this weblog know, the Muskoka Watershed Council (MWC) is a volunteer based non-profit organization with the mandate to champion watershed health in Muskoka; I am one of those volunteers.

MWC produces a Report Card every four years. The Report Card is a science-based evaluation of the health of the water, land, and wetlands in Muskoka and the municipalities that share Muskoka’s watersheds. Three Watershed Report Cards have been released to date (2004, 2007 & 2010)  We are also assisting the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve with the development of a State of the Bay Report for Georgian Bay, which will be released this year.

For the next Watershed Report Card due to be released in 2014, we want to hear from you, what you want to know about the health of our watersheds.
Click on the page below to ask your questions or find out more.

2014_RC_Request

Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Volunteer

A wild solution for Climate Change.

A fascinating presentation by Thomas Lovejoy of George Mason University, this is the evening keynote lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: A wild solution for Climate Change.

Advisor to Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, Dr. Lovejoy discusses implications and complications of climate change from many interesting perspectives, but, also offers workable solutions.

Planetary engineering to lower atmospheric carbon.
cottage life, Muskoka Activities, Stewardship

Our Lakes: How they have changed over the last 25 years.

I recorded this lecture by Dr. Michelle Palmer in July. One of the Muskoka Watershed Council lecture series.

Our Lakes: How they have changed over the last 25 years.

Dr. Michelle Palmer discusses how recent climatic warming, changes in acidic deposition, and human-related activities such as road salting and the accidental spread of invasive species have altered the water quality of our lakes in Muskoka, with a focus on changes in lake temperatures and water chemistry since the 1980s.

At the end there is an extensive Question & Answer session.

Calcium decline may hold answers to lake changes.
Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Volunteer

Biodiversity science for global environmental change.

At the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment Steve Hounsell from the Ontario Biodiversity Council presented Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy – Protecting What Sustains Us.

On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

I have just finished editing this lecture, which is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Ontario’s Biodiversity Strategy – Protecting What Sustains Us.

In this straightforward and important talk, Steve gives us an acronym to help understand threats to biodiversity, speaks of the need to link Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and talks about the Strategic Biodiversity Plan for Ontario.

H I P P O soon to be C H I P P O.
Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Volunteer

Living Landscape. A Biodiversity Action Plan for Greater Sudbury

Many of us remember the really interesting, but bleak landscape that was Sudbury a few decades ago. As one of the epicentres of sulfur dioxide pollution from the nickel smelters, Sudbury’s landscape resembled the Moon, or Mars much more than the rest of Northern Ontario.

Well things are quite different now and Stephen Monet presents the 4th lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Living Landscape. A Biodiversity Action Plan for Greater Sudbury

Stephen takes us through the process of rehabilitating the Greater Sudbury area and commits that “we are in it for the long haul.”

Improving the lake is only a short term fix without improving the watershed.

This is a real community effort and the results are all headed in the right direction.

Students do some of the work and learn about biodiversity.
Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Volunteer

Biodiversity science for global environmental change.

Another highly engaging presentation, this one by Andrew Gonzalez of McGill University and the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, is the 3rd lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Biodiversity science for global environmental change.

Using Baker’s yeast, Andrew and team observed “evolutionary rescue” – the recovery of a declining population due to local adaptation under increased environmental stress.

Extinction and evolutionary rescue with a robot

Among Andrew’s key messages: Biodiversity loss is as important as major forms of environmental change.

Changes in productivity – species loss compared to environmental change.
Muskoka Activities, Muskoka Watershed Council, Volunteer

Emerging challenges and converging responses: Challenges and opportunities for conservation in an era of global change.

Engagingly presented by Jeremy Kerr of the University of Ottawa, this is the 2nd lecture from the biennial Muskoka Summit on the Environment . On June 6th and 7th I recorded the presentations over the two day summit. Broadcast, in part, by CBC Radio’s Ideas with Paul Kennedy, (search for Buying Into Biodiversity), these were world-class lectures, presented here in Muskoka. I am delighted to be able to ensure these are available to the world.

This lecture is now available at the following link on Muskoka Watershed Council’s YouTube channel: Emerging challenges and converging responses: Challenges and opportunities for conservation in an era of global change.

Against the backdrop of difficult times, where governments are in fact, no longer relevant in the development of much necessary research and solutions, Jeremy presents some opportunities: “What if citizen scientists could fill part of the data gap left by federal purges of scientific and environmental capacity?”

Check out ebutterfly.ca
Muskoka Activities, Volunteer

Winter Carnival Bed Race

This year’s Winter Carnival had lots of events throughout the weekend. One of the highlights for the crowd was definitely the bed race.

All out effort for the last seconds...

Catharine and 3 colleagues pushed Chris for the 4 blocks, defeating a very fit and capable team (see below) in their heat, and were declared Most Outrageous Team!

Don't let the floppy feet fool you, these characters are very serious about their sport.

 

Muskoka Activities, Volunteer

Catharine Inniss Top 10% Royal LePage Shelter Foundation Donor

We were proud to receive a message from the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation which included in part:  “Thank you for your incredible commitment to helping “put abuse out of commission” in your community”

Then, it was truly a wonderful feeling when Catharine got a message that said: “CONGRATULATIONS on being recognized as a Top 10% Donor!”

“2010 was the Shelter Foundation’s most successful year ever, thanks to you and your colleagues across the country. Through your generosity, we raised $1.8 million, increased the number of commission donors, set new records for our fundraising events, like the National Garage Sale for Shelter, and helped more women and children than ever before!

We are extremely grateful that you are such an important part of the Shelter Foundation family. You have helped us restore hope and provide a safe haven for more than 30,000 women and children each year. In addition, Shelter Foundation supporters like you are working to ensure the next generation won’t experience the devastation of family violence.”

Muskoka Activities

Innovation Muskoka

It was great fun on Friday!

Steve introducing the panel of Muskoka entrepreneurs

It was a pleasure to be the Master of Ceremonies for the day for Innovation Muskoka at the University of Waterloo in Huntsville. Innovation Muskoka was created and hosted by Muskoka Community Futures and Muskoka Community Network.

We had 5 successful Muskoka entrepreneurs present a history of their businesses, the successes and challenges, to the crowd.
They were:
Jan Nyquist of Pipefusion – stable floating docks that last, and anything else you can imagine made from polyethelyne pipe.
Amie Colquhoun of Axiom Audio -Loudspeakers; the most exciting, realistic sound experience on the market, designed and built in Muskoka.
James Solecki of Integra Lighting – the finest level of lighting design, custom installation and service to the Muskoka marketplace.
Don Waddington of Cottage Spot -Canadian source for the cottage products that you are looking for; with delivery right to your door.
Wendy Hogarth of Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh – Fabulous cranberries, fun destination, fantastic wine.
These presentations were informative and inspirational to say the least. Would-be entrepreneurs in the crowd soaked up many tips and advice offered by these generous people.

In the afternoon everyone thoroughly enjoyed something called the Innovation Sandbox. As it turned out, 13 people qualified for this event. Each had 5 minutes to “pitch” their business ideas and then were questioned and offered advice to a maximum of 10 minutes. Great fun, and some terrific people, ideas, and pitches.
The three with the combination of the best pitch and most viable businesses were awarded prizes ( an IPad, BlackBerry Playbook and a $250.00 Staples gift certificate).

Check out these Muskoka businesses, now or soon available to you:
Shelley Raymond of Solterra Co-housing
Scott Young of inventory-excess.com
Jenn and Emma of The Grumpy Hedgehog