This blog post was written by Aliya during her 4th year in the Environmental Management stream.

 

 

 

I feel like everyone looks forward to the summer.  Along with warmer weather, going to the beach and having time off, this year I looked forward to working at a Provincial Park.  My summer job was a naturalist in the Discover Program at Killarney Provincial Park.  While getting this job was not the easiest process (which I will talk about in another blog post), it was definitely worth it!

Killarney Provincial Park is located around 4 hours north of Toronto and even looks out onto Georgian Bay. It is also Ontario’s most southern wilderness class park, where the natural spaces in the park are left to be undisturbed and create a place of solitude. Moreover, the park is accessible mostly by foot, canoe or kayak.

As a naturalist, my job is to help people gain meaning to this park and their own experiences, so they can understand why the park needs to be conserved and protected. My official title was a Discovery Ranger, so yes, I got to wear the cool, tacky and slightly uncomfortable uniforms, rove the campgrounds, tell campers about programs in the park and share my knowledge about nature with them.

Environmental Education, Guided Hikes and Outreach

Ontario Parks offers various environmentally based programs that vary across the different types of parks throughout the province. Many of the programs I led were kids’ programs or to educate the general public on environmental conservation, wildlife and the natural environment. They were also mostly drop-in programs so people didn’t have to stay for the entire time but could still take away some important messages. My favourite programs that I ran were Amazing Amphibians and Undercover Critters. In Amazing Amphibians, I would take kids to catch frogs, toads and salamanders while teaching them the proper ways to catch them as well as amphibian identification. We would talk about some important features of amphibians and why we have to protect ones that are at risk. Lastly, I would teach kids and the parents the importance of conservation and why we have to protect our parks for future generations.

My favourite part of the job was leading hikes. I got to share information with people, get to take in all the beautiful scenery and get a great workout! While leading the hikes, I had to review the natural history and geology of the park, depending on which hike I was doing. For example, I often ran the A.Y Jackson hike which is about the Group of Seven Artists and A.Y Jackson's role in the park creation. In addition, I would lead the Granite Ridge trail hike which was about the pink granite and pine plantation trees in the park that is part of the natural history.

Killarney Provincial Park is also near many First Nations communities including the Henvey Inlet people and Wikwemikong First Nations. I got to visit French River Provincial Park to assist with the annual Pow Wow and talk with members of the community to learn all about the town of Killarney. This was a great learning experience for me since it was my first time going to a real pow wow and getting to talk to First Nations Elders about their perspectives on the environment!

Monitoring Programs: Butterfly Count and Loon Count

Monitoring programs happened quite frequently in the park because it is important to know what kind of species exist in the park, what their behaviours are like, their range of distribution and just overall productivity. Each month we would conduct various counts. I participated in a both a butterfly count and loon count. I really liked the butterfly count because I got really good at identifying and catching them! It’s harder than you would think; it involves a lot of running! Butterflies are VERY fast! I also had the opportunity to go out on various lakes throughout the park and search for loons and their chicks! With my team, we paddled Bell Lake and Three Mile Lake to search for loons. Loons are a great indicator species of the health of our lakes. Some Killarney lakes had been acidified in the past due to acid rain from smelting, so monitoring loon populations is a good start for lake recovery! I really liked this event because we were all decked out with our radios, maps, and compasses like we were going on an adventure!

Staff Trainings: ORCKA and Invasive Species

As a naturalist, I had to be trained on how to paddle a canoe including basic canoeing skills such as paddling, portaging and saving a tipped canoe. This training was very fun and is a certification I can now add to my resume and use in my future environmental careers. I officially completed the requirements for basic canoeing in level 2 of the ORCKA Canoeing Program through Ontario Parks.  Moreover, I was also trained on identifying various invasive species around Ontario which includes: aquatic invertebrates, aquatic plants and terrestrial plants.

Astronomy Nights at the Observatory

Killarney Provincial Park is a designated dark-sky preserve which means all the lights are energy efficient and no unnecessary lights is used. There is also very limited lighting throughout the park, so looking up at the night sky when it’s clear is one of the most beautiful sights in my opinion. Killarney Provincial Park is also special because it has the largest automated telescope in all of Ontario Parks which attracts many visitors far and wide! As a natural heritage educator, it was my job to teach people about the constellations in the night sky and how different cultures perceived them, the planets of our solar system and about the amazing piece of technology we are so fortunate to have. I got to meet well known Canadian astronomers who would give presentations and talks about anything astronomy related, answer any of my questions and were just great people to connect and network with.

Amphitheatre Programs

Killarney Provincial Park has an outdoor amphitheatre where researchers, staff and others can give presentations on relevant and interesting topics. During my internship, I had to deliver presentations about various topics such as Citizen Science which is how ordinary people can contribute to the bettering of the environment and the science community by using online platforms such as iNaturalist. I also got the chance to create and deliver my very own presentation. I chose to talk about lake acidification on the lakes in Killarney since the park had been affected by acid rain since the 1970’s due to the smelting in Sudbury.

Challenges

Everyone said I had the best summer job, and I agree: Getting paid to go out on a canoe trip doesn’t sound like work to me. But sometimes, it was tough being so far away from home. First off, this was my very first time living away from home, knowing no one and having no family nearby. I also had to pack up and leave to go to Killarney only a week after coming home from my month-long trip in Costa Rica, so I didn’t have much time to spend with my family and friends this summer. As well, since I was living in staff housing, it was my first time in a dorm type style scenario. Having a roommate for the first time was something I had to get used to: Let’s just say I’m a total clean freak.  I also had to cook for myself which is not a skill I’ve developed while living at home and enjoying my parents’ home cooking.  I also had to drive about an hour and a half north to Sudbury to buy groceries every time I ran out, which although I had my car, was definitely something that got annoying. There also isn’t great service up in the park, so calling home and my friends was a rarity and when you’re feeling down it kind of sucks to have no one to talk to. However, I was lucky enough to make some good friends at the park and with our days off we got up to some pretty cool things!

Days Off and Downtime

My days off were always filled with fun and adventurous activities near and around Killarney. I would usually visit the lighthouse in the small-town Killarney, French River Provincial Park, Sudbury, go hiking, canoeing and camping in Killarney. There was no shortage of outdoor adventure for me this summer! My favourite spot in the town of Killarney is the lighthouse. It used to be staffed by a live person which I think is pretty cool and its at the top of a hill of pink granite. The lighthouse looks out onto Georgian Bay and you can even see Manitoulin Island from there! I even got the chance to visit other nearby parks such as French River Provincial park and Killbear Provincial Park.

All in all, I think working at a Provincial Park is a great summer job! I am very happy I made this decision: I got to learn all these new things, make new friends and have an amazing experience. To anyone who loves being outdoors and loves the natural environment, being a park ranger is one of the best student jobs you can have in my opinion. I am very grateful for the guidance that I have been given back at FES when I was in the process of applying and for the connections that I made while being in Killarney. I can confidently say Killarney Provincial Park is one of my favourite places to visit in Ontario and with that, I will be back! Hiking the entire La Cloche Silhouette trail is still on my bucket list.