Quetico Foundation Launches #QueticoPortageChallenge
Quetico Foundation Challenges Paddlers and Nature Enthusiasts to “Portage, Snap and Share” to Raise Awareness and Funding for Quetico, the Iconic Wilderness Class Park
Amid the ongoing global pandemic, Quetico Foundation is encouraging all paddlers and nature enthusiasts to participate in the first annual #QueticoPortageChallenge in support of ongoing stewardship.
To participate in the challenge, choose a Quetico portage route and complete that same distance closer to home. Snap a photo or record a video, and share it through social media using #QueticoPortageChallenge with a challenge to others to show their support.
International Women and Girls in Science Day 2021
Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Katie Tripp and Kelsey Atatise, Quetico Foundation Research Team
With the support of the Quetico Foundation, Kelsey and Katie have been involved in a number of research and monitoring projects important for the management of Quetico Provincial Park.
Meet The Trustee – Noah Cole
“In work and life, I’m inspired by nature, wilderness, the environment, insight, dedication, healthy natural systems, mentors and acts of altruism.” – Noah Cole
Why Quetico?
Quetico’s backcountry wilderness camping and canoe routes are unique Canadian locations in the province of Ontario where you can experience old growth forest, drink straight from many lakes, see eagles, moose, loons, songbirds, wildflowers, Canadian Shield, beaches and sunsets all within the same day – and develop leadership, bonding and memorable experiences while you’re at it.
Digitizing Oral History
Quetico’s oral histories have been locked away on archival cassettes at the John B. Ridley Research Library — until now. Courtesy of history enthusiasts from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, they have come out of the vault and into our ears.
By digitizing our 400 (yes, 400) interviews, we hoped to preserve and share Quetico’s stories, in order to build connections to the people who travel here. Also, magnetic cassettes have a finite lifespan. As many of the interviews were conducted in the late ’70s and early ’80s, digitizing became a priority for the archive.
Red Pine History Display
Construction is almost finished on an interpretative display that will focus on educating visitors about the role of forest fires in traditional indigenous culture and in sustaining the red and white pine populations. The exhibit will update an aged interpretive display at the Dawson Trail Campground. The Friends of Quetico and the Quetico Foundation are working together to financially support this important project.
First year of Lakehead University and Quetico Foundation Research Partnership
by: Dr. Michael Rennie, Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology and Fisheries Assistant Professor
Quetico Provincial Park has been described as a ‘natural oasis’; with all the things going on in the world, in Quetico, you can get in a canoe, traverse a few portages, and the outside world quickly melts away leaving just you and nature. Unfortunately, even in this relatively untouched oasis, unwanted visitors have begun to appear. Several aquatic invasive species now inhabit various lakes in the park, with the most prominent and widely distributed likely being the spiny water flea (or Bythotrephes to us scientists, which is the genus that these organisms belong to).
Biology Interns, Katie and Kelsey, reflect on their summer
by Katie Tripp and Kelsey Atalise
Although this year had a shorter than normal season, a lot was accomplished by the biologist assistant crew. They assisted with four main projects this season; assessed lake trout vulnerability to climate change, identified the location of Spiny Water flea, an invasive species in Quetico’s lakes with a Lakehead graduate student working with Dr. Michael Rennie under the Quetico Foundation grant. They also assess the recovery and regeneration of conifer stands after a fire that occurred in the park and helped former biology intern Jared Stachiw, collecting data for his master’s thesis based in Quetico on Red Pine ecology.