09/02/2026
As September arrives, it feels like summer has come to an end all too quickly. At the end of August, we said goodbye to our summer student, William. He has returned to Guelph to continue his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology.
We thank William for his contributions over the summer and wish him all the best in the coming academic year.
Over the past four months, William has supported monitoring across our protected properties, juggling his phone and camera while fending off mosquitos. He has also provided the land trust with plenty of aerial footage thanks to his drone piloting skills.
Coming into this position new to field work and the environmental sector as a whole, he has shown determination and willingness to learn as he has happily tackled each new challenge thrown his way.
Read on for William's reflections on his time with ORMLT and to see his favourite photos taken this summer.
How did this job connect to your studies?
At the University of Guelph this summer I took a course on Global Environmental Change, where I learned how ecological and social systems are interconnected. At the time, it was all theory. Then, I spent the summer learning how conservation worked in practice and started to see how one person's notes, repeated year after year, builds into a record of how a landscape is actually changing. But, I also learned that understanding those changes is only one part of conservation. Protecting the land means working with the people connected to it, from landowners to volunteers, and seeing how their actions and decisions can influence the landscape over time. It was through these experiences that the intermingling between ecological and social systems started to make sense to me.
What was the most challenging part of the job?
There were long monitoring days, weather that turned over by the hour, and forgetting my water bottle more times than I'd like to admit. But those were the days when I learned the most, and they're the ones I remember.
What was the most rewarding part of the job?
From my time here, I had many chances to connect back with nature and through that, I have now discovered my new favorite animal, the Pileated Woodpecker. The coolest thing about experiencing them in person was that I heard them long before I saw them.
What skills will you carry forward from this experience?
I am very grateful for the opportunity to work here as I'm now leaving with better time management and communication skills. But more importantly, I'm happy I now understand what protecting land actually takes, most of which came from the staff, volunteers and landowners who have spent years paying attention to these places, and who know things about them that aren't written down anywhere. Thank you to everyone at ORMLT for a summer I won't forget!
