QLF | The Quebec-Labrador Foundation

04/14/2026

In 1978 Kathleen Blanchard was invited by QLF's founder, Robert Bryan, to work with the people of the Quebec Lower North Shore to address the problem of declining seabird populations on this remote, rugged coast. The project rapidly grew into a regional research and education campaign involving hundreds of interns, youth, and concerned residents whose passion for the seabird colonies helped secure long-term success.

Today Dr. Blanchard continues to champion community-based conservation in places like Point Amour, Labrador, where for more than a decade local youth train to monitor seabirds and care for their resources. Collaborative partnerships and top-notch teaching staff make this program a hit among families of the Labrador Straits.

Photos courtesy of Bird Protection Quebec (first one) and Hans van Klinken

03/25/2026

QLF is excited to share our Summer 2026 Field Internship Opportunities!

Are you an undergraduate/graduate student, or recent graduate, interested in biodiversity conservation, community outreach, and the stewardship of natural resources? We invite you to join us for our hands-on field internships across Atlantic Canada.

Learn more and apply: https://qlf.org/conservation-internship-program/


We’re currently recruiting for the following internship opportunities:

Conservation and Stewardship, the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) - Application deadline: April 27, 2026

Instructor in Bird Conservation and Monitoring (Newfoundland & Labrador) - Application deadline: April 30, 2026


Our programs offer hands-on experience in community-based conservation, including species monitoring, community workshops, coastal clean-ups, and more.

Our Conservation Internship Program offers immersive conservation internships that build skills, knowledge, and professional experience in environmental stewardship.

03/13/2026

A serendipitous visit to our Ipswich office this week... Henry Harding who started and led QLF’s outdoor leadership program in the 1970s stopped by to drop off some newly scanned slides from that era. Here is a photo of the Grist Mill, QLF’s first office located on the Ipswich River.

Upper window from left: Candace Cochrane (community service and communications) and Donna Miner (executive assistant, Atlantic Center for the Environment or ACE). Ground level from left: Henry Harding, Larry Morris (director of ACE), Josephine Babiarz (director of scholarship program), Nan Durand (administrative assistant, ACE), and R.L. Smith (general operations).

02/03/2026

Across the approximately 80-million-acre Northern Appalachian-Acadian region, an innovative transboundary partnership spanning 5 northeastern US states, 3 eastern Canadian provinces, numerous traditional Indigenous territories, and adjoining areas is working to maintain and enhance an ecologically well-connected landscape for wildlife and people. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's International Land Conservation Network has just published a case study on this partnership, the Staying Connected Initiative (SCI).

Bringing together more than 80 organizations, SCI addresses habitat fragmentation through conservation planning, land protection, road-barrier mitigation, and policy engagement—efforts that have helped to conserve over one million acres of private land and advance regional commitments.

The case study examines the evolution, accomplishments, strengths, and challenges of the Staying Connected Initiative partnership as a model for transboundary connectivity conservation and restoration.

Authors include Phil Huffman (Quebec-Labrador Foundation), Mikael Cejtin (The Nature Conservancy), Deb Davidson (Center for Large Landscape Conservation), Jens Hawkins-Hilke (Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department), and Alexa Schubak (Quebec-Labrador Foundation):

https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/case-studies/staying-connected-linking-habitats-across-boundaries/

Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Center for Large Landscape Conservation
The Nature Conservancy
Vermont Fish & Wildlife

01/09/2026

12/17/2025

We are delighted to share that QLF has just received not only a top Four-Star rating again but also a perfect score from Charity Navigator for the second year in a row. America’s largest and most trusted nonprofit evaluator, Charity Navigator gives a perfect score to only 1% of the 220,000 nonprofits it evaluates. Photo by Elli Gurguliatos.

10/28/2025

Autumn fog rolls in, and it brings back memories for Emily MacDonald, who led the Maritimes field team and is now the officer manager for QLF's Montreal office. She remembers how the field team often witnessed nature's softer side, gently wrapped in mist.

10/09/2025

Today in Abu Dhabi the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress began. QLF Senior Vice President Brent Mitchell is there as a vice chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), one of seven IUCN commissions. More than 10,000 people from 140 countries are expected to participate, in person or online, at this weeklong Congress held every four years.
Photo by Larry Morris

09/22/2025

Happy autumnal equinox from Tuckamore Lodge, Main Brook, Newfoundland. Photo by Kathleen Blanchard.

09/19/2025

For more than 10 years QLF and Intervale Associates have conducted seabird surveys on islands in Hare Bay. Here Kathleen Blanchard and Sophie Anderson are placing ARUs (autonomous recording units) on Starboard Island to find out if Leach’s Storm-Petrels are present. These islands provide important habitat for eider ducks, terns, and gulls as well. Wild purple irises abound. Photo by Elli Gurguliatos.