Volunteer

Commitment: 2 hours per month
Timing: Spring-Fall
There is no limit on the number of people who take on this job!

Ambassador Volunteers represent the Conservancy at events, markets, and trailheads, engaging with the community to share our mission and inspire others to take action. Whether answering questions, promoting programs, or encouraging donations, Ambassadors play a key role in raising awareness about conservation.

By volunteering in this role, are the face of the Conservancy. Connecting directly with people to foster a deeper appreciation for nature and the importance of land protection. Their efforts help grow our community of conservation supporters, inspire action, and secure resources to protect critical habitats.    

Training: We provide.

• Grants Woods Trailhead: Weekends with flexible morning and afternoon shifts.

• Alexander Hope Smith Trailhead: Every third Saturday of the month, with paired shifts due to the remote location.

• Orillia Farmers’ Market: Monthly on the second Saturday, morning and afternoon shifts.

• Barrie Farmers’ Market: Monthly on the last Saturday, morning and afternoon shifts.

Ambassadors are so critical to our work, that we have an entire webpage dedicated to this volunteer team. You can read more here!

Wildlife on Roads Job Description:

Positions available: 9
Location: Kris Starr Nature Reserve, and Whitney Wetland Nature Reserve

Summary:

Roads impact species movement and cause animal mortality. The data from this project helps us understand what species are impacted, while supporting the need for mitigation measures, such as eco-passages and exclusion fencing. At least once a month from spring – fall, trained volunteers walk along their assigned section of road and record observations of dead/injured/alive animals using iNaturalist.

Commitment:

Must be available to complete your monitoring visit at least once a month from April - October. Visits will take 1-2 hours to complete.

Site Location: Between Sebright and Uphill, Kawartha Lakes.

Skills needed:

• Able and willing to walk ~2 KM along road shoulder
• Able and willing to photograph roadkill
• Good vision
• Able and willing to remove roadkill from the road
• Able to bend and squat
• Road awareness and safety

Equipment Required:

* Indicates equipment will be provided by The Couchiching Conservancy

• Smartphone with functioning camera
• *Hi-vis vest
• *Measuring tape
• *Pylons

Training Required:

All training is provided by The Couchiching Conservancy upon confirmation of volunteer position.

In person classroom and field training, where you will learn:
• Why the information you collect is important
• How to survey a road for wildlife
• How to record your observations on smartphone app iNaturalist
• What we will do with the data

Positions available: 5-7 

Currently looking to fill: Adams NR - 1; Kris Starr Sanctuary - 1; Ron Reid NR - 2; T.C. Agnew - 1

There are eight species of bats in Ontario, and most of them are listed as endangered.  Bats are active at night, emitting echolocation which cannot be heard by humans.

Bat Monitoring teams of 2-3  are assigned a property and cover a designated route 1/2 hour after sunset.  Using an Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro, you will record the echolocation calls of bats which can then be analyzed to determine species.

Commitment: Must be available to make three evening visits of approximately 2 hours each in from late May to early August, during your assigned dates (we organize monitoring dates based on everyone's availability in the program).

Skills and equipment needed: You will need a headlamp and something to protect you from the bugs – a bug jacket and gloves are recommended. You need to be confident that you can navigate along a trail in the dark, and be comfortable using a smart phone/tablet.

Training Required: There is no experience necessary, we will train you on how to use the bat monitoring equipment. You will need to take the following training Orientation (early March) and Bat Monitoring (Second week of April), and NHIC data sensitivity training (this can be done at home). Species at Risk training is optional (March and April).

Note that you may not bring dogs on monitoring trips.

Positions available: 8

Many reptile species in our region are at risk either federally, provincially, or both. For this reason we will be focussing on finding some of these at risk species. The reptile monitoring program has evolved from monitoring specific Nature Reserves to surveying for certain species and will now consist of two branches: Snake Board Surveys and Targeted Species Surveys (see below).

Snake board surveys

Positions available: 4

Many reptile species in our region are at risk either federally, provincially, or both. For this reason we will be focussing on finding some of these at risk species. The reptile monitoring program has evolved from monitoring specific Nature Reserves to surveying for certain species and will now consist of two branches: Snake Board Surveys (see above) and Targeted Species Surveys.

Targeted species surveys

• Volunteers will be spaced evenly (2-3m apart) and survey transects of certain habitats
• Surveys will be different depending on the species but may include:
  • Paddling (turtles, aquatic, and semi-aquatic snakes)
  • Using chest waders in wetlands (turtles, aquatic, and semi-aquatic snakes)
  • Walking transects off trail (Massasauga, Eastern Hog-nosed, Smooth Green, and other snakes)
• Using the Landscape app to collect data
  • Record species locations and photos
  • Habitats and transects for surveys will be visible on the map
  • Tracks of each surveyor will be recorded to gauge search effort

Training Required: We will train you on how to identify the reptiles in our region, and how to conduct the surveys. You will need to take the following training Orientation (early March), Reptile Monitoring (mid March), and NHIC data sensitivity training (this can be done at home). Species at Risk training is optional (March and April).

Equipment Needed: Binoculars and a smart phone that you can use to submit monitoring visits through the Landscape mobile app (we would provide you with an account). A camera with a zoom lens is encouraged (we have easy-to-use cameras we can loan you)

Note that you may not bring dogs on any reptile monitoring trips.

Positions available: TBD

Alvar is a rare habitat type that is important for many of Ontario’s declining grassland bird species. The Carden Bird Blitz is one of the few long-term monitoring programs for grassland species in the province, the data collected will help to inform the management of the park along with the wider region. The Bird Blitz consists of 32 stations within Carden Alvar Provincial Park and Bluebird Ranch Nature Reserve. Each of these stations is surveyed by a team of 3-5 people for 5 minutes, marking down each bird, along with any fly-overs, time, and direction. Each team will survey 3-4 stations between 7am and 10am. These surveys are designed to collect data on all bird species observed at each station.

Commitment: This is a one day event on Saturday June 7th from 6am-noon with the rain date on Sunday June 8th.  

Required skills: Each team needs to have at least one advanced birder (both by sight and sound, including some of the particular rarities in Carden). The rest of the team can me made up of intermediate and beginner birders (this is encouraged and is a great way to find out how to conduct point counts). You do not need to have a team to participate, we will place you where we need positions filled.   

Equipment needed: You will need binoculars (we can provide these if needed). Someone on your team will need to have either a phone using the Landscape app (or a navigating app you are comfortable with such as Avenza), or a GPS. This person needs to be able to navigate to several points using the phone or GPS. Ideally someone on your team will have a camera with a zoom for documenting rare species. Being able to use Merlin sound ID would also be a benefit, again to document rare or difficult to ID species (we do not rely on Merlin to ID birds in the field, but we do use it to record species and verify them later on as needed).  

Training Required: We may set up training for how to conduct point counts and for bird ID. All participants are encouraged to practice their bird ID skills using resources like Dendroica (this one is free, we have a document on how to use this) or Larkwire. You will need to take the following training: Orientation (early March), and Carden Bird Blitz point count training (mid-late May). Species at Risk training is optional (March and April). NHIC data sensitivity training is also optional but encourage (this can be done at home).  

Note that you may not bring dogs on monitoring trips.

Positions available: 2

Location: Adams Nature Reserve

Salamanders as a whole can be considered a good indicator of a healthy environment due to their life history and ecology. They are abundant in healthy habitats but are scarce in degraded habitats. The eastern red-backed salamander, being lungless and therefore breathing through their skin, are particularly good indicator species due to their sensitivities to stressors in the environment. This is the salamander we will be targeting during this monitoring survey. This is done by placing artificial cover objects, also known as “salamander boards” in the forest. These boards provide habitat for eastern red-backed salamanders, and allow us to monitor their population over time. Volunteers will lift these boards and record the species and number of salamanders underneath.

Commitment: Teams of two are assigned a Nature Reserve to monitor, each one has 40 salamander boards that are checked 3 times in the spring and 3 times in the autumn. Some teams may also make additional visits in the spring if they have vernal pools at the Nature Reserve. Each site visit varies in length depending on the Nature Reserve, but is generally around 2-3 hours.

Training Required: There is no experience necessary, we will train you on how to identify the salamanders in our region, and how to conduct the surveys. There will be a new volunteer orientation session - which will include how to use an app called Landscape on your mobile phone to navigate to sites and record data from visits. There will also be an in-class training session specific to salamander monitoring in March. For your first field visit, you will be accompanied by the program coordinator to walk you through your site and the process.

Equipment needed: A smart phone that you can use to submit monitoring visits through the Landscape mobile app (we would provide you with an account). Wet weather clothes, rubber boots, and a bug jacket/net.

*This position does not allow for the handling of wild animals, including the target species.

Note that you may not bring dogs on monitoring trips.