EcoLogic Monthly #82
September 2026
Welcome to the 82nd EcoLogic staff newsletter! All archived newsletters can be accessed here!
Health & Safety
Update from Safety Officer Wade:
Hello Everyone,
There were no reported incidents in September.
In our ongoing quest to further integrate safety into our culture, one of the actions is to create a safety program survey, review the results, implement key areas (3) for improvement and share the results with the team. That survey is having the final touches completed and will be open until the end of October.
The Notice of Audit Activities (NOAA) has been sent to the BC Forest Council for approval. The Safety Audit is scheduled to begin on Oct 13 and the interviews with approximately 15 team members will begin shortly afterwards.
Thank you. Enjoy all the autumn and the fall colours that it brings. -Wade
October Safety Drill
The October safety drill is for everyone to participate in the 2026 Safety Program Survey by October 30th
Celebrations!
Happy Company Anniversary to…
Wade Bush - 4 year (September 9)
Aimee McAllister - 2 year (September 11)
Alice Lee - 6 year (September 21)
EcoLogic Bulletin Board
A warm welcome to our new team members!
Fun in the Field
Katherine and Joseph completed sampling for the Northisle Metals Baseline Program at the end of August. The only rough weather was day one, which saw Joseph’s flight to Port Hardy turned around – after which, the weather was absolutely incredible for Joseph’s first field trip with Ecologic! We think he brought the sun! We celebrated over dinner at nax'id' Pub in Port Hardy with salmon and lingcod Bannock burgers.
Katherine stayed an extra day to finish up some sites, and we learned that hotel vacancy on northern Vancouver Island (i.e. from Campbell River north :) is strongly tied to the northern route’s ferry schedule. As the field program had been greenlit shortly before the field start date, logistics were tight - we snagged the very last room available on the way up, however there were no rooms available on the final night, and so Katherine had to make do with a waterfront view 😊
Joseph preparing for sample collections
Celebrating with salmon and lingcod bannock burgers, with chowder 😋
No vacancy in Port Hardy, or practically anywhere – fortunately the boat launch at this lakefront rec site was available
Coffee break near Sayward to check out a new bakery at the off-grid AirBnB Katherine stayed at on the way up and read a story chapter about Muir’s puppy that he adopted, Stikeen, and their time trekking across a glacier in a storm (highly recommend both campground and bakery! And Muir, of course :)
While working in the Hollberg area, many of us probably noticed the number of tourists and day-trippers sometimes not adhering to safe vehicle operation for road conditions. The night before, this truck had flashed past us fishtailing as it came around a blind corner – Katherine gave him a little “Hey You!” honk.. Early the next morning we came around a different blind corner and found it pretty smashed up and hanging over the edge of a creek. We stopped to make sure no one was in the vehicle and fortunately nobody was! But also, no cones had been set up and it looked like EMT hadn’t been to the scene (we radioed North Isle to let them know the location – the tuck stayed like this with no cones or flags for at least a couple of days). Hopefully this person was lucky, and it seems that they were! Just another reminder that as safe as we are, there are always “other drivers”.
EcoLogic in the Community
Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association conference
Katherine helped co-host the annual Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association conference in Blaine Sept 13-18th, hosting watershed ecologists, restoration practioners and farmers that included Canadian and US agencies, organizations, and research institues. MERIS made its first formal public debut, continuing to build interest among potential partners in collaborative initiatives that support human communities and healthy watershed ecosystems by connecting environmental stewardship, research and innovation, and economic opportunities across sectors and disciplines.
Healing the Land Conference
Alice attended the Healing the Land conference in Moberley Lake from September 22-24 and shared some photos of the experience. The conference was hosted by Saulteau and West Moberley First Nations.
The drive to the Peace was stunning - hills of colour!
Elk hide scraping workshop
Celebrating Autumn
Katherine’s first loaf of sourdough that doesn’t resemble a curling stone 🥌 The kitchen is now primarily a bread factory.
Kyla shared some of her camping and gardening adventures. Kyla writes -
I met up with my sister and parents for some camping on my week off. It was just after the long weekend, we basically had the campground to ourselves. Poe loves camping/yelling at squirrels and with no other campers he was able to investigate all the trees.
In garden news: summer started cold and wet in Alberta, so my flowers were not doing too well early on. They have been really blooming lately, making the pollinators very happy! I am testing out drying some in silicon powder with some success. I have to fine tune the drying time for sunflowers (surprisingly delicate) and poppies, but when it works the flowers dry looking like they have just been picked!
EcoLogic Book Club
Wild Dyes of the Pacific Northwest
Zoe’s book launch is coming up fast!
The event page is now live for the launch of Wild Dyes of the Pacific Northwest: Beaty Nocturnal – Wild Dyes of the Pacific Northwest | Beaty Biodiversity Museum . Please note there is an option to RSVP on the link, but no need to use it as EcoLogic has already RSVPed as a group. Come explore the intersection of biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, science, and fibre arts to discover just how much colour can be found in the landscapes we work in every day.
Know someone who might like to join us? Feel free to share the event with friends, family, colleagues, or anyone else who might be interested.
Weird and Wonderful iNaturalist Observation of the Month
A Black Crowned Night Heron, who’s eyes may have been a bit big for their stomach
Photo by rbbrummitt on iNaturalist
