chart

By: Jeremy Hatt

As part of the process of writing the history of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club, I also felt it was important to create a digital archive of all the past issues of The Egret that are not currently available on the Club’s website. After several years of sporadic motivation to complete this admittedly tedious task (it required a lot of staple removal!), I am happy to announce that all issues of The Egret that I could find from 1984 to 2011 are now scanned and digitized. Kory Renaud is currently working on getting them uploaded to the Club’s website.

While I was writing the Club’s history, I took it upon myself to read many of these old issues and I highly encourage members to explore their pages. I not only learned a lot about the Club and its activities, but also about the natural history of Essex County. There are many informative (and sometimes fascinating) articles to read. It’s also really inspiring to see just how much work volunteers have put into the Club throughout the years.

I wouldn’t have been able to complete this task without the help of Claire Sanders who scanned several years’ worth of issues as well as Sarah Rupert who let me use the scanner at Point Pelee National Park to finish the remaining issues. I also thank Peggy and Tom Hurst and Dave Kraus for letting me borrow all of the past issues they had available and Kory Renaud for helping make them available online.

A final note: there are a handful of issues that seem to be missing. I don’t know if this means they are actually missing or if they just weren’t published during that period but I have included a list of them below. It’s a long shot but if any members happen to have hard copies of any of the following issues, please let me know as soon as possible and we can work out a way to get them scanned.

Volume 11 # 1 (Spring 1994)

(Winter issue 1996)

Volume 15 # 4 (Winter 1999)

Volume 17 # 2 (Summer 2001)

Volume 18 # 4 (Winter 2002)

Volume 23 # 2 (March 2007)

Volume 24 # 1 (March 2008)

Peggy and Tom Hurt’s treasure trove of archived Egrets

By: Jeremy Hatt

On August 6, 2020, the Membership Committee of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club held a meeting at Brunet Park specifically to address diversity and inclusivity in the Club. The meeting was held outdoors and socially distanced in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines. In the wake of several significant events in 2020, including a historical civil rights movement and renewed exposure of racism and discrimination in the scientific community, the Club felt that it was important to address these issues.

Eight ECFNC members met to discuss strategies for the Club to aspire towards inclusiveness of members of all races, genders, ages, religions, identities, abilities, and experiences. The agenda for the meeting included introductions, purpose of the meeting, a quick review of discussions that had already taken place among the Membership Committee and the Executive, open discussion and brainstorming, and coming up with tangible tasks for the Club to start implementing. The discussion was wide-ranging and robust and the Committee will devote time from every meeting to this discussion.

Attendees of meeting on diversity and inclusivity at Brunet Park. Left to Right: Lindsey Kiss, Jessica Middleton, Aileen Petrozzi, Ellen van Wageningen, Carl Maiolani, Giovanni Abati, Jeremy Hatt, and Andy Paul (not pictured)

One of our first tasks was to write a Statement on Diversity and Inclusivity, which is now on the Club’s website under the “About Us” section. Here is the Statement in full:

The Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club (ECFNC) stands against racism and any other form of discrimination. In light of events in 2020, including a historical civil rights movement and renewed exposure of racism and discrimination in the scientific community, ECFNC is committed to taking action to address diversity and inclusivity in the Club.  

ECFNC believes that all people should feel safe, welcomed, and encouraged to join the Club and attend its meetings and events. ECFNC is committed to improving representation and opportunities that benefit all racialized groups, Indigenous Peoples, genders, LGBTQ+ communities, and differing abilities. Windsor-Essex County is a culturally and racially diverse region and ECFNC commits to evolving our practices to reflect this to better serve the community and pursue our core objectives:  

• To promote the appreciation and conservation of the diverse natural heritage of Essex County and the surrounding region 
• To promote opportunities for members to become acquainted with and better understand their natural environment 
• To promote the identification, preservation, maintenance and restoration of natural areas 
• To cooperate with and support other organizations with similar objectives 

ECFNC will work toward increasing its outreach to a wider range of groups and communities, adding field trips that include accessible natural areas, expanding the Club’s speaker program, field trips, and publications to include more voices from a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and finally, to get feedback from underrepresented communities as well as from members on how we can continue to improve the Club.  

ECFNC welcomes your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions. Please email us via the Club’s website at https://www.essexcountynature.com/contact-us/.

The Membership Committee has begun to put a list of contacts together of other groups and organizations that we can reach out to as well as a list of accessible parks and trails to include in future field trips. The Committee has also updated its Terms of Reference to incorporate diversity and inclusivity into its purpose and goals. The new Terms of Reference are published in full at the end of this article.

We also encourage anyone in the Club with feedback or ideas or an interest in partaking in this initiative to contact the Club via our “Contact Us” page – https://www.essexcountynature.com/contact-us/.

Finally, the Membership Committee has started to put together a list of links of articles and videos that mostly pertain to events that took place this year in the nature/science community. We encourage members to read and watch them. Many of the links relate to Black Birders Week, which sparked a social media movement detailing Black experience in science. Although these articles are geared towards birding, much of the experiences and lessons can be applied to other activities in nature as well.

• Christian Cooper Shares Joys and Challenges of Birding While Black

• The Toxic Intersection of Racism and Public Space by Brentin Mock

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-26/amy-cooper-exposes-green-space-s-race-problem

• Meet the hikers who say the great outdoors is for everyone by Ash Abraham

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/free-bipoc-hike-1.5788021?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

• “This has been a really taxing time for people of colour”: Meet the stylish group introducing Torontonians to the Zen world of birding by Courtney Shea

“This has been a really taxing time for people of colour”: Meet the stylish group introducing Torontonians to the Zen world of birding

• ‘Black Birders Week’ Promotes Diversity and Takes on Racism in the Outdoors by Jillian Mock

https://www.audubon.org/news/black-birders-week-promotes-diversity-and-takes-racism-outdoors

• Meet Two of the Founders of #BlackBirdersWeek

• Studying sparrows and launching a movement in support of Black scientists (CBC Quirks & Quarks)

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/sep-12-summer-science-special-fishing-with-the-boys-covid-garbage-and-more-1.5720234/studying-sparrows-and-launching-a-movement-in-support-of-black-scientists-1.5720242

• A Movement to Make Birding More Inclusive and Accessible by Tom Foster

https://www.audubon.org/news/a-movement-make-birding-more-inclusive-and-accessible

• Intersectionality of Nature Access, Equity, and Biodiversity

• Saving the planet means listening to Indigenous peoples: Wade Davis

https://tinyurl.com/y4j5yzpx

The Membership Committee of the Essex County Field Naturalists’ Club

Revised Terms of Reference – Sept. 2020

Current members: Jeremy Hatt (Chair), Lindsey Kiss, Carl Maiolani, Aileen Petrozzi (Board Member and Liaison), Ellen van Wageningen (Membership Secretary and Board Observer)

Purpose

· To recommend strategies to increase active membership in the club

· To identify ways of transitioning new members into the club

· To promote social interaction between club members

· To suggest improvement in club procedure with a view to improving the overall effectiveness of the club and minimizing individual member workloads.

· To solicit feedback from members regarding their experience within the club and their suggestions for improvement

· To use knowledge of the membership base to solicit member participation in club committees and activities

· To recommend and pursue strategies to ensure the club is inclusive and welcoming to members of all races, genders, ages, religions, identities and experiences.

Membership

· Membership on the committee is open to all club members whose dues are paid up to date

· There are no formal restrictions on the number of members but it is acknowledged that for the group to be effective the total of members should be kept small to encourage participation

· It is hoped that membership on this committee will reflect the makeup of club members as a whole

· There is no formal period of membership on the committee required and members can step down from the committee at any time and for any reason

Accountability

· A member of the committee, usually the Membership Secretary or Board Liaison, should report regularly to the Executive Committee regarding any significant recommendations and findings

· A member of the committee should also provide a report to the general membership of the club regarding its activities at the annual general meeting

Meetings

· The committee will meet as needed and most often in an informal setting

· The chair will organize and facilitate the meetings and act as its secretary as needed

· Agenda topics will be submitted by any member of the committee

· Notes of meetings, agendas, and sundry ideas will be shared by email

By Jennifer Nantais

Many Canadians were glued to their televisions for a week in early November anxiously awaiting the results of the U.S. election. This has been a contentious one, with more citizens voting than during any other in American history. I myself was among those who could bring themselves to think of nothing else, and have been asked several times why as a Canadian I awaited these results with bated breath along with my neighbors to the South. See what I did there? #grammarnerd

This has arguably been the most important election of our lifetime, to determine which of two very different administrations will govern for the next four years. While American voters are divided over human health, immigration, reproductive rights, racism and many other issues, environmentalists around the world are paying attention. U.S. climate action is crucial as they are a major contributor to greenhouse gases as well as an economic power and social influencer. Their commitment could reverberate around the world.

Deregulation

The Republican Party historically supports less governmental oversight in exchange for more freedom for individuals and industry. However, the rate of deregulation by the current administration has been unprecedented. Recent years have witnessed the roll back of policies pertaining to everything from air, water, wetlands, wildlife, industrial emissions, vehicle emission standards, methane and the protection of natural areas. These decisions could bring about unimagined long-term impacts for humans and the rest of the planet.

Cooperation

In 2019 Trump filed to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord. As of November 2020 they are no longer a member. He suggested that the country would set its own limits and make its own rules, which it has not done.  

This administration also filed their intention to withdraw from the World Health Organization during a global pandemic. These decisions show a resistance to oversight, reluctance to cooperate, and little interest in sacrifice for the greater good.

A New Administration

The president elect commits to rejoin the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and campaigned on a two trillion dollar plan to combat climate change by investing in clean energy by 2035, meet 2050 targets, and invest in renewable energy research and technology.

Potential partnership with the Canadian government aims to reduce vehicle emissions and support electric vehicles, which could impact industry and result in new jobs and reduced emissions.

The Biden plan includes a commitment to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an 8 million hectare region in Alaska. Congress passed the Tax Act of 2017, which gave the administration authority to sell oil and gas leases in the refuge, and the Trump administration is planning to schedule a lease auction on January 18^th, just days before leaving office.

Biden also said he would push for a global moratorium on offshore drilling in the arctic, and strive toward a future that doesn’t depend on fossil fuels.

A New Hope

While no political party is doing enough to protect our environment, an administration that believes in science and the science behind climate change is a welcome development. They have committed to reverse recent rollbacks, and hopefully they will have the support in the house, in the senate and from the citizens to make positive changes.

As 2020 is drawing to a close, people all over the world are reflecting on what they’ve lost and what matters most in an unpredictable world. Whatever your politics or nationality, keep talking, writing, volunteering and letting people know that the environment should be the number one issue on any political agenda. Greenhouse gases, pollution, habitat loss, extinction and climate change know no borders. Let’s hope this development is a step in the right direction on what promises to be a long journey.

Here’s hoping for a brighter 2021.

Happy Holidays!