Raincoast Education Society

Nuu-chah-nulth Land and Waters with ƛaʔuuk/Gisele Maria Martin
2025-06-05 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver) | BC
Resident guests and visitors in Tofino are invited to an ntroduction session with Gisele Maria Martin to learn about Indigenous Nuucaanut/Nuu-chah-nulth Cultural Lifeways,
protocols, laws, and living teachings which protect this beautiful place, as well as early and ongoing contact and the importance of language.
Gisele is a Cultural Lifeways Guardian, language educator, storyteller and artist in the T la-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks located”in the Nuučaanuł of the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ Ḥawiiḥ
Location: Tourism Tofino Board Room
Time: 5:00 – 8:00pm
Dates: June 5th
Free Event
Photo by Gisele Maria Martin.

Small Town, Big Picture: Ucluelet
2025-06-09 17:00 - 20:00 | Amphitrite House Interpretive Centre
Small Town, Big Picture: Ucluelet, is a three-hour orientation session that delivers the “big picture” of living in Ucluelet. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date local’s information about living and working in Tofino.
Location: Amphitrite House Interpretive Centre
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: June 9th

About your Instructor: Silva Johansson is a naturalist, heritage interpreter, and interpretation skills trainer. She loves exploring the west coast – the beings, the places, the cultures, and the stories. Her connection to the BC coast began when she was growing up aboard the tall ship North Star of Herschel Island. She’s lived in Ucluelet since 1996. ⁠⁠ Silva currently works for Parks Canada as an Education Outreach Officer with the Coastal BC Outreach Team.⁠⁠ She also guides for the Wild Pacific Trail Society and Long Beach Nature Tours, and is an occasional volunteer interpreter at the Ucluelet Aquarium. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
⁣We are so privileged to have Silva live and work in our community! Now YOU have an opportunity to learn from her experience and soak up her knowledge of Ucluelet during this year’s West Coast Ambassador Program!⁣⁠⁠
The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Marine Ecology
2025-06-11 17:30 - 20:00 | Ucluelet Aquarium, 180 Main St, Ucluelet, BC, V0R 3A0, Canada
This 2.5-hour course explores the intertidal and pelagic ecosystems of Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds, highlighting the incredible diversity of seaweeds, invertebrates, marine mammals, and more. Participants will also learn about local oceanographic conditions and the vital role this rich marine environment plays in sustaining life along this coast.

Beyond education, this course is about connection—helping people develop a deeper appreciation for this beautiful space and equipping them with the knowledge needed to care for it thoughtfully, especially in the face of growing pressures and increasing use. Through our exhibits, we facilitate in-depth conversations and hands-on activities that illustrate how every part of the ecosystem interacts, fostering a greater understanding of the intricate balance that sustains marine life.
Small Town, Big Picture is a suggested prerequisite for this course.
Location: Ucluelet Aquarium
Time: 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Date: June 11th
The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Coastal Raincoast Ecology in Ucluelet
2025-06-12 17:00 - 19:30 | Ancient Cedar Loop/Wild Pacific Trail, Ucluelet
This outdoor course focuses on our coastal temperate rainforest. From the forest floor to the top of the canopy, you will explore the many interactions that make up the fabric of this iconic habitat. Join us to discover the dynamic nature of old-growth forests!
Small Town, Big Picture is a suggested prerequisite for this course.
Where: The Ancient Cedar Trail on the Wild Pacific Trail
Time: 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Date: June 12th
This FREE program is offered as a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino, The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Seaweeds of the West Coast 2025
2025-06-13 19:00 - 2025-06-15 13:00 | Ucluelet Community Centre, 500 Matterson Drive, Ucluelet, British Columbia, V0R 3A0, Canada
This weekend field course, based out of the Ucluelet Community Centre, will introduce participants to the world of west coast seaweeds. Topics to be covered in this year’s course include an introduction to seaweeds (What are they? What is their role in coastal ecology? How are they used in B.C. aquaculture? How are seaweeds impacted by climate change?) Learn of the biodiversity of west coast seaweeds, essentials of collecting and identifying seaweeds, seaweed foraging, the relationship between seaweeds and people, pressing and preserving seaweeds, cyanotype and more!
We are excited to welcome back course instructors Dr. Bridgette Clarkston and Dr. Jennifer Clark, coming to Ucluelet to share their seaweed knowledge and expertise with us.

Course registration is $330 per person.

Friday, June 13th (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

Presentation – Seaweeds are weird. Weird, but oh so wonderful. And for coastal marine ecosystems, they are vital.

Saturday, June 14th (8:30 am -8:30 pm, with breaks) Low tide is at 8:42 am (1.3 feet / .41 m)

Field trip to explore seaweeds on Ucluelet’s rocky coast and practice naturalist skills, including fundamentals of seaweed identification.
Collection of seaweeds at field site.
Workshop to practice using dichotomous keys, field guides and online databases to identify unknown specimens
Create your own scientific and artistic seaweed presses.
Cynaoptype, Seaweed as art: create your own beautiful botanical blueprint using the traditional method of cyanotype printing.
Presentation – From Tradition to Innovation: How Seaweed is Changing our Future.

Sunday, June 15th (8:30 am – 1:00 pm) Low tide is at 9:22am (1.6 feet / .49 m)

Putting it all together – field trip to identify seaweeds and their communities in nature, including opportunities to share what you’ve learned with the group.
Course wrap-up.

About the instructor:

Dr. Bridgette Clarkston loves seaweeds and thinks you should too. Bridgette is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the field guide Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast (Harbour Publishing). A delightful moment in a lifetime spent appreciating BC’s seaweeds was discovering a new genus of beautiful red seaweeds and naming it after the Salish Sea (Salishia). A Vancouver Island settler, Bridgette was born and raised on the unceded traditional territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land. Learn more about Bridgette on the UBC Botany website here.

Dr. Jennifer Clark grew up on the coast on the traditional lands of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in BC and always knew that she would pursue a career studying the ocean, especially with the ocean as her backyard. She has 10+ years of research and cultivation experience of seaweeds in Canada and Australia where she focused on understanding climate change impacts on seaweeds. Although Jennifer received her PhD in Australia, the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest were calling and she returned to Canada to undertake a postdoctoral research position with the University of British Columbia, Hakai Institute in collaboration with the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv First Nations. During this time, she learned the importance of coastal foods to coastal communities and the nutritional and health benefits of seaweeds. In her current role as Chief Scientist at Cascadia Seaweed, Jennifer leads the research and cultivation of kelp seed used to grow nutritious, regenerative kelp for use in agricultural products and restoration efforts. Jennifer is passionate about seaweeds due to their status as a renewable and nutritional food source, beneficial in their ability to buffer the effects of climate change and their vital role in maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems.

Check out photos of the previous years:

Marine Ecology
2025-06-18 17:30 - 20:00 | Ucluelet Aquarium, 180 Main St, Ucluelet, BC, V0R 3A0, Canada
This 2.5-hour course explores the intertidal and pelagic ecosystems of Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds, highlighting the incredible diversity of seaweeds, invertebrates, marine mammals, and more. Participants will also learn about local oceanographic conditions and the vital role this rich marine environment plays in sustaining life along this coast.

Beyond education, this course is about connection—helping people develop a deeper appreciation for this beautiful space and equipping them with the knowledge needed to care for it thoughtfully, especially in the face of growing pressures and increasing use. Through our exhibits, we facilitate in-depth conversations and hands-on activities that illustrate how every part of the ecosystem interacts, fostering a greater understanding of the intricate balance that sustains marine life.
Small Town, Big Picture is a suggested prerequisite for this course.
Location: Ucluelet Aquarium
Time: 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Date: June 18th
The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Coastal Raincoast Ecology in Tofino
2025-06-19 17:00 - 19:30 | Yellowgate Trail across from Pacific Sands Resort, Tofino
This outdoor course focuses on our coastal temperate rainforest. From the forest floor to the top of the canopy, you will explore the many interactions that make up the fabric of this iconic habitat. Join us to discover the dynamic nature of old-growth forests!
Small Town, Big Picture is a suggested prerequisite for this course.
Where: Yellow Gate Trail (across from Pacific Sands)
Time: 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Date: June 19th
This FREE program is offered as a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino, The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Tonquin Trail Walk
2025-07-17 13:00 - 15:00 | Tonquin Trail, Arnet Road, Tofino, BC
The Tonquin Trail showcases some of the regions most iconic species and unforgettable views. Join RES for an interpretative walk and take a journey from rainforest to kelp forest. We will discuss a myriad of species, explore the diversity of ecosystems in the coast, and find ourselves enmeshed in their connections. Bring your walking shoes, water, and sense of wonder! Free….Free…Free. No dogs please!

When: Friday, July 4 I Thursday, July 17 l Wednesday, July 30
Time: 1:00-3:00pm
Location: Tonquin Trail access at the Tofino Community Hall

Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino
2025-09-10 17:00 - 20:00 | Tofino Visitor Centre, 1426 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0
The West Coast Ambassador Program: This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date local’s information about living and working in Tofino.
Location: Tofino Vistitor Centre Conference Room
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: September 10th

The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Mushrooms of the West Coast 2025
2025-10-10 19:00 - 2025-10-12 13:00 | Ucluelet Community Centre, 500 Matterson Drive, Ucluelet, British Columbia, V0R 3A0, Canada
This weekend field course will introduce participants to the wonderful world of West Coast Mushrooms. Topics to be covered include introduction to fungi (what are they, and what is their role in our forests?), essentials of collecting and identifying fungi in the field, edible, medicinal and poisonous fungi, cooking with wild mushrooms, and more!
Thank you to Dr. Andy MacKinnon & Dr. Shannon Berch for joining us on the West Coast to share their knowledge & passion!
Course Registration is $350. per person.
Friday (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

Presentation – overview of wild mushrooms, different fungus groups, role of fungi in ecosystems, and mushroom identification.

Saturday (8:30 am – 5:30 pm)

Field collection of wild mushrooms at field site.
Sorting of mushroom collections, spore prints, microscope ID session.
Afternoon presentation on foraging and identifying edible mushrooms.
Mushroom cooking demonstration and tasting with Chef Ian Riddick of Heartwood Kitchen!

Sunday (8:00 am – 1:00 pm)

Field collection and identification of wild (edible) mushrooms.
Group lunch and course wrap-up.

About the instructors:

2024 Mushroom Course Photos!

Raincoast Education Society's Online Auction
2025-10-15 08:00 - 2025-10-29 23:59 | BC
Raincoast Education is celebrating 25 years of exploring, learning, and sharing the treasures of Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds! Over the years, we’ve brought students, researchers, and community members together to experience the coast firsthand, fostering curiosity, awareness, and connection with the natural world.
To mark this milestone, we’re thrilled to launch our online fundraising auction — a curated collection of unique experiences, original artwork, and coastal treasures, all highlighting the best of our region. Each item has been generously donated by local individuals and businesses who share our passion for education, research, and the coast we all value.
Date: Now through midnight, Wednesday, October 29th.
Online Auction Here!
Why participate?
Your bids help Raincoast Education continue:

Hands-on learning, including teaching our local youth the BC Science Curriculum outdoors
Promoting awareness of our region and what it offers
Engaging the community in meaningful educational and research experiences

We’re proud to be part of a vibrant network of local non-profits, all doing amazing work in the region.

Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino
2025-10-15 17:00 - 20:00 | Tofino Visitor Centre, 1426 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0
The West Coast Ambassador Program: This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date local’s information about living and working in Tofino.
Location: Tofino Vistitor Centre Conference Room
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: Wednesday, October 15th

The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Raincoast's 25th Anniversary Party
2025-10-17 18:00 - 22:00 | Ucluelet Brewery, 1601 Peninsula Rd, Ucluelet, V0R 3A0
This year we’re hitting a big milestone — we’re turning 25! 🎉
To celebrate, we’re throwing a community party at the Ukee Brewery on October 17th from 6 – 10pm. We hope you can come join us for an evening of good food, good people, some meanders down memory lane, and music by the one and only Geoff Johnson.
The food will be delicious, Ukee’s finest beer will be on tap, and we’ll even have some limited-edition RES merch for sale. Come on out and celebrate everything we’ve accomplished together, and let’s toast 25 years of education, research, and community engagement!
This year we have decided to ditch the silent auction for an online auction so that folks can contemplate and bid at their own pace. The auction is live now and ends at midnight on Wednesday, October 29th. We have an incredible catalogue of unique experiences, stunning original art, and some fun little treats too — all generously donated by local individuals and businesses, and all highlighting the best of what our region has to offer. Bid, celebrate, and help us keep bringing education & research to Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds. 🌊
friends + online auction + music + food + drink = fun
Space is limited, so book your tickets now!
🙏🏽 If ticket price is a barrier, please contact us.

Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino
2026-02-11 17:00 - 20:00 | Tofino Visitor Centre, 1426 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0
Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino is one of 5 courses available within the West Coast Ambassador Program. This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date local’s information about living and working in Tofino.
Location: Tofino Visitor Centre Board Room
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: Wednesday, February 11th

The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Arctic Terns with Dr. Mark Mallory
2026-02-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom Event
Breeding biology and annual movements of Arctic Terns from Nunavut, Canada
Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) are a small seabird with a circumpolar distribution. Scientists and northern Indigenous Peoples have reported declines in numbers of Arctic terns in the 21st Century, but in Canada, very little was known about their breeding or movements. To that end, our team undertook a multiyear study of tern breeding, diet and movement from a colony at Nasaruvaalik Island in the high Arctic. In this presentation, I’ll summarize some of what we found about the challenges they face during nesting, the incredible information we documented on their year-round movements, and how these data continue to give us benefits in considering issues like marine protection in Canada and on the open oceans.
About our speaker: Dr. Mark Mallory is a Canada Research Chair at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, where he studies effects of climate change, pollution and human activity on coastal environments (especially seabirds) in the Canadian Maritimes and Arctic.
He has worked in Nunavut for 25 years, and lived in Iqaluit, Nunavut from 1999-2011. Although focused on birds in Canada’s high Arctic, Mark’s collaborations stretch from Alaska to Norway, and he has extensive work underway in Labrador and Nova Scotia.
He has written > 400 scientific papers, as well as the book Common Birds of Nunavut, and has led >25 Arctic research expeditions. His research led to the creation of Akpait and Qaqulluit National Wildlife Areas on eastern Baffin Island, and the uplisting of ivory gulls to Endangered status.
Mark has been appointed to two Arctic Council international expert groups, the College of the Royal Society of Canada, was made a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and was awarded a Fulbright Canada Chair in Arctic Studies at the University of Washington. Mostly, though, he just likes watching birds.

Bluefin Tuna with Dr. Michael Stokesbury
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom Event
The Incredible Migrations of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: the Olympic Athletes of the Sea
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna are the largest members of the family Scombridae, so, they are really large mackerel. They grow to more than 650 kg in weight, and over 395 cm (12 feet) long. Canadian fish that are caught commercially are mostly exported to Japan for the sashimi market. Because of their great size, strength, and speed, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna are also a prized sport fish and catch and release fisheries are active in several countries including Canada. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna are managed internationally by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), centred in Spain with 55 member countries. There are two main populations in the Atlantic, a larger resilient population that spawns mostly in the Mediterranean Sea, and a smaller less resilient population that spawns mostly in the Gulf of Mexico. Understanding the mixing, distribution, and migration ecology of these populations while at sea is central to informing proper sustainable management regimes from these fish. In this talk I will report on 20 years of electronic tagging of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, to determine migration ecology, stock structure and to improve management.

About our speaker: Dr. Michael Stokesbury is the Director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER) at Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Dr. Stokesbury has over 30 years of experience tracking fishes using electronic tagging technology. His lab performs applied fisheries research focused on mitigating the impacts of industry on fish stocks.

Caribou Migrations with Dr. Conor Mallory
2026-03-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom Event
Changing Paths: Climate Impacts on Caribou Migration and Habitat Connectivity
The ability of species to adapt to the shifting environmental conditions associated with climate change will be a key determinant of their persistence in the coming decades. This is a challenge already faced by species in the Arctic, where rapid environmental change is well underway. Caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) play a key role in Arctic ecosystems and provide irreplaceable socioeconomic value to many northern peoples. Recent decades have seen declines in many Rangifer populations, and there is strong concern that climate change is threatening the viability of this iconic Arctic species. I will discuss the migratory and calving behaviour responses of barren-ground caribou in the Qamanirjuaq herd to earlier springs, and how changing snow cover on the late winter and migratory ranges affects migratory behaviour. I will also discuss how we can model the effects of sea-ice loss on habitat connectivity for Peary caribou (R. t. pearyi), a subspecies that is widely dispersed across the islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and relies on sea ice to move seasonally between island habitats.

About our speaker: Dr. Conor Mallory currently works at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and is focused on research and political advocacy to address the complex socioeconomic challenges and inequities that exist across Inuit Nunangat. During his time at ITK, he has worked on implementation of the Qanuippitaa? National Inuit Health Survey, the National Inuit Strategy on Research and the development of the National Inuit Data Strategy. He grew up in Nunavut and worked there in environmental policy and wildlife research before joining ITK. Conor received his PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Alberta for his research on barren-ground caribou movement and responses to climate change in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino
2026-03-11 17:00 - 20:00 | Tofino Visitor Centre, 1426 Pacific Rim Highway, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0
Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino is one of 5 courses available within the West Coast Ambassador Program. This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date local’s information about living and working in Tofino.
Location: Tofino Visitor Centre Board Room
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: Wednesday, March 11th

The West Coast Ambassador Program is a joint initiative of the Raincoast Education Society, the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce , Tourism Ucluelet and Tourism Tofino. The Raincoast Education Society is responsible for course curriculum, registration, and program delivery.

Gray Whales with Dr. Aimée Lang
2026-03-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom Event
Journey of the Gray Whale: Tracking Movement to Protect a Species
Dr. Aimée Lang will present insights into the status of eastern North Pacific gray whales based on monitoring whales on their migratory route and also highlight the importance of understanding movement patterns and migratory connectivity for effective conservation and management.

About our speaker: Dr. Aimée first began studying gray whales in 2002, when she began her Ph.D. work through the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She spent the next six summers collecting photographs and biopsies from the gray whales that feed off Sakhalin Island, Russia. After completing her PhD, she continued to work on gray whales at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, where most of her research focuses on using genetic and genomic tools to better understand the behavior and population structure of marine mammals. She also leads the field component of SWFSC’s two shore-based surveys to monitor abundance and calf production in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population.
Research Biologist, Marine Mammal Genetics Group & Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center,

Photo Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Monarch Butterfly Migrations with Dr. Gregory Mitchell
2026-04-02 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom Event
Detailed tracking of the eastern migratory monarch butterfly between Canada and Mexico using solar Bluetooth transmitters.
The eastern migratory monarch butterfly has long-captured the hearts and imaginations of Canadians with its spectacular fall migration spanning > 4000 km between its summer breeding grounds in southern Canada to its wintering grounds in central Mexico and then its multi-generational migration back in the spring. While sticker tagging programs have provided us with a wealth of information about the relative proportions of monarchs arriving in Mexico from different regions of North America, we have little information on the exact migration routes they take given the challenge of following individual monarchs. This in turn has prevented us from understanding how weather conditions experienced en route affects migration success. We expect weather conditions to have a large impact on migration success because head and tail winds can easily double or half energy expenditure during flight, respectively, and because monarchs are ectotherms, their metabolism is strongly influenced by ambient temperature. Here we used 0.06 g solar Bluetooth transmitters to track monarch butterfly migration in unprecedented detail using passively crowed-sourced detections of tagged monarchs from people’s cell phones. Monarchs were strongly affected by the wind conditions they experienced, with strong winds blowing to the north stalling their migration. Heavy rains and high temperatures also slowed their progress towards the wintering grounds. With this data it will now be possible to investigate if and how changing weather patterns associated with climate change affects the number of eastern migratory monarchs reaching the wintering grounds in Mexico.

About our speaker: Dr. Gregory Mitchell is a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. His research program is focused on the conservation of migratory birds and species at risk in Canada in support of the Migratory Bird Convention Act and the Species at Risk Act. He also sits as Canada’s federal representative on the Trinational Monarch Conservation Science Partnership, which coordinates shared research priorities and projects across Canada, the US, and Mexico and is also a member of the federal Monarch Butterfly Recovery Team.

Birds of the West Coast 2026
2026-04-24 19:00 - 2026-04-26 13:30 | Ucluelet & Tofino
The west coast of Vancouver Island features some of the best birding opportunities in North America. Lying directly along the Pacific Flyway, this region hosts huge numbers of migrating birds of all kinds each spring and fall. In the winter, the diversity and abundance of non-breeding birds remains high thanks to wide range of habitats and a mild climate.
Expansive mudflats near Tofino provide an ideal stopover site used by tens of thousands of shorebirds each spring and fall, highly productive coastal waters sustain several large colonies of seabirds and a mix of coastal rainforest and deciduous forest habitats attract a wide variety of breeding songbirds. A little further south down the coast, Amphitrite Point in Ucluelet offers some of the best sea watching opportunities on Vancouver Island.
In this weekend workshop (Friday evening until Sunday afternoon), participants will be introduced to the general ecology and biology of birds with an emphasis on commonly encountered species. This course is specifically scheduled to overlap with the peak shorebird migration as well as the presence of large numbers of other migrating species.
Topics covered will include: basic ID skills, breeding biology, physiological adaptations, migration ecology, and conservation issues. This course is designed as a way to learn more about birds in general rather than how to ID specific species. Extensive birding experience is NOT required.

Course Registration is $330.

About your instructor(s):
Mark Maftei serves as Executive Director of the RES and he draws on 20+ years of experience as a field biologist specializing in the ecology of birds. From the Arctic to the Antarctic to the open ocean, Mark has traveled the world studying birds. His research has included work on migration ecology, population biology and the census of poorly known species. His work in BC (including several years spent working with the Wildlife Research Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada) was focused on colonial seabirds and migratory shorebirds. One of Mark’s greatest pleasures is sharing his passion for birds with like-minded nature lovers, and there is nowhere he’d rather doing that than his home on the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Recommended Equipment and Reading

Any good bird guide (Sibley’s, Peterson’s, National Geographic)
A decent pair of binoculars
Field notebook and pencil
Camera
Appropriate clothing for all day in the field—rain or shine
Bring lunches, snacks, water/drinks on both days

Seaweeds of the West Coast 2026
2026-05-15 19:00 - 2026-05-17 13:00 | Ucluelet Community Centre, 500 Matterson Drive, Ucluelet, British Columbia, V0R 3A0, Canada
This weekend field course, based out of the Ucluelet Community Centre, will introduce participants to the world of west coast seaweeds. Topics to be covered in this year’s course include an introduction to seaweeds (What are they? What is their role in coastal ecology? How are they used in B.C. aquaculture? How are seaweeds impacted by climate change?) Learn of the biodiversity of west coast seaweeds, essentials of collecting and identifying seaweeds, seaweed foraging, the relationship between seaweeds and people, pressing and preserving seaweeds, cyanotype and more!
We are excited to welcome back course instructors Dr. Bridgette Clarkston and Dr. Jennifer Clark, coming to Ucluelet to share their seaweed knowledge and expertise with us.

Course registration is $330 per person.

Friday, May 15th (7:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

Presentation – Seaweeds are weird. Weird, but oh so wonderful. And for coastal marine ecosystems, they are vital.

Saturday, May 16th (7:30 am -8:30 pm, with breaks) Low tide is at 6:53 am (0.094 feet / .3 m)

Field trip to explore seaweeds on Ucluelet’s rocky coast and practice naturalist skills, including fundamentals of seaweed identification.
Collection of seaweeds at field site.
Workshop to practice using dichotomous keys, field guides and online databases to identify unknown specimens
Create your own scientific and artistic seaweed presses.
Cynaoptype, Seaweed as art: create your own beautiful botanical blueprint using the traditional method of cyanotype printing.
Presentation – From Tradition to Innovation: How Seaweed is Changing our Future.

Sunday, May 17th (8:00 am – 1:00 pm) Low tide is at 7:41am (-o.o56 feet / -o.2 m)

Putting it all together – field trip to identify seaweeds and their communities in nature, including opportunities to share what you’ve learned with the group.
Course wrap-up.

About the instructor:

Dr. Bridgette Clarkston loves seaweeds and thinks you should too. Bridgette is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the field guide Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast (Harbour Publishing). A delightful moment in a lifetime spent appreciating BC’s seaweeds was discovering a new genus of beautiful red seaweeds and naming it after the Salish Sea (Salishia). A Vancouver Island settler, Bridgette was born and raised on the unceded traditional territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land. Learn more about Bridgette on the UBC Botany website here.

Dr. Jennifer Clark grew up on the coast on the traditional lands of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations in BC and always knew that she would pursue a career studying the ocean, especially with the ocean as her backyard. She has 10+ years of research and cultivation experience of seaweeds in Canada and Australia where she focused on understanding climate change impacts on seaweeds. Although Jennifer received her PhD in Australia, the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest were calling and she returned to Canada to undertake a postdoctoral research position with the University of British Columbia, Hakai Institute in collaboration with the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv First Nations. During this time, she learned the importance of coastal foods to coastal communities and the nutritional and health benefits of seaweeds. In her current role as Chief Scientist at Cascadia Seaweed, Jennifer leads the research and cultivation of kelp seed used to grow nutritious, regenerative kelp for use in agricultural products and restoration efforts. Jennifer is passionate about seaweeds due to their status as a renewable and nutritional food source, beneficial in their ability to buffer the effects of climate change and their vital role in maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems.

Check out photos of the previous years:
