Raincoast Education Society

Small Town, Big Picture: Tofino
2025-10-15 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver) | 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 Turns 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.

Cariboo 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
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. 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.
