Fall for the Rouge Affair - Rouge Valley Conservation Centre, October 8, 2011

To donate to the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre click on the button below:

2010 Rouge Valley Eco Exploration Supporters

Fall for the Rouge Affair Event Sponsors

Join us on Saturday October 8, 2011 from 10 am - 3 pm as we discover the Rouge as it prepares for winter. Speak to flora and fauna experts, take part in our fall hike through the Rouge and admire the changing colours, and learn all about nature photography from the photography experts from Henry’s Photo • Digital • Video. Take part in our photo contest, stay for a BBQ lunch and listen to local group Social Potion.

A discovery of all things Rouge...

Event Date: Saturday October 8, 2011

Event Time: 10 am - 3 pm

Location: Rouge Valley Conservation Centre, 1749 Meadowvale Road (click here for map)

Admission: $10 donation per person to the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre

With your $10 donation to the Rouge Valley Conservation Centre you are invited to speak with Henry's Photo • Video • Digital experts, participate in one of five Henry's Nature Photography Walks, and enter a photo into our Fall for the Rouge Nature Photo Contest sponsored by Henry's. Take the time to Fall for the Rouge... speak with our flora and fauna experts, take part in one of our Fall for the Rouge Fall Colours Nature Walks, learn how you can help the Rouge by going green at home and watch local band Social Potion perform.

Food and Entertainment:

Please join us from 12pm - 2pm (or until supplies last) for a BBQ and live entertainment. Food and beverage items will be available for purchase and Social Potion will perform live.

Fall Colours Interpretive Nature Hike details:

-Distance: approx. 4km
-Start times: 11am and 1pm
-Duration: 1.5 - 2 hours
-Please wear appropriate footwear (hiking shoes/boots or running shoes. No open toe shoes or sandals). You may want to bring a light jacket, sunscreen and bug spray.
-Baby strollers and wheelchairs are not recommended.
-Sign up for the interpretive nature hike at the admission table.

Henry’s Nature Photography Hike details:

-Distance: approx. 1km
-Start times: 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm
-Duration: approx. 1 hour
-Please wear appropriate footwear (hiking shoes/boots or running shoes. No open toe shoes or sandals). You may want to bring a light jacket, sunscreen and bug spray.
-Baby strollers and wheelchairs are not recommended.
-Sign up for the nature photography hike at the Henry’s booth.
-While you’re there, try out a variety of macro lenses that will take your nature photography to a whole new level.

Meet some of our Flora and Fauna Experts

Rebecca Dolson, Aquatic Ecosystems

Rebecca has always loved being in and around water; talking fish, studying fish, and preserving aquatic communities. Rebecca has a Masters degree from the University of Guelph, which focused on understanding the food web dynamics of lake trout in Algonquin park. She has studied sharks, sea turtles, freshwater turtles, mussels and freshwater fish within Canada and abroad. Rebecca currently works as Regional Aquatic Analysts for the provincial government.

Natasha Gonsalves, Plants

Natasha graduated from Saint Mary's University with a B.Sc degree in Biology and from Sir Sandford Fleming College as Ecosystem Management Technician. Since then she has worked with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) as an Environmental Technician; collecting long-term monitoring data and carrying out field inventories of vegetation communities and flora species according to TRCA's protocols and the Ecological Land Classification System. As a crew leader for Citizen Scientists, Natasha has also conducted fish and benthic macroinvertebrate surveys.

Mildred Ho, Trees

Mildred Ho, currently works at Evergreen as a GTA Stewardship Coordinator. She supports and manages stewardship and restoration projects in York Region. Her responsibilities include engaging communities with organic gardens and the community tree nursery at Phyllis Rawlinson Park. She has an Environmental Science background and has worked with various municipal governments including the Town of Richmond Hill’s Natural Heritage Department. Mildred is also a crew leader for Citizen Scientists.

David Lawrie, Aquatic Ecosystems

David is currently an Aquatic Analyst with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and a member of the Provincial Redside Dace recovery team representing the TRCA. A graduate of Waterloo and York Universities, he has ten years experience in the environment field. During this time David has worked in many areas including natural channel re-construction, bio-engineering and restoration, terrestrial and aquatic field surveys, planning development and permit review, and ecological analysis for the development and implementation of resource planning documents including Fisheries and Watershed Management Plans. David is also a Rouge Valley Foundation board member and spearheaded his own non-profit group Citizen Scientists, a volunteer based, aquatic environmental monitoring and education group.

Jacqueline Miller, Bats and Mammals

Jacqui graduated from the University of Toronto with an MSc. in Anthropology. She is currently a PhD candidate in Zoology and has spent the last several years compiling data on vocal communication and its evolution in rodents. Jacqui has over a decade of field and laboratory experience, published in several scientific journals, and presented internationally on topics ranging from the molecular systematics to vocal communication in singing mice. Jacqui’s research has taken her from Canada to the Southwestern USA, Mexico, and Central America. She has surveyed small mammals in a variety of habitats locally and abroad, from semi-desert environments to montane tropical cloud forest. Jacqui has a special interest in relationships between behavioural ecology and species diversity. She has been an instructor for several field courses in Latin America and supervised undergraduate research theses, imbuing her passion for biology to many university students. Jacqui is currently affiliated with the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum, where she continues her research and participates in several taxonomy projects with ROM curatorial staff.

Daniel Morodvanschi, Aquatic Ecosystems

Fall for the Rouge Fall Colours Photography Contest