Earth Talks - COMMUNITY ORIENTED ENVIRONMENTAL SPEAKERS AND CONVERSATIONS
Meet some Bow Valley Birds
June in the Rockies is an amazing time to see a wide variety of birdlife. Come and join lifelong learner and bird lover Gareth Thomson for this family friendly evening introducing you to some of the birds in our own backyard.
We will begin our evening at the library, after a few short minutes we will set off on foot to explore the birds in the nearby Policemans’ Creek area, on the boardwalk and walking trail. This is by-and-large an outdoor event.·
Participants should come prepared to be outdoors for an hour, and bring suitable jacket, hat, and walking shoes. They should bring their own set of binoculars if they would like, and be able to walk two kilometres at a leisurely pace. We will provide binoculars for those who do not have them.
What you’ll learn:
How to use binoculars
How to identify a few commonly found bird species
How to continue learning about birds after today, at your own pace
Gareth Thomson, currently the Executive Director of the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, has been a resident of the Bow Valley since 1989, and served on Canmore Town Council from 1992-1995. He has over thirty years’ experience in community engagement and environmental education: he founded and led the Alberta Council for Environmental Education as Executive Director for fifteen years, founded the education office of a conservation NGO before that, and began his career an environmental educator with Kananaskis Country.
Gareth has taught high school, been a judge for the Alberta Emerald Awards, and volunteered with Alberta Ecotrust Foundation on their grant review committee. He has an engineering degree, an M.Sc. in Environmental Geology, is a certified teacher, and has received awards for outstanding service in environmental education from provincial, national, and international associations.
Gareth lives in Canmore, where he divides his free time between parenting three exceptional young people, birdwatching, trail running and biking, and walking hand in hand with his wife Kelly.