August 2023 In July 2023, we celebrated our new facility’s Groundbreaking! Present were the major pillars of our Capital Campaign as well as local dignitaries. Of course none of this would be possible without the generosity of Mary and Gerry Young, who are gifting their land to OTCC. The whole 100 acre property will be named: Margaret Mary Young and C.J. Gerry Young Conservation Farm We are working together to make this vision come to life as their Living Legacy. Our Major Funders for the Capital Campaign (donations of $50,000 and more), and major naming recipients are: The Gordon and Pa ..read more

The last few months I have spent at the OTCC have been nothing but exciting. I have been lucky enough through an internship course at Trent University to be an education and outreach liaison at the OTCC. I helped with reaching people far and wide who want to know more about Ontario’s native turtles. Turtles are amazing animals; they have been around longer than the dinosaurs and have amazing survival techniques. Human actions have made survival more difficult for turtles. Increased development and fragmented habitats have put turtles more at risk from things like getting hit by a car but als ..read more

I was very excited to continue from the summer to fall fieldwork with the OTCC this year. It has been so interesting to see the behavioural changes of the study turtles and the changes within the field site habitats. As a bonus, the cooler weather meant fewer biting insects! One big change at the field sites that I noticed, was increased water levels with all the rainy fall days. This meant the study turtles had easier access to many different parts of their wetlands that were previously dried up. It was quite a fun adventure finding the turtles since many of them moved with this increase in ..read more

As you know if you read my first blog post, we see all kinds of wildlife while conducting our research in the field. On top of the various species of fish, amphibians, and reptiles I mentioned in my previous blog post, we have come across many more wildlife species. From chipmunks to fishers and phoebes to eagles, this post will cover the various mammal and bird species we have encountered in the field. While conducting our work, we have seen mammals of all shapes and sizes. Chipmunks and Red Squirrels are often seen scrounging through leaf litter or scurrying across the forest floor. Whil ..read more

I have a pretty cool job. My 9-5 (sometimes 12-8 depending on the day), is a little different than the average desk position. I spend my day recruiting new turtle troopers from all over the province to add to our growing club of turtle heroes. Now you’re probably wondering how I do that? Well, the answer is through education. I am a summer student at the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, an Education Liaison of the Education department. It is my day-to-day duty to help facilitate programming that educates the public on the importance of our native turtle species population and how vital t ..read more

Spring 2021 Dear Friends and Supporters, We have some “turtle-y” amazing news to share! Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre is building its forever home! “Where Community and Conservation Connect”  Thanks to you, we have renovated two buildings at our new site; a 100-acre farm 10 minutes from our currently leased site. This was Phase 1 of our long-term plan and has added over 3,000 sq. ft. to house recovering turtles! And we were successful because of our generous donors. Thank you! Phase 2 involves building our own permanent facility on this same property. The OTCC has partnered with the ..read more

Before starting the field technician position for the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, I expected to see plenty of turtles with the odd wildlife encounter while out in the field. To my surprise and delight, in the first few weeks alone, we saw more wildlife than I have seen through an entire summer in past work positions. The field site includes a wide range of habitats that see less human activity than most natural spaces I have visited. These conditions have allowed abundant and diverse wildlife populations to flourish. We have had the pleasure of seeing countless species of fishes, amp ..read more

Spring 2021 One of my favourite parts of spring is seeing everything outside starting to wake up. I love hearing the birds coming back from their migrations over winter, seeing the spring flowers popping up from the ground and all the new critters that were just born.  When the field crew is out searching for turtles in the spring, one thing we have to look out for and be careful not to disturb when walking through vernal pools is amphibian eggs. Vernal pools are forested areas that temporarily fill with water and provide protected breeding habitat for amphibians. This week, I was excit ..read more

April DeJong (Team Lead) Hello all, my name is April. This is my third field season with the OTCC and I am very excited to get back out there! I have my B.Sc. in Biology from Trent University and have graduated from the Fish and Wildlife Technology program at Fleming College. My favourite part about working for the OTCC is being surrounded by turtles all the time, big or small, these little creatures are very important to the ecosystems they live within. I am proud to say that I am a part of helping to conserve these special critters! April’s favourite Ontario turtles species is: Eastern ..read more

People from all over the world can recognize a turtle, they have a distinctive appearance that intrigues us. This sparked my curiosity as to how turtles play a role in human history, throughout different cultures around the world. Blanding’s turtle. Photo taken by Lisa Browning. Most of my research has led to Indigenous cultures and Asian cultures. My findings take only a small glimpse into these cultures, capturing just the tip of their rich histories. I do not represent any of these cultures and I encourage those who are interested, to do their own research or speak with individuals w ..read more