All Posts: Green Dream Internship Program

Just living in Northern Ontario has honestly been one of my favourite things about the past two summers. Being surrounded by forests, rocky hills, and literally hundreds of thousands of lakes, makes for some pretty good recreational opportunities! Unsurprisingly, my favourite ways to spend my days off all involve going right back into the bush (As if I’m not there enough already…).

I love to take my dogs with me whenever and wherever I can. However, the wilderness is hazardous, and you never know what might be around the corner.

There are many things I love about my summer job as a Silviculture student with West Fraser, the number one naturally being the fact that I am surrounded by nature nearly every day.

It is an uphill battle to repair roads that are constantly under heavy use from logging trucks, oil workers, and recreational vehicles, but without our roads division, we wouldn’t have access to our forests, and with no access we wouldn’t have wood products. Always appreciate your roads division and the hard work they put in!

The purpose of the Jobs to Grow interview series is to present the journey and dedication to the forest industry of people who started out working in production at Resolute Forest Products and who have now become managers. These managers are proof that the opportunities for growth are enormous in the forest products industry.

Meadow Lake started out as a trading post in 1799 and soon grew to a small village. Meadow Lake continued to grow throughout the 1900s and was boosted with the introduction of the three mills. Meadow Lake is often nicknamed “the Mill Town” and even has a great restaurant named after it. These mills offer a wide variety of jobs for pretty much any field of study. However, I truly believe that what draws people to the area is how scenic the forests and lakes are around here.

I visited a block that was about 100 hectares in size. It took some time to navigate as the roads were deactivated and there was lots of debris. I usually drive to the back of a block and work my way to the front, so that’s what I did here. I parked my quad and was sitting preparing my notes before I walked into the trees when I started hearing movement not far from where I was parked.

Normandin is a small town in the north of the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region with a population of 3029. Its territory is mainly occupied by producers who are mainly involved in dairy production. Its geographical situation makes it a privileged place for tourists who appreciate the large plains and bucolic landscapes.

There’s a rhythm to life in the sticks that I am going to miss. There’s a sense of excitement from not knowing exactly how each day will turn out. I’ve also gotten accustomed to my team, with whom I experienced things none of us will soon forget.

Most are simple things which may not seem like big lessons but have been important parts of the journey to where I am today and that I had not given much thought prior to starting at UAlberta.

Common nighthawks are medium-sized birds about 21-25 cm in length. They are speckled and brown in colour with pointed wings, a small beak and have disproportionally large black eyes. Common nighthawks are also a species of so-called ground-nesting birds, meaning that they make their nests on the ground rather than in trees. It just so happened that this type of nest is exactly what my supervisor Julia came across while supervising tree plant earlier this summer on June 23rd.

My takeaway from our conversations was that, for real engagement to take place, both parties needed to be willing to actively listen to each other. Being able to accept someone else's views, regardless if they conflict with your own, was key to fostering a constructive dialogue.