Hi everyone!
I'll start my Green Dream blogging season with a written blog to share a bit about myself and what I do at Mercer Peace River. While I hope to show you some more video content of my experiences later on, I'm going to do this first blog the old-fashioned way, as writing is where I feel most at home, and I think it's the best way to introduce myself!
Most of my blogs will relate to the work I'm doing at Mercer Peace River during my third year here as a summer student. MPR is a pulp mill located outside Peace River, Alberta - nearly a five-hour drive north and west of Edmonton, Alberta. The pulp mill is important to Peace River as it employs many locals and draws people to our unique community. In my opinion, one of the best things about the mill is that because there are so many different roles, people of diverse educational backgrounds and experience levels can find a place here. My summer student position is as Silviculture/Planning Assistant, which means I get to be involved in preparing to harvest trees and the processes involved with reforestation afterward!
This September will be my 4th year at the University of Alberta as a Bachelor of Sciences in Environmental and Conservation Sciences student. It is tough to believe it is already my final year! I love answering questions about my university experience, especially if you're interested in attending the UofA or entering the ENCS program.
When I'm not spending my days learning how to plan for a harvest, helping to maintain roads, or assisting my supervisor Peggy with silviculture projects, I spend a lot of time working on my families' farm. Being involved in the farm has positively impacted my experience at Mercer and vice versa. In both, I get to develop my appreciation and understanding of the local ecosystems, and work on physical skills useful in the field. In small communities where the forestry, agriculture, and energy sectors operate near one another or even overlap, awareness and perspective are critical to positive relationships.
My future blogs may include a video tour of my favourite spots in the Peace Region, an interview of one of the supervisors here at MPR, a day of being an MPR summer student, and more..
Thanks for reading!
