In 2020, Alberta Views Magazine and the ABMI partnered for the “What Does Biodiversity Mean to You” Essay Contest. The ABMI is a proud sponsor of this competition and we hope it fosters further conversation about how Albertans view and engage with biodiversity. Please note that the views of the authors are their own and [...]
On June 29, ABMI lichenologist Dr. Diane Haughland presented Lichens of Alberta, the second in our It’s Our Nature to Know webinar series. Diane studies the taxonomy and ecology of Alberta’s lichens, and her team is responsible for identifying thousands of lichens from across the province each year to help track changes in Alberta’s biodiversity. [...]
Looking for a reason to lose the sweatpants and get outside this winter? Why not try being a winter wildlife detective?? The Nature Conservancy of Canada and NatureLynx are challenging Albertans to get outside January 15–30 with the 2021 Hands-on Alberta winter tracking mission. We hope you’ll join us! Many of Alberta’s animal species stay [...]
If you’re near Edmonton and looking for a nature activity that’s both family- and social-distancing-friendly, why not take part in Edmonton’s first ever BiodiverCity Challenge this June 11–14? The BiodiverCity Challenge is inspired by the City Nature Challenge, a global urban biodiversity “contest”, or bioblitz, where cities compete against one another to monitor biodiversity within [...]
If you follow the ABMI’s social media, you’ll already know about our What does biodiversity mean to you? writing contest. If not, we have news for you: The ABMI has a writing contest, in partnership with Alberta Views Magazine! The rules are simple: Submit an original 500 – 750 word essay on what biodiversity means [...]
We understand that many of our readers, like us, are hunkered down as the events around COVID-19 unfold. We hope you’re keeping as well as can be under the circumstances. Meanwhile, ABMI operations continue with a temporary shift of focus away from on-the-ground fieldwork and toward work that can be done digitally. To that end, [...]
A recent paper highlighted the decline of North American bird populations. Guest blogger Dr. Peter Solymos, a statistical ecologist with the ABMI and Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM), digs deeper into the story and provides insights from the long-term ABMI + BAM data set. A paper by Ken Rosenberg et al. in Science made headlines last [...]
There are many unsung contributors in the life of an ABMI data point. From the field technicians who collect it, to the taxonomists who identify it and the analysts, quality-controllers, and information managers who prepare it for release, it takes a village. But outside of the ABMI offices, the most unsung of all might be [...]