We’re proud to share that Dr. Ruth Waldick, Lead Scientist with Transition Salt Spring and head of the Climate Adaptation Research Lab (CARL), is featured in a new University of Victoria podcast exploring how our communities can better respond to extreme heat and wildfire risk. Ruth appears in Episode 3: “Ruth” of A Hot Topic:…

The Climate Adaptation Research Lab is calling on your green thumbs and gardening expertise once again! This past spring, thanks to the incredible efforts of our volunteers, we successfully planted hundreds of native species in the Maxwell Watershed. Your contributions made a real difference – and now we’re building on that success with another round…

Rethinking Fire in Our Watersheds In the first webinar of the Fire Files series, “When Fire Meets Water: Healthy Watersheds as a Solution for the 21st Century,” experts explored how wildfires, water, and watershed health are deeply interconnected. Moderated by Dr. Ruth Waldick, lead scientist at our Climate Adaptation Research Lab (CARL), the panel brought…

On April 5th and 6th, Grace Fields, the TSS Project Coordinator for the Climate Adaptation Research Lab (CARL), and Brian Smallshaw (Biochar Working Group Lead) travelled up to Clearwater, BC, to speak to community members on improving the resiliency of their forests to climate change and wildfire. On Friday evening, organized by Astrid Arumae of…

Fire risk reduction in the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone Read the Full Report here. Introducing a new practitioner’s report focused on reducing fire risk by increasing ecological integrity. Historically, wildfire has been an intermittent but essential disturbance regime in forested ecosystems across the country. In more recent times, the arrival of settlers and the dominance…

In this informative Q&A session, forest ecologist Erik Piikkila explains the critical role healthy forests play in protecting our communities from fire and drought. As climate extremes become more frequent, understanding the link between forest health, water security, and fire resilience is more important than ever—especially for landowners, stewards, and concerned citizens of the Southern…

This comprehensive, full-day workshop brought together over 70 participants, including FireSmart Coordinators, forest managers, BC Wildfire Service, Fire Rescue, First Nations representatives, and local government to address fire risk in the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) Biogeoclimatic Zone. With 70% of the CDF zone under private ownership, participants explored how communities can adapt to increasing fire risk…