My involvement with Latornell began in 2017, when I was only a few months into my new job at the Ontario Heritage Trust and was placed on the Latornell Steering Committee. I had never even been to a Latornell Symposium before!
I quickly warmed up to the idea, sensing within a couple of meetings how excited, capable and dedicated the committee was to this spectacular environmental conference. My first Latornell Symposium was a whirlwind. The hustle and bustle, the events and activities, the trek back and forth to the Dome...it was exciting, vast and kind of intimidating. I became hooked.
The past two years have been unlike any that I’ve experienced before in my life, but throughout the pandemic, the Committee remained dedicated and enthusiastic about connecting with the community and providing a platform to share research, stories and learnings through our webinar series. This year, we are so excited to be able to return to an in-person event, albeit one that looks different from the Latornell of the past. We’ve chosen the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario to host the conference, and we’re planning a leaner, shorter Symposium but one we think you are really going to enjoy. The RBG presents a fantastic location for our four local field trips on Monday, October 17th, where we will tour different restoration projects and some of the natural wonders of the area, like the Niagara Escarpment. We’ll have a networking event on Monday evening, providing us an opportunity to connect with our colleagues, just like old times. On Tuesday, October 18th, we’ve got a full day of sessions planned on themes like climate change, watershed management, water resources and natural heritage. We’ll also have a lunchtime plenary speaker, exhibitors and a student poster competition taking place over the course of the day.
For those who can’t make the trip, or simply aren’t ready to dive back to in-person events, we will still be hosting several webinars related to our theme this year, “Re-imagining Conservation”. The webinars will be planned for September, November and December. Stay tuned for more information such as topics and speakers for our Symposium and webinars over the next month or so. In the spirit of “re-imagining conservation”, we’re re-imagining what the Symposium will look like going forward and we’re so excited to start that journey with you this year. I hope you will join us however you can! Visit www.latornell.ca for more details and updates.
Jamie Joudrey,
(A) Manager, Acquisitions and Conservation Services, Ontario Heritage Trust
Chair, Latornell Steering Committee
