Placement & Capstone

Placement Experience

Our goal is to provide students with real-world experience in the environmental sector in order to gain professional skills and networking contacts that will help them along their career path after graduation.

Professional placements will typically be with conservation authorities, government agencies (municipal, provincial, federal), environmental consultancies, and ENGOs in roles such as environmental technician, junior policy analyst, junior biologist and conservation technician/assistant. Students will be applying their learned skills and knowledge in the workplace, whether collecting & analyzing data, writing technical reports, generating maps, communicating results to stakeholders, and/or developing environmental monitoring plans.

The placement process begins with an informal interview in late Fall with the Placement Coordinator to determine career goals, potential networking contacts, previous experience, and current skillset, that may help to identify and target organizations to approach. Students will also participate in online workshops in late Fall on Skills Identification, Resume Writing & Interviewing that will help prepare them to share their resumes with prospective employers or apply to summer positions in competitive job processes.

Capstone Course

The Capstone course is the final M.BEMA course and is a one-week in-person course that takes place on the Peterborough campus in the 4th week of August. In 2023, the course will be running from Sun Aug 20th to Fri Aug 25th (inclusive). On-campus accommodations and parking for the week will be arranged by Conference Services, where students can stay in Gzowski College Residence at a reduced rate. There is a GO Bus stop right outside the residence, which has bus service to the Oshawa GO Train Station (Plan your Trip).

General Capstone course format (9:30 am to 4:30pm daily) - Sample Schedule:

Sat - arrive at Gzowski College Residence in the afternoon/evening (for those coming from out of town)
Sun - Morning classroom session with lecture, meet with groups, field site visit #1 in afternoon
Mon - Morning classroom session with lecture, placement presentations, afternoon workshop, group work
Tues - Morning classroom session with lecture, placement presentations, afternoon workshop, group work
Wed - Group work, placement presentations, field site visit #2
Thurs - Morning classroom session with workshop or lecture, placement presentations, afternoon group work
Fri - Group presentations

Some photos from the August 2022 Capstone course:

2022 Placement Highlights:

Alyssa is working with the Invasive Species Team for the Nature Conservancy of Canada this summer in the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula!  She is assisting with field surveys, data collection and control of invasive species, such as Phragmites (common reed).

Paulina is completing her placement with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority as a field assistant for erosion hazard monitoring. She has been monitoring erosion occurring along streams and slopes of public and private properties and identifying any deficiencies which may negatively impact erosion control structures from providing stability. In her own words, "the placement is a great opportunity to gain real work experience in the environmental field and build your network."

Duncan in a Master's candidate in the MSc stream of the BEMA program, and is working with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for his placement this summer. As an intern biologist for the Kawartha Highlands Signature Provincial Park, he has been monitoring lake water quality, analyzing stream flow, and surveying terrestrial species throughout the Park.

Alex is completing his placement in a Field Biologist & Crew Lead role for A.E.W. Ltd Partnership, a First Nations owned ecological monitoring company that conducts wildlife research and environmental monitoring on behalf of Nlaka'pamux Nation Tribal Council on their traditional territory. He is working within the Coquihalla mountain range in BC's Fraser Valley, where he is leading a team in conducting a wide range of species surveys, including bird sweeps, amphibian salvages, wildlife relocation, mountain beaver telemetry and bear den locations. He will also be developing a stakeholder presentation and reporting on mountain beaver relocation efforts.

Sarah W. is completing her professional placement with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks at Bon Echo Provincial Park as a Resource Technician. Sarah has been involved with species at risk monitoring, invasive species management, and educational programming for park visitors.

Brighton is working with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources & Forestry this summer in Peterborough, as a Natural Heritage Information Technician. Working specifically with the Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program (CLTIP), she is working on mapping analyses and data management, as well as helping with managing landowner inquiries about the program and encouraging the stewardship of the province’s natural heritage features.

Paige is completing her professional placement with WSP-Golder this summer, working for the Mine Water Environment group in Vancouver. She is working on a variety of environmental monitoring projects, including collecting surface water quality biological samples.  She says she "is grateful for the collaborative and supportive working environment at WSP-Golder!"

Emily L. is completing her placement as an ecologist with Matrix Solutions in Guelph, Ontario this summer. She has already gained experience and learned about Ecological Land Classification (ELC)/vegetation inventories, wildlife inventories, amphibian surveys, barn swallow monitoring, Species at Risk (SAR) screening and SWH (Significant Wildlife Habitat) assessments. In her own words, "I'm so excited to be working on a wide variety of ecological projects and work with such an encouraging and multi-disciplinary team."

Kaitryn is completing her professional placement with Otonabee Region Conservation Authority in the Peterborough area this summer, participating in a variety of stewardship activities such as planting pollinator gardens (photo). She will also be involved in the important work ORCA does in assessing the health of rivers in the watershed every year, including collecting surface water and benthic macroinvertebrate (aquatic insect larvae) samples. Results from these data are used in a “Watershed Report Card” that helps inform management decisions if conditions degrade.

Emily T. is working this summer with Trent University's Planning & Development Dept. on the new Trent Lands and Nature Areas Plan. She will be monitoring the 11 Trent nature areas to protect species at risk, control invasive vegetation, and maintain trails for visitor safety. So far, she has conducted wildlife road mortality surveys along campus roads, to identify species mortality hotspots for appropriate installation of mitigation measures, and monitored invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) patches. She will be helping to design a campus-wide prioritization and control plan for this invasive species. She reports that, "the BEMA placement is a great addition to the program as it supplements what has been learned and provides the essential real-world experience!"