Three Trent University students have been highly commended for making a valuable contribution to the Durham County Farm Connections grade three event. Allison Nicholls, Edyn Rebryna, and Jenn Sainovski took part in the 2012 incarnation of this annual celebration and received a glowing report from Gord Geissberger, coordinator for Central Lake Ontario Conservation (CLOCA). Ms. Nicholls enthusiasm has been cited as being the source of the initial contact with CLOCA. In order to seek out volunteer opportunities, and helping to coordinate other students, she was able to provide the impetus for this successful, student-initiated event.

Ms. Sainovski’s volunteer work at Wind Reach Farm last spring, providing “therapeutic lessons for persons of all ages and disabilities,” is part of her overall experience as a student committed to a better understanding of the world from “a societal and environmental approach.” As a Trent Oshawa student in the Arts and Science Stream for Teacher Education, she enjoys “the beautiful campuses, relatively small class-sizes” and the “tight-knit community that strikes her as being like one big, caring family.”

Ms. Rebryna, an Environmental Studies student cites the importance of soil quality and watershed management in her work at CLOCA. She also acts as a teaching assistant at Durham Forest Environmental Center for the high school co-op program. Her interest in the “balance of nature and animals” is grounded in a passion for research involving the Wolverine.

“I love the innate power, versatility and cunning the Wolverine uses to survive,” she says. “Unfortunately, many misunderstand the complexities of this animal – as just ferocious.” 

In a quest to make a difference in approaching sustainable solutions in environmental issues” Ms. Rebryna has embarked on a well-rounded education at Trent that has motivated her to reach out in diverse social and educational activities. Her involvement with Farm Connections is just one of many accomplishments as a student committed to a variety of community needs.

Trent Oshawa student Allison Nicholls says, “At Trent University Oshawa, I think there is a conscious effort to make connections in the local community.” Speaking of her experience at the Farm Connections event, she said, “It was really exciting because we could get some outreach experience that directly related to what we were studying in school.”

All three students made significant contributions to Farm Connections through their Conservation Ontario Water & Land Stewardship presentation. In a recent letter to Ken Field, the acting principal at Trent University Oshawa, Ms. Nicholls, Ms. Rebryna, and Ms. Sainovski were congratulated by Mr. Geissberger for “engaging grade three students and presenting the information at an appropriate level with enthusiasm.”

Through a focus on water conservation, the recent contribution by enthusiastic Trent students made a significant impact on awareness of the connections between a healthy environment, food supply, and individual farmers working hard to make their living in the agri-food industry in the Durham Region.