Earthwatch (www.earthwatch.org), an international non-profit organization, supports scientific field research worldwide through its volunteers and scientists working together on approximately 140 projects. Earthwatch members, who participate in these projects, have the opportunity to work, as part of a team, side by side with distinguished field scientists in their work. World Forests are one of the seven areas of sponsored research and research on Ontario's ancient forests by Dr. Peter Quinby of Ancient Forest Exploration and Research is one of the projects.

Please note, no Earthwatch teams will be running in 2004

Volunteers will enjoy a wilderness experience: hiking, canoeing, and camping in roadless areas crossed by rivers and lakes. The flora of the area is representative of the Upper Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Forest Region. On the most favourable sites, white pine dominates, often occurring with red maple and scatterings of sugar maple and yellow birch. Red pine, white pine and jack pine dominate dry sites while red maple, black ash, tamarack and eastern white cedar are found in wet areas. White and black spruce, balsam fir and poplar are also common.

The forest is home to black bear, lynx, timber wolf, moose, white-tailed deer, snowshoe hare and numerous species of small mammals. Birdlife includes ducks, osprey and kingfishers around the lakes and pileated woodpeckers and wood trush in the forest. Mosquitoes and black flies are a nuisance in the early summer but die off as the summer progresses.

Volunteers will be met at the North Bay Airport and travel about one hour to the Nipissing Field Centre where the first and last night will be spent. The team will be camping for the remainder of the expedition, bathing in the (cold) lakes and cooking over portable propane stoves. Team members must have the potential to paddle a canoe and carry a full backpack plus tent over a 3-kilometre hiking trail. Basic camp food will be supplemented by as much fresh food as possible.

Extensive canoeing and bushwhacking over rugged terrain will be required. Volunteers must be in very good physical condition. Expect to canoe for some hours and bushwack on difficult terrain for several kilometres each day. To learn more about camp life read our expedition manual or volunteer accounts

Volunteers will help to assemble and check pine marten track boxes, and to collect vegetation data: identifying tree and shrub species; measuring tree diametre; and estimating the percent of vegetation cover within study plots. Some exploration of unknown pristine areas will also take place.

Dr. Peter Quinby is Executive Director of Ancient Forest Exploration and Research. Dr. Quinby is Director & Field Associate Professor at the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh, in Linesville, PA. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Forest Ecology. From 1988 to 1991, he worked as Director of Conservation Science for the Temagami Wilderness Society's Tall Pines Project. As a private consultant in forest conservation studies he has worked for Forestry Canada, Forests for Tomorrow, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Algonquin Wildlands League, and Northwatch. He has also taught at the University of Toronto, York University, Trent University and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Dr. Quinby will make periodic visits to the teams while a graduate student and seasoned outdoor leader will carry out the fieldwork with the Earthwatch volunteers.

For further information or to reserve a space on a team, go to our page on the earthwatch website.

Dates and other project logistics are subject to change. Please consult your Earthwatch Project Coordinator or sign up and wait to receive your EarthCorps Briefing before making travel arrangements.