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Buffers in Kespukwitk Workshop Schedule

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Wednesday,November 18, 2026
09:00

Venue opens; Coffee, tea and bagels; Poster set up
09:30

OPENING (shalan joudrey); Welcome and Announcements
09:50

Plenary 1 - Greg Mason, Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii: Engaging the Spirit of the Biosphere - A case study of Georgian Bay Mnidoo Gamii Biosphere Region - Zones, Buffers and Working Landscapes

Morning Break

10:30

Refreshment Break

Oral Presentation Session 1

10:55

Nick Hill/David Sollows, SNBRA: Overview of the Southwest Nova Biosphere Region
11:10

Matt Smith, Kejimkujik NPNHS: The use of zoning and buffers in the management and maintenance of ecological and cultural integrity in Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site
11:25

Colette Mesher, Bras d'Or Lakes Bioshpere Region: Bras d'Or Lake: Using Etuaptmumk to strengthen the biosphere
11:40

Sally Steele, MTRI: The Power of Listening: Creating Space for Understanding and Learning (presentation and interactive session)

Lunch Break

12:00

Lunch (provided)

Oral Presentation Session 2

13:15

Matt Miller, MCFC: Reflections after 12 years of community-led, ecologically inspired forestry at the Medway Community Forest Co-op
13:30

John Brazner, Brazner Ecological Services: The influence of clearcut harvesting on bird communities in an adjacent protected area in Nova Scotia: Implications for buffer implementation
13:45

The role of OECMs in landscape buffers
14:00

TBA: last open slot

Afternoon Break

14:15

Refreshment Break

Panel Discussion 1

14:40

Panel discussion 1: Landscape Scale Buffers (80 min)

Dinner and Silent Auction

18:00

Dinner registration seperate from main registration fee

Silent Auction Winners

19:30

Winners of silent auction items announced 
Thursday,November 19, 2026
9:00

Venue opens; Coffee, tea and bagels
9:30

Welcome and Introduction for Plenary Speaker (5 min) 
9:35

Plenary 2 - Mark Pulsifer, Edgewood Environmental Services Ltd: Biodiversity buffers: Nearly 40 years of lessons, limits and opportunities for conservation in Nova Scotia’s industrial landscapes
10:15

Brad Toms, MTRI: Simple vs. complex buffers: Is it practical to incorporate scientific rigour and flexibility into government management systems and on-the-ground implementation?

Morning Break

10:30

Refreshment Break

Oral Presentation Session 3

10:55

 Sean Haughian, NS Museum: A tale of two buffers: reducing the impacts of logging and invasive species on the critically endangered boreal felt lichen
11:10

Cindy Staicer, Dalhousie: Effectiveness of buffers for at-risk forest birds
11:25

Lori Phinney, MTRI: Buffers for bats: a complex issue
11:40

Nina Newington,  Citizen Scientists of Southwest Nova Scotia​: Black Ash buffers: A case study

 

Lunch Break

12:00

Lunch (provided)

Oral Presentation Session 4

13:15

Malcolm Fenech,  UINR/Dalhousie: Lessons learned: Unsuccessful riparian buffers for Mikjikj-Wood Turtles on private land in Unama’ki-Cape Breton, Nova Scotia 
13:30

 Ben Collison, Dalhousie: Drivers of thermal regimes in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) watersheds
13:45

Thomas Sweeney, NSSA: Using beaver dam analogues as a restoration tool in highly impacted watersheds
14:00

Nelson J. O’Driscoll​, Acadia: Examining exports of nutrients, mercury, and invertebrate mercury bioaccumulation in a restored wetland impacted by gull guano on Brier Island, Nova Scotia

Afternoon Break

14:15

Refreshment Break

Panel Discussion 2

14:40

Panel discussion 2: Site-level Scale Buffers (80 min)

Final Remarks

16:00

Final remarks and summary by Tom Herman and Nick Hill

Student Awards

16:20

Awards for best student presentations 

Closing

16:30

Closing remarks by Scott Jermey
LIST OF POSTERS
Wednesday,November 18, 2026

Poster Session

16:00

Abigail Lewis, MTRI: Beyond wetland boundaries: Characterizing forested wetland-upland transitions using LiDAR and passive acoustic monitoring
16:00

Carter Feltham, MTRI: Beyond the wetland: Seasonal movements of Eastern Ribbonsnakes (Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis) in Kespukwitk
16:00

Sarah Clements, MTRI: North American bat monitoring: 5 years of stationary acoustic data from Kespukwitk, southwest Nova Scotia 2021-2025
16:00

Shauna Forrestall, CARP: Growing resilience together: Establishing riparian buffer zones and shelterbelts on farms through Living Labs, Nova Scotia
16:00

Jane Vurdela*, Acadia: Effects of Insecticidal Controls of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid on Wild Bumblebees in South-West Nova Scotia
16:00

Ben Gooley*, Acadia: Legacy pollution in Nova Scotia: Historical artisanal goldmining has elevated Hg and As concentrations in Ponhook Lake sediments
16:00

Leanne Li*, Dalhousie: Understanding the response of small mammal communities to forest fires in Nova Scotia, and implications for forest management
16:00

Laura Carter, MTRI: Developing BMPs for co-occurring species at risk on private woodlands
16:00

Ariel Schwartzman-Miles, Vassar College: Vertical patterns in epiphytic bryophyte communities of Nova Scotia, Canada
16:00

Katrina J. Cruickshanks, Vassar College: Effects of survey height and tree age on arboreal lichen communities in Acadian hardwood