HCTF-Impact-Report-2024-25 - Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

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Mon, 9 Feb 2026

HCTF-Impact-Report-2024-25

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HCTF’s Education Grants help bring hands‑on, outdoor learning to students across BC. GO Grants give K–12 teachers the support they need to take students outside, whether it’s pond dipping, exploring forests, or checking out local wetlands. LEAP Grants back mini conservation projects led by middle and high school students, helping them build real‑world skills and explore future careers in conservation. Together, these grants break down barriers, spark curiosity, and grow the next generation of conservation leaders. Learn more and apply through the link in our bio. #EducationGrants #GOGrants #LEAPGrants #OutdoorLearning #ConservationEducation #HCTF #WildBC

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Scholarship highlight: Olivier Jumeau Olivier is one of the 2025 Al Martin Scholarship Recipients Olivier is a master’s student from Thompson Rivers University. His research, working alongside Ulkatcho First Nation, aims to provide a baseline of information to inform indigenous management of caribou habitat. By integrating Ulkatcho oral history, Dakelh linguistics, and caribou-centric plots, and a holistic approach towards assessing habitat, Olivier hopes to better understand post fire habitat usage by caribou.

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🌟 Action Grant Applications Are Still Open! 🌟 Action Grants fund projects that actively engage people and communities in changing behaviors and practices to achieve measurable conservation results in British Columbia. These projects focus on creating sustainable solutions, mitigating human impacts, and reducing threats to species and ecosystems. Ready to make a difference? Apply today! The deadline to apply is February 28, 2025, at 4:30pm (PST)! To learn more head to https://hctf.ca/grants/action-grants/#overview

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Happy World Marmot Day! Marmots may be small, but they play a big role in BC’s ecosystems. As ecosystem engineers, their burrows help aerate soil, influence plant growth, and provide shelter for other species, making healthy marmot populations a sign of healthy landscapes. Here in BC, HCTF has proudly funded conservation work that helps restore and protect marmot habitat, supporting alpine ecosystems that benefit a wide range of wildlife. The Vancouver Island Marmot, once one of the world’s most endangered mammals, is now a powerful conservation success story thanks to decades of collaborative recovery efforts. Today, we’re celebrating marmots and the dedicated partners, researchers, and communities working together to ensure they continue to thrive. Learn more and get involved in conservation across BC. 📷 Project 1-693 #WorldMarmotDay #VancouverIslandMarmot #ConservationWorks #HCTF #BCWildlife #AlpineEcosystems

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Scholarship Student Highlight: Robyn Stack Robyn is one of this year’s T4W Scholarship Recipients Robyn is a master’s student currently studying with Thompson Rivers University. Her research is exploring the relationship building between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Scientific Ecological Knowledge in the Nicola Watershed. Given the recent flooding and wildfire events in the area, a high amount of restoration work has been taking place in the area. This has opened the door to better integrate these two knowledge systems to create more effective, and inclusive, stewardship and restoration actions. The Together for Wildlife scholarship is awarded annually by HCTF in partnership with the First Nations-B.C. Wildlife & Habitat Conservation Forum and the Province of British Columbia’s Together for Wildlife Strategy (T4W) to 10 masters and Ph.D. candidates conducting research that will have a positive impact on stewardship, management, policy, or decision-making of wildlife in BC.

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Project Highlight: Toads on the Roads In the southern region of Vancouver Island, the western toad population is in decline. This decline is caused by many factors, including habitat loss and degradation, road mortality, and some recreational human activitys. To attempt to increase the survival of the south island population, the Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds, in partnership with Huu-ay-aht Lands and Natural Resources Department and Watershed Renewal Program, is working to restore habitats, install underpasses and guiding fences, and limiting some human activities in sensitive areas. Thanks to their hard work, over 500m of guiding fencing and 2 large box culverts were installed to reduce road mortality of migrating toads. Additionally, the groups worked to restore riparian habitat used by western toads, and educational signage was put in place. These efforts are helping to give western toads a better chance at survival, which increases the overall health of the environment. HCTF is happy to support work like this that enhances habitats for all species that share the environment!

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Scholarship Highlight: Don McCubbing Recipients These scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate students who are pursuing studies in fish and/or wildlife conservation. Caio Nicholson de Figueiroa: Caio is an undergraduate biochemistry student at the University of the Fraser Valley studying how rainbow trout muscle cells respond to ammonia stress. He focuses on lysosomes and the vacuoles that form when these lysosomes (cellular recycling centers) are disrupted, investigating mechanisms such as lysosomal membrane proteins and using chemical tools to test their role. Robin Jans: Robin is currently studying Natural Resource Science at Thompson Rivers University. As an honours student at TRU, her research focuses on understanding how the presence of invasive cheatgrass affects the foraging behaviour of California bighorn sheep. Johanna Marshall: Johanna is a 4th year student in Combined Honours Biology and Oceanography at the University of British Columbia. Her project uses stable isotope analysis to study the trophic interactions of the invasive freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii in BC lakes. Emma Richardson: Emma is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Victoria. Their research is examining the genetic diversity of the Pacific marten across coastal B.C. to better understand the connections between populations of marten in different areas in relation to the availability of old growth forest. Tlell Schreiner: Tlell is an undergraduate student studying wildlife and fisheries at the University of Northern British Columbia. The thesis explores the larval winter tick abundance in different forest age stands in the Prince George South area. In addition to a climatic and habitat analysis of the winter ticks, she is hoping to dive into the idea of subalpine fir needles and their effects on the winter tick larval survival, as extracts of the conifer have shown lethality to other hard tick species.

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Did you know HCTF has a whole suite of grants and programs geared towards education and education resources!? Its true! HCTF Education offers a variety of grants, resources, and programs to help educators and students learn about and experience BC's beautiful natural areas! Learn more about HCTF Education at https://www.hctfeducation.ca/ For some free resources and ideas head to our website https://www.hctfeducation.ca/resources/ #hctfed #wildbc #wildschools #exchangebox #GOgrant #LEAPgrant #bcteachers #bced #enviroed #getoutdoors #getoutside #outdoorlearning #placebaseded #freeresources #fieldtrip #conservation #environment #biodiversity #ecosystem #nature #wildlife