Conservation Communication

AWA uses multiple mediums to increase public awareness of environment issues in Alberta. This includes written formats like newsletters (~500 words) and journal articles (1000 – 2000 words), visual assets like presentations and long-form videos , and social media content like tweets , carousels, and reels . Create a public messaging campaign raising awareness on one of AWA’s areas or species of concern. Campaigns should be consistent with AWA’s voice and style (examples can be found in the embedded links above). Campaign subjects could include : The conservation of the Greater Sage Grouse (or any of AWA’s species of concern)/current protections for the species/ what needs to be done.   The importance of designating Plains Bison as wildlife rather than livestock.  Raising awareness/highlighting the importance of non-obvious/less appreciated ecosystems like peatlands or grasslands + lack of protections and threats to major natural regions in the province ( prairies, parklands, foothills ) Anything water-related: the state of Alberta watersheds or highlight important bio-indicators like native trout, mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies, beavers, etc. – what their populations (or lack thereof mean). Any other ideas you might have!

Policy Critique

Protecting the environment often requires having a working knowledge of how policy works for and against Alberta’s wilderness and wildlife. Review a piece of provincial legislation (Wildlife Act, Water Act, Forestry Act, Public Lands Act, Alberta Land Stewardship Act, etc.) or a recent government policy decision relevant to conservation, along with any related literature, to identify issues, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. Questions to explore include: Does this Act or Decision set out to do what it intends?  Does this Act or Decision improve or hinder environmental outcomes? How so?  What changes to the Act or Decision could be made to improve environmental outcomes?

Research

Investigate specific research questions and consolidate data to aid AWA’s work. Choose one.  Protected areas need management plans (including specific actions and timelines) to ensure that environmental outcomes are being met. Complete a literature review on protected area management planning to understand what makes a management plan more/less successful at achieving its intended outcomes. Create a data set of protected areas in the province, indicating how many have publicly accessible management plans, the date in which plans were implemented/updated/amended, and any reviews or reporting completed. Include links to any information available and summarize findings with graphs or charts. Analyze one available management plan of your choice, based on any evaluation criteria identified in the literature review.  Wildlife, particularly species at risk, need management plans (including specific actions and timelines) to ensure that conservation objectives are being met. Complete a literature review on wildlife management planning to determine why it is important and what makes plans successful. Create a data set of publicly accessible wildlife management plans in the province, the date in which plans were implemented/ updated/ amended, and any reviews or reporting completed. Include links to any information available and summarize findings with graphs or charts. Analyze one wildlife management plan of your choice, based on any evaluation criteria identified in the literature review.  Research Indigenous knowledge systems, perspectives, and science related to environmental conservation in Alberta. Questions to explore include: How do they contrast with western science perspectives? How do they complement western science perspectives? How can the conservation community better support the environmental initiatives of Indigenous Nations in the province?

Knowledge Gaps

It is important to continually review the work AWA does and identify areas where we can improve our efforts. Sometimes an outside eye is necessary to address issues we may be unconsciously overlooking. This option challenges you to review AWA’s recent work and identify any environmental issues in the province we may missing or should be focusing more efforts on. Prepare an opinion essay, advocating why this issue is important, how it fits into AWA’s mandate, and what type of efforts you would like to see from us.