HomeTeen from Amherst Wins National Ducks Unlimited Contest 
Summer Adventure of a Lifetime!
Oak Hammock Marsh MB, Aug. 2 – A young naturalist from Amherst, Nova Scotia, is this year's provincial winner of Ducks Unlimited Canada's Great Greenwing Adventure. Laura Melanson, 14, will join nine teenagers from across Canada for an all expenses paid week in Manitoba camping by a restored wetland learning about wetland and wildlife conservation.
The annual Great Greenwing Adventure, August 11 to 17, is a component of Ducks Unlimited Canada's Greenwing youth education program. The event first started in 1995 to reward keen, young naturalists with hands-on learning experiences that solidify commitments to wetland conservation.
To win the contest, Melanson had to correctly identify the duck species in a photo. Her father, Reg, who is DU's Nova Scotia Greenwing chair directed her to the contest Web site.
"I thought I would be fun to go the Manitoba," Melanson said. She is no stranger to DU's Greenwing program. She recently attended the Amherst Ducks Unlimited fundraising dinner to sell Greenwing memberships.
Once she arrives in Winnipeg, Melanson will travel 20 minutes north of the city to Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre, recognized as the country's best outdoor site by Attractions Canada. The marsh will serve as home base for the adventurers while they travel to activities that include duck and songbird banding, monster catfish fishing, canoeing, archery, wilderness survival, radio telemetry and orienteering. Melanson is really looking forward to experiencing some new outdoor activities.
The Amherst Regional School student's favorite classes are science and biology. "I like animals and all that," Melanson said.
According to Alvin Dyck, coordinator of the Great Greenwing Adventure, Melanson is about to embark on an experience that she'll remember years from now.
"Many of our past winners said they had the best time of their lives at our camp," Dyck said. "For some, it has sparked an interest in pursuing a career in biology and conservation. Participants learn about wetlands first hand, experiencing wetlands as biologists, researchers and outdoorspeople would. We hope that in addition to having a lot of fun, they take away a greater appreciation for the values that wetlands offer wildlife and people."
Ducks Unlimited's Greenwing youth education program has been running for over 20 years. Over 9,000 youths in Atlantic Canada are enrolled in the program.
