Alora Silver from the Tantramar Wetland Centre of Excellence wins Ducks Unlimited Canada scholarship

Alora’s time at Tantramar

A very unique WCE, the Tantramar Centre protects critical salt marsh habitat in New Brunswick, which is a sanctuary for many wetland species.  

Reflecting on her time at the marsh, Alora says, “Just looking above you and there’s a great blue heron flying over your head or randomly seeing a cute little muskrat run into the water. I really like all of the animal encounters that we get.”

A long-standing co-op student and volunteer at the Tantramar Centre, part of Alora’s role is facilitating education and teaching younger children about wetlands. One of her favourite activities to lead has been critter dipping, which incorporates her deep love of teaching about invertebrates. This year, she took over the critter dipping station at the Centre and modified other stations to make them more interactive, including elements such as puppet shows. 

“I’m really interested in the macroinvertebrates especially, and a lot of the animals, and just getting to go into detail about all this really cool stuff and being able to share that information with people—people that will hopefully take away at least a piece of it,” she says. 

One of the critical elements of the WCE program is mentorship and providing youth with the opportunity to teach others about their wetlands. At the Tantramar WCE, Grade 9 students participate in field trips to the site where they learn valuable leadership skills and are exposed to the wetlands, sometimes for the first time. 

“It’s always really fun to get to connect with the new generation of high schoolers that are going to be taking over when we’re gone,” Alora says. 

An opportunity to grow

Her time at the Tantramar WCE also guided Alora through a journey of personal growth and development.  

Alora also created a deep connection with her WCE leader, Melanie Ball, during her years at Tantramar WCE. This allowed her to overcome obstacles and feel confident even when dealing with last-minute changes.  

“Ms. Ball is so awesome. She’s super energetic and really enthusiastic about the stuff we’re learning. Her enthusiasm makes me enthusiastic,” Alora says. 

When asked to recommend her for the scholarship, Ball described multiple reasons why Alora deserved the award, noting “Alora puts a significant amount of effort and time into her work with us because she has a deep appreciation of the importance of environmental education for children. She truly believes in our motto: The key to sustainability is education.”

A future in conservation

Alora has a deep connection to conservation and plans to continue her educational journey at the Maritime College of Forest Technology, where she has been accepted into the Forest Technology Program and hopes to pursue a career as a conservation officer. Receiving the scholarship, she says, will help her follow her educational goals and provide needed financial support along the next steps of her career journey. 

“Winning this scholarship means so much to me because it’s kind of a confirmation of the stuff I’ve done, that it has been good enough. And I’ve learned so much. It’s good to see that it’s actually appreciated and useful.” 

Ducks Unlimited Canada hopes the scholarship and her experience in the WCE program will support Alora as she continues her education in conservation. 

“All I can really say is that the wetlands are the best,” she says.  

“This is such an awesome program that needs to continue forever and ever, because it teaches people so much useful stuff and makes people care about the environment at least a little bit more.”