November Meeting & AGM - Ellen Schwartzel - Adding Nature to Toronto's Urban Fabric

MEETING LOCATION:

For the Annual General Meeting (AGM) Agenda, Bios and Financials, please click here.

SPEAKER & TALK:

Nature is not a frill for any rapidly growing 21st century city. Natural lands buffer our cities against flooding, heat, and air pollution. Natural landscapes can be both preserved and added into Toronto’s development, benefitting our environment and wellbeing, in terms of climate change, biodiversity, and physical and mental health. This talk also highlights Toronto's remarkable bird biodiversity; Toronto is not just a random spot on the landscape; the city has grown up on lands that have been key migratory corridors for birds for thousands of years. The talk illustrates how we can preserve, restore, and create more natural spaces, showcasing both successes like the Brickworks and the Meadoway, and creative new approaches that Toronto could be exploring.

Ellen Schwartzel is Past-President of the Toronto Field Naturalists (TFN), and she continues to enjoy leading nature walks through Toronto's ravines - especially in the fall. Ellen's career in environmental policy included 23 years with the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. She was Ontario's Deputy Environmental Commissioner for four years, until retiring in 2018. Ellen’s academic training was in Botany, and she received her BSc and MSc at the University of Toronto.

You can learn more about Ellen and have a sneak peak of TFN's "Adding Nature Talk" in this interview with CJRU's Met Radio here.