Student Volunteers Needed for Environmental Assessment
MTBco director Megan Ludwig
What’s going on?
Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanagan (MTBco) are looking for students to help complete an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a project in their Gillard trail network.
Megan is an environmental consultant and former EESC masters student at UBCO. She will teach students how to do the work that is required for the assessment, and help them throughout the process.
The assessment will cover the following areas:
water quality
soils
vegetation
wildlife
Students who volunteer will learn how to prepare, write, edit, review, and submit an environmental assessment. Over the course of 4 months, volunteers will only spend a total 20-40 hours on the assessment. That’s only an hour or two each week.
This is a real industry experience you can put on your resume.
Project Background
Gillard is a 68 kilometre mountain bike trail network on the south slopes of Kelowna, about 30 minutes from downtown. It is managed by MTBco in partnership with Recreation Sites and Trails BC.
As a volunteer organization, MTBco has raised funds to build an uphill pedal trail for mountain bikers to avoid the dangerous forest service road.
Before the project can be approved, MTBco must conduct an Environmental Assessment that reports any potential impacts on valued components.
It would be ideal if volunteers are mountain bikers, but it is not required.
If you know how to use QGIS or ArcGIS, that would be an asset.
Interested? Register below!
Depending on the volume of applicants, there may not be room for everyone. Register sooner rather than later.
Satellite view of Gillard, with a red border around the trail network.
Volunteer Registration Form