Learning to live regeneratively

In 1958, a soldier’s gift reshaped the future of a mountain. First World War veteran Andrew Hamilton Gault entrusted Mont-St.-Hilaire to McGill with a clear instruction: Protect this land so generations of Canadians can learn from it. Today, that vision extends across McGill University’s living laboratories of conservation, where community, science, and accessibility show us what regenerative living can look like.

Every forest, wetland, and waterway is part of a living network, its fate bound with our own. To live regeneratively is to engage with this network of care through small acts of repair or renewal, aligning our actions with the rhythms and needs of the environment. At the Gault Nature Reserve, the McGill Bird Observatory, and the Morgan Arboretum, the narrative surrounding conservation is examined in a new light. Together, these three places reveal how much can be nurtured and protected when we engage thoughtfully with the land.

Now more than ever, we must pay attention to the world around us and act to protect these ecosystems—their survival depends on us.

For students like Madison Laird, a U3 major in Wildlife Biology, this vision of conservation—using nature sustainably while actively working to protect it—is a hopeful one. Throughout her academic journey, she realized that her care for nature can be more than just a passion.

“When I was younger, I didn’t even know you could do this as a job,” she said. “It wasn’t until I started learning about the environment that I realized I could actually do this.”

Laird carries her passion and enthusiasm for the environment into all that she does, discovering new ways to contribute to the future of conservation. And at McGill, this spirit of regeneration is carried forward.

Upon returning to school this fall, I invite you to explore these wonderful places and the natural spaces that surround you. Each site bears a layered history and serves as a living classroom, where students, researchers, and nature-lovers alike learn what it means to build resilience through a time of ecological change.

Mont St.-Hilaire’s Gault Nature Reserve uniquely blends protected wilderness and a hands-on learning space. With the land entrusted to McGill University, Gault envisioned the mountain as a living classroom where people could explore and engage with the mountain directly.

Frédérique Truchon, Gault’s communications associate, sees her work as bridging science and community together to make research accessible.

“I’m in charge of connecting the science that happens here at Gault with the public because we have a lot of visitors. I do a lot of science outreach and kind of like translation, if you will, of these sometimes complex topics into something that is very tangible for the public,” Truchon shared.

That blend of education and accessibility has been part of Gault’s mission since its inception. In the 1970s, McGill commissioned the Audubon Society to protect the mountain, marking one of their first steps into conservation. The plan resulted in a balance between protection and accessibility.

The eastern portion of the mountain remains largely off limits, reserved for research, while the western side welcomes the public. Gault Nature Reserve maintains 25 kilometres of hiking trails year-round, welcoming over 300,000 visitors annually. For generations, it has offered individuals the opportunity to experience both recreation and research firsthand.

Behind the scenes, sustainability shapes even the smallest details of Gault’s operations.

“Everything from the way we design our buildings, to the way we manage, the lights we choose to light up our roads, and all the little decisions that we make every day are always guided by conservation’s best practices,” Truchon told The Tribune.

This commitment also extends to hands-on conservation work, from monitoring Peregrine falcons and bats to protecting turtle nests. Each summer, undergraduate field assistants join the team to carry out these tasks, gaining direct experience in the complexities of ecological stewardship.

The team at Gault hopes to strengthen its connection with the McGill community to give students the chance to actively engage with the environment around them.

“What we would really like is for more McGill students to know that we exist and this place is available for them to come,” Truchon said. “We would love it if every McGill student had a chance to come at least once during their time at McGill, and for us to continue to grow in the community.”

The McGill Bird Observatory (MBO) was born from a gap in Quebec’s bird research. In 2005, while completing her graduate studies at McGill, Barbara Frei helped found the observatory alongside her fellow students. At the time, no other station in the province monitored spring and fall migrations, which are both key for understanding bird movements. With climate change, habitat loss, and industrial pressures reshaping Quebec’s boreal forest, Frei saw a need to track how bird populations responded.

Today, the MBO continues that mission, with Frei now serving as a research advisor and scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. Tucked into Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the MBO offers a flourishing pocket of wilderness surrounded by Montreal’s city life. Situated on 22 hectares of Stoneycroft Wildlife Area, its location makes it the perfect place of discovery for students and local birders.

What sets the MBO apart is its community. Undergraduate and graduate students from McGill, Concordia, Université de Montreal, and UQÀM work side by side with seasoned birders, many of them retirees who dedicate early mornings to the field.

“I always found that a really unique experience, and something I appreciated when I was a student,” Frei said. “I see other students appreciating it, going out and having this intergenerational mix of people coming together for a love of birds and a love of science and a love of conservation.”

The spirit of mentorship continues in the fieldwork for students like Laird, a volunteer at the MBO, who spent her summer assisting her TA researching birds along the St. Lawrence. Her work often began in the early hours of the morning, attaching GPS trackers to Kittiwakes or measuring Puffin chicks while balancing the responsibility of minimizing the stress on the birds.

“I think the biggest thing with these birds is just how sensitive they are to people and disruption. It’s hard to balance getting your work done, but also disturbing the birds as little as possible. Otherwise, they’ll abandon their nests and their chicks,” she explained.

The observatory itself runs primarily on volunteer power, with more than 250 people strong, while relying on partnerships, including its vital support from Bird Protection Quebec. Financial sustainability, Frei admitted, is always precarious, especially as student volunteers eventually move on and retirees gradually scale back their involvement. Yet the passion of the community allows for the project to thrive.

Frei’s goal is to keep conservation grounded in science and participation. She points to student-led projects at McGill tackling window collisions, a leading cause of bird deaths in North America, and encourages using tools like eBird, where everyday sightings feed into real research.

“I always say birds are one of nature’s most beautiful ambassadors, where we can see them, even in sometimes quite dense areas of the city,” Frei explained. “You can go to a local park and you can hear a bird song or see the flash of colour of a bird. And it’s a really impressive way to directly connect to nature.”

The Morgan Arboretum, a 245-hectare forest reserve in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, has been part of McGill since 1945. Donated by the Morgan family, the land started as a patchwork of farmland and private estates owned by some of Montreal’s wealthiest families.

“These wealthy families decided we want to sell our land, we want to divest our assets, but we realized the value in what we have,” Operations Manager Scott Pemberton explained. “We realized that protecting nature is important, and we want this to be part of our legacy.”

From 1945 to 1965, McGill University undertook a massive re-naturalization project.

“The university hired a number of people, including the directors of Macdonald College at the time, and the Watson family, to re-naturalize all of the areas that had either been livestock or had been crop agriculture or Christmas farms or firewood production,” Pemberton said. “They re-planted natural species of plants and trees to create what would emulate a St. Lawrence Valley ecosystem before colonization and before industrialization.”

By 1965, these efforts had culminated in a climax forest, a living snapshot of what the region might have looked like decades before. Turning to today, the land stands as one of the largest green spaces on the island of Montreal.

The Arboretum is guided by four pillars: Education, research, conservation, and recreation, which shape everything that happens on site.

“All of those separate pillars also intertwine and uphold one another,” Pemberton told The Tribune. “I don’t believe we’re going to look to a preservative world where humans don’t pursue recreational activities in nature…and I don’t think we’re going to go to a world where learning about nature is only done in the classroom. But these things are all going to blend together.”

Pemberton’s perspective is reflected in how the Arboretum operates today. Visitors can explore the abundance of trails for walking, skiing, and wildlife observation. Seasonal workshops and community events also help to connect people of all ages to the site’s beauty. At the same time, students and researchers study everything from climate patterns and invasive species to urban wildlife and species diversity. Ongoing habitat restoration, tree planting, and species monitoring ensure that the wildlife continues to thrive in this urban green space.

The Arboretum’s legacy is well documented, including a 1995 newspaper clipping from its 50th anniversary. The article highlighted key figures such as Bob and John Watson, Eric Thompson, and James Britton, who re-planted the land and helped shape the forest as it exists today. The piece was titled “L’homme qui plantait des arbres” (“The man who planted trees”) and acknowledged the Arboretum’s identity as a living monument to reforestation.

Living regeneratively calls for a fundamental shift in how we think about our place in the world. It asks us to design practices that sustain both ecological systems and human communities, recognizing the importance of our role through it all. With climate change and rapid urban development affecting ecosystems and species, these practices matter now more than ever.

The smallest acts of attention can spark a connection. Enjoy a walk through Jeanne-Meance and listen to the birds, feeling the vibrancy of life around you. This upcoming school year, explore the forests, waterways, and wetlands that surround you. By engaging thoughtfully with these spaces and sharing their stories, we help ensure that conservation is a shared responsibility.

“People need to care about this because it is our future… it’s in both the hands of the scientists and it’s in the hands of the people,” Liard said. “Read up and educate yourself, because at the end of the day, one extra person can make a big difference.”

The most resilient ecosystems are built on cooperation. Just as species depend on mutualism to thrive, communities flourish when people in the places we inhabit support one another. The Gault Nature Reserve, the MBO, and the Morgan Arboretum all show how science, accessibility, and community care intersect to protect biodiversity.

By embracing a regenerative lifestyle, we not only sustain wildlife but also build stronger and more equitable communities. As Gault’s gift continues to inspire, caring for our shared web of ecology reminds us that everyone can thrive when we help each other grow.