Aldershot students earn national recognition for wetland conservation project

Three Aldershot School students are being recognized nationally after combining scientific research, critical thinking and a passion for the environment to develop an award-winning solution to a real-world conservation challenge.

Grade 11 students Amelia Gow, Alex McKeown and Kennedy Nadon recently won the Science category in Ducks Unlimited Canada's 2026 Wetland Centres of Excellence Art & Science Competition. The national competition challenged students to analyze whether conserving one large wetland or several smaller wetlands would provide the greatest benefit to biodiversity in Canada's Prairie Pothole Region.

The students are part of Aldershot School's ECO Studies Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) and Wetland Centre of Excellence, a partnership between the Halton District School Board, Royal Botanical Gardens and Ducks Unlimited Canada that provides students with hands-on environmental learning opportunities.

To answer the competition's case study, the team spent weeks researching wetland ecosystems, evaluating scientific evidence and weighing the environmental, ecological and practical implications of different conservation approaches.

"We started by researching what the Prairie Pothole Region is and then developed five criteria to evaluate each option," explained Amelia. "We looked at benefits to biodiversity, environmental impact, longevity, feasibility and effectiveness."

The students quickly discovered that wetland conservation is nuanced and critical.

"There really is no right answer between big or small," said Amelia. "The only correct answer is both. You just need to preserve wetlands. They each bring different things to the table depending on what lens you look at it."

As part of their research, the team interviewed a local tree farmer to better understand how wetlands affect agricultural operations. Hearing directly from someone with firsthand experience strengthened both their understanding of the issue and their final recommendation.

"Getting his perspective as a real-life farmer who had experience implementing a wetland was really strong in building our case," said Alex. "Wetlands support biodiversity, help trees thrive and protect the land from things like droughts and wildfires."

The competition culminated in a presentation before Ducks Unlimited Canada scientists, where students from Wetland Centres of Excellence across the country shared their findings.

One piece of feedback stood out to the Aldershot team.

"One of the things they said after our presentation was that the criteria we came up with is actually what they use out in the field," Kennedy said. "It was pretty interesting hearing that."

The students credit their ECO Studies SHSM experience for helping prepare them to tackle a complex environmental issue.

"We spend a lot of time at Royal Botanical Gardens learning about biodiversity and different species of plants and animals," Kennedy said. "We had a good amount of knowledge about how important that stuff was, so it definitely became one of our main criteria."

The Wetland Centre of Excellence partnership also provides students with opportunities to participate in conservation initiatives beyond the classroom, including leading environmental programming for younger students through the Eco Rangers program.

Jason Blair, RBG ECO Studies Program Coordinator and Aldershot School teacher, is proud of the lasting impact the program has on students. “For over 20 years the RBG ECO Studies Program has held fast to its motto: "Don't just learn it, LIVE IT!" he shared. “Through their work in this year's Ducks Unlimited Arts and Science competition, Alex, Amelia and Kennedy embraced this ethic and truly walked away from the experience understanding concepts at a fundamentally deeper level than would have been possible within a traditional classroom.  When students are taught to think critically and connected with real world problems, engagement is elevated and the learning happens organically. Engagement is only the tip of the iceberg, though. The real advantage lies in experiential education's ability to give students the skills and confidence to succeed in all aspects of life and instill the empathy, connection and curiosity that allows them to make a positive impact in whatever capacity they choose.”

When Alex, Amelia and Kennedy learned they had won the national competition, it was the culmination of weeks of intensive preparation, including early morning virtual meetings while one team member was on vacation.

"It was really rewarding," said Amelia. "Kennedy was in Hawaii, taking time out of her vacation to research and practice, and Alex and I spent every break practicing and perfecting our presentation. It was really nice to see that all of our hard work paid off."

For the students, however, the competition was about more than earning a national title. It reinforced the importance of environmental stewardship and sharing that knowledge with others.

"I think all of us have a real passion for the environment," Kennedy said. "The more you learn, the more you want to appreciate and protect what you're learning about. Through this program, we were able to educate others and hopefully pass on what we've learned."

Alex agrees that raising awareness is one of the most important parts of conservation.

"The biggest way to support environmental restoration is to get the word out there," she said. "Doing this competition and sharing our work is one of the best ways we can help support the environment."