New recipient of student award supporting Canada’s emerging conservation leaders

Waterfront Regeneration Trust Pauline Browes fellowship provides students with hands-on learning opportunities in Rouge National Urban Park.

The next generation of conservation leaders in Canada are being fostered in Rouge National Urban Park for the second year in a row, thanks to the legacy of a community leader who helped to save and protect the Rouge Valley in the Greater Toronto Area.

Established in 2019, the “Pauline Browes Future Leaders Fellowship” aims to cultivate our country’s next generation of environmental leaders who will build on her conservation legacy. Students receive an opportunity to learn and participate in the protection and restoration of Rouge National Urban Park through a summer position with Parks Canada’s Resource Conservation Team.

The Fellowship is awarded to the candidate that demonstrates a strong commitment to the environment and a passion for making a difference in their community. The successful candidate will learn more about the challenges involved in protecting and restoring an urban river valley as part of Canada’s national parks system and will gain appreciation for the Rouge’s vast natural heritage under the mentorship of Parks Canada staff.

This year’s recipient of the fellowship is Samantha Clapperton of Stouffville Ont., who began working for Parks Canada as a Resource Conservation student in May of this year. Clapperton holds an Ecosystem Management Technology Advanced Diploma from Sir Sandford Fleming College and will be enrolled at Trent University for Environmental and Resource Science this fall. Before joining Parks Canada, Clapperton worked and volunteered in the natural sciences field as a wetland monitoring assistant, spring migration and spawning survey volunteer, tree planting volunteer, and an Ontario Bioblitz volunteer.

“Each day at the Rouge National Urban Park is as diverse as the park is itself, and presents unique challenges and opportunities that allow for growth in both myself and the park’s development,” says Clapperton in her fellowship video submission. “I am confident in the fact that the work being done at the Rouge by myself and countless others is improving the lives of all that enjoy its rich biodiversity and landscapes.”

“The Waterfront Regeneration Trust is thrilled to welcome Samantha Clapperton to the growing fellowship of Pauline Browes Future Conservation Leaders,” says Pauline Browes, a Waterfront Regeneration Trust Board Member and long-time advocate for the Rouge. “After 30 years of steadfast, often challenging work to protect and restore the Rouge Valley, it is heart-warming to know its future is in the capable hands of new passionate leaders such as Samantha working as part of the excellent Parks Canada team.”

The Fellowship was established by the Board of Directors for the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to recognize the nearly four decades of tremendous contributions that Browes has made to protect the Rouge Valley, and ultimately see it designated as Canada’s first national urban park. At the end of their summer employment, the successful candidate will also deliver a presentation to the Waterfront Regeneration Trust’s Board, write a blog for their website and produce a short video about working in Rouge National Urban Park.