Description: The Royal Alberta Museum is one of Canada’s most popular museums. Situated in a park-like setting just west of downtown Edmonton, the Museum will allow Congress attendees a chance to explore the natural history of western Canada. Participants will have an opportunity to experience a 45-minute behind-the-scenes tour of its curatorial programs (e.g. botany, entomology herpetology, ichthyology, mammalogy, and ornithology), which build and make accessible some of the finest natural history collections in the country.
Participants will also have time to enjoy viewing the museum’s galleries, including Wild Alberta and Natural Selections. Wild Alberta is an exploration of Alberta’s diverse ecological systems and Natural Selections features recent and ongoing research projects that are using and adding to the Museum’s collections.

This is a child-friendly fieldtrip; Public Program staff will offer younger visitors a 45-minute interactive program designed around the theme of the ICCB 2010 conference, Conservation for a Changing Planet in the Gallery Field Station

This local fieldtrip will occur on the morning of July 8. Families will have the opportunity to participate in both Collection tours and/or Field Station activities if they choose. For safety reasons, children must be accompanied by a supervising adult at all times.

Fieldtrip fee includes behind-the-scenes guided tour, admission and transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre; participants can buy their own lunch at the Museum.

Fieldtrip Capacity: 120 participants.

For more information on the Royal Alberta Museum: http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/

Date:This half-day trip will occur on July 8th.

Description: Habitat in the Edmonton area ranges from boreal transition forest to aspen parklands and from arid grassland to mesic fens which together provide homes for diverse bird communities. Participants will see and hear several neotropical migrants as well as several species of breeding waterfowl. This trip will take in the birding hotspots of Wagner Bog (http://wagner.fanweb.ca), Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary (www.cliffordelee.com), Big Lake (www.bless.ab.ca), and Whitemud Ravine in the company of experienced birders with expertise in local plant identification.

Fieldtrip fee includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre and breakfast snacks. This trip will visit the four birding sites offered on previous mornings of the Congress.

Date: This one-day trip will occur on July 8th.

Description: This 200 km² park is less than an hour from Edmonton and provides examples of fescue grassland, aspen parkland, and boreal forest (www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/index_E.asp). The park is unique for being fenced and hosting the densest population of ungulates of any park in Canada. It also hosts the national recovery herds for both wood and plains bison. Park biologists will explain the unique management challenges posed by these circumstances and a guided hike will showcase the diverse habitat and rich birdlife of the area.

Fieldtrip fee includes boxed lunch and snacks, admission, guided tours and transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre. ;

Date: This one-day trip will occur on July 8th.

Description: Alberta provides some of the most famous and spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountains (www.pc.gc.ca/progs/np-pn/index_e.asp). This tour will take place in Jasper and Banff National Parks and the Icefield Parkway that connects them. Participants will learn about caribou management in Jasper, see falls, exhibits, and glaciers on the parkway, hear about the world-famous highway mitigation in Banff and enjoy spectacular scenery throughout the trip.

Field trip includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre, lunches on July 8 and 9, breakfast on July 9, two nights accommodation, presentations on fire management, caribou populations and wetland restoration by Parks Canada staff,  a tram ride (http://www.jaspertramway.com/)  to Jasper’s alpine habitat and a glacier tour of the Columbia Ice Fields (http://www.explorerockies.com/columbia-icefield/).  Participants will purchase their own dinners ( Jasper on July 8, Banff on July 9, and Edmonton on July 10) and breakfast and lunch in Banff on July 10.  Participants will have the option of being dropped off in Calgary on the afternoon of July 10, rather than Edmonton on the evening of July 10. Double occupancy (shared accommodation) reduces trip cost by $80.

Date: This 3-day (2-night) trip will occur on July 8-10th.

Description: Alberta’s oil sands are estimated to contain the 2nd largest oil deposits in the world. They are also the site of tremendous ecological transformation which has attracted international environmental attention. See the Oil sands first-hand and learn about the process by which bitumen containing sand becomes the fuel in your own gas tank and how that process affects local and global ecosystems.

Fieldtrip fee includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre, boxed lunches on July 8 and 9, breakfast on July 9, admission to Oil Sands Discovery Centre (http://www.oilsandsdiscovery.com/), tours of oil sands operations, and presentations.  Participants will purchase their own dinners on July 8 in Ft. McMurray and July 9 in Edmonton. Double occupancy (shared room) reduces trip cost by $95.

Date: This 2-day (1-night) trip will occur on July 8-9th.

Description: The southeastern part of Alberta is comprised of rolling grasslands, arid agricultural lands and coulees today, but 75 million years ago it was more like a southern bayou, teeming with sub-tropical forests and lakes. This tour will visit the world-famous Royal Tyrrell Museum, the only museum in Canada devoted entirely to palaeontology. The tour will also visit nearby Dinosaur Provincial Park, a World Heritage Site, which provides a spectacular example of "The Badlands" and remains a site of active excavations.

Fieldtrip fee includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre, boxed lunches on July 8 and 9, continental breakfast on July 9, accommodation, entrance to Royal Tyrrell Museum (http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/), presentations and preserve tour in Dinosaur Provincial Park (http://tpr.alberta.ca/parks/dinosaur/flashindex.asp); participants will purchase their own dinners on July 8 in Drumheller and on July 9 at the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (http://www.blackfootcrossing.ca/).  Participants will have the option of being dropped off in Calgary on the evening of July 9 rather than returning to Edmonton. Double occupancy (shared accommodation) reduces trip cost by $75.

Date: This 2-day (1-night) trip will occur July 8-9th.

• includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre and breakfast snacks. 

Trips depart at 6:00 a.m. and return by 7:45 a.m.  http://wagner.fanweb.ca/

Monday, 5 July
Birding and plant morning hike – Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary

• includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre and breakfast snacks. 

Trips depart at 6:00 a.m. and return by 7:45 a.m.  http://cliffordelee.com/

Tuesday, 6 July
Birding and plant morning hike – Whitemud Ravine

• includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre and breakfast snacks. 

Trips depart at 6:00 a.m. and return by 7:45 a.m. 

Wednesday, 7 July
Birding and plant morning hike – Big Lake

• includes transportation from and to the Shaw Conference Centre and breakfast snacks. 

Trips depart at 6:00 a.m. and return by 7:45 a.m.  http://www.bless.ab.ca/