My Summer at ACAP - Andrew Shaddick
After receiving my SEED voucher and scrolling through the many job opportunities, ACAP Saint John very much caught my eye with the description they had posted. It was one of the only environmental non-profits in my area, and the work they had done around the city was something I greatly respected. I was confident that I wanted to work there.
Upon starting the job, I met my coworkers and was shown around the Social Enterprise Hub, where several other non-profits have their offices. I was struck by the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere in the building and of the people occupying it. For the first week or so, I spent my time reading many of the previous reports that the staff at ACAP Saint John had made over the years. Within the second week, I was in the middle of a full day of tree planting and picking up litter down by Spar Cove. It was tiring work, but I found myself genuinely valuing the improvements we were making to the previously mistreated area. With every tree I planted, I imagined what they might look like in twenty or thirty years.
It wasn’t long before the first opportunity to go electrofishing came. I had personally never heard of the concept prior to working here, but I suppose the name is pretty self-explanatory. The goal was to get an idea of the abundance, number of species, and size of fish in a particular stream. What always surprised me was just how many fish were contained within what appeared to be a roadside ditch or shallow, forested stream. Our focus during late June/early July was a habitat survey and eventual electrofishing of Little Marsh Creek. I can’t imagine walking around with rubber overalls through densely forested areas in thirty-degree weather is everyone’s cup of tea, but I personally thought it was a great experience, and I’d do it again and again. There was something very enjoyable about exploring an area, taking note of its various natural features, then coming back to discover what sort of fish live in that environment.
The main duty of us summer students, aside from gardening and keeping the Sustainer Container watered, was completing a tree inventory of the Lower West. We would drive over to catalog trees and record diagnostic details about them, including species, location, height, etc. During this time, we talked with curious and friendly locals about the project, many of whom seemed happy to have people taking an interest in the area. The inventory itself took us about a month to finish, in which we documented nearly six-hundred trees over fifty-seven streets.
One of my favourite things about working at ACAP Saint John was coming into the office and seeing what new things we were doing that day. The variety of duties kept work interesting and enjoyable. But personally, the best part of working here was that none of it actually felt like work: It was all fun, which was only made better by the kind, funny, and knowledgeable people at ACAP Saint John. It’s unfortunate that I only got to spend a short fourteen weeks in the office, but I appreciate the time I spent here all the same.
Thank you for the opportunity to work at ACAP Saint John and for the wonderful summer I had here,
Andrew Shaddick
