My Practicum at ACAP

As an Environmental Technology Student at NBCC we have the opportunity in our second year to do a work practicum. I was lucky to be able to complete my practicum at ACAP Saint John! I wanted to go somewhere I would get a variety of experiences. I definitely chose the right place!

I have followed ACAP Saint John on social media for quite a while now and they always seemed to be doing really awesome things like education and outreach at schools, organizing beach cleanups, making rain gardens, seal monitoring, fishing in the harbour and much more! I was happy to be able to participate in most of these activities.

I got to help with the weeding of the rain gardens, set up rain barrels, and put signs up at multiple locations around Saint John. I tagged along while looking for tree planting sites, helped out for fishing week, went seal monitoring, and went to schools to engage with the students through outdoor activities.

My favorite week was fishing week! I got to go fishing at four different sites in Saint John. I got to use a couple of different types of nets to catch fish and shrimp. We identified each species, measured them, then released them back into the water.  The coolest fish I saw was a huge winter flounder that measured 350 mm long!

I also really enjoyed the education and outreach that ACAP did with schools over the past five weeks. I was able to go to a few different schools, one of which took me to Deer Island. Another project I was happy to take part of was nutrient sampling. We spent a day going to various sites along the Saint John River and its tributaries.

Through all these experiences I got to see parts of Saint John that I have never been before. Being from the Norton area I did not have any experience working along the coast and through this practicum I was able to gain this incredible experience.

Thank you so much to the ACAP team for teaching me so many things. I am very grateful to have this opportunity.

Amelia King