Greetings from Peterborough Field Naturalists

Ontario Nature's 76^th Annual General Meeting & Conference - hosted by the Peterborough Field Naturalists

On behalf of the Peterborough Field Naturalists, welcome! We are honoured and thrilled to be the hosts of the 76^th Ontario Nature Annual General Meeting and Conference.

Our theme for this conference, Landscapes of Transition, encompasses both the natural and the human elements of the land. The Kawartha area is situated in “the land between” the Canadian Shield and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands. The landforms and watercourses shaped by the last glacial period have given us a rich variety of landscapes and the diverse flora and fauna associated with them. This land of abundance has fostered a human history of transition from the First Peoples to the first European settlers to our modern way of life. Indeed, this landscape is still in transition today.

We are truly delighted with the rich array of speakers and leaders we have gathered for your program and field trips. We hope that you will enjoy the sessions and have the opportunity to get out and enjoy the Kawartha area as much as those of us who live here do. We hope that you will go away inspired.

I would like to thank Ontario Nature for their hard work, guidance and assistance in making this weekend possible. I would like to thank you for supporting Nature and coming out this weekend. And, of course, this weekend is possible only because of all the hard work and dedication from our organizing committee. A huge “thank you” goes out to them.

~ Heather Smith, President, Peterborough Field Naturalists