Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society

There will be a member’s meeting, by Zoom only, on Monday Oct. 27 at 7:30pm. Invitations including the Zoom link will be emailed to registered members beforehand.

Hunter’s Mountain, Cape Breton – Photo Mary Macaulay

Mary Macaulay is a longstanding member and researcher who will present a continuation of her Eco-Archaeological research on Nova Scotia “Crown” Lands, which are up for deforestation – as shown targeted by the online Harvest Plan Map Viewer. Mary has been doing this work since 2019 and has expanded her project area to include patterns observed throughout the region, including the South Shore.

Members who have not viewed Mary’s first two presentations on the NSWFS You-Tube site will benefit by watching those two talks before this one; Rediscovering the Sacred and Salvage Eco-Archaeology in Nova Scotia – or viewing as a refresher since it’s been a couple of years since Mary has given us an update.

This new talk will focus less on culturally modified trees and LIDAR sets and more on a selection of common native understory plants and the cultural landscape features they appear to signify.

The next Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society member’s meeting will be at The Museum of Natural History, 1747 Summer St. Halifax, and by Zoom, at 7:30 pm.

What started as an anecdote about an old apple became a years-long research mission for friends and colleagues Simon Thibault and Karen Pinchin. The pair of them worked together to unearth a centuries-old story of the Belliveau Apple, a distinct variety of apple found in the Acadian villages of Clare in Southwest Nova Scotia. By digging through family archives, genealogical records, and a nearly-forgotten email exchange, Pinchin and Thibault would find and highlight the history of this nearly-forgotten apple, and lead them all the way to the Oxford Food Symposium. Today, the duo continue their work in helping tell the story of the apple, and all that it represent: agricultural knowledge, culinary and cultural heritage, and a calling card of Acadie.

Simon Thibault is a journalist, food writer, editor, and radio producer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. His work examines the intersections between food and culture, and the stories found within. His first book, Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food was shortlisted for the Taste Canada Award. He and his work have been featured in The Globe and Mail, CBC Radio and Radio-Canada, The National Post, The Huffington Post, Chatelaine, The Old Farmers Almanac, and more. He currently works as the Non-Fiction Acquisitions Editor at Goose Lane, Canada’s oldest independent publisher.

Karen Pinchin is an award-winning journalist specializing in investigative and longform reporting. Her book, Kings of Their Own Ocean: Tuna, Obsession, and the Future of Our Seas won multiple awards, including the Paradigm Prize from the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada, the Evelyn Richardson Non-Fiction Award, the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award, and a Silver Medal at the Taste Canada Award. For more than a decade she has worked as both a staff and freelance reporter and editor specializing in food systems and science journalism.