Evening meetings of the Nicola Naturalist Society are held once a month from September through May. We generally meet at 7PM on the third Thursday of the month in the Lecture Theatre of NVIT (Nicola Valley Institute of Technology) on Belshaw Road, Merritt. Admission is free to members.
Field Outings are usually held in spring, summer and fall and are listed below. Members will receive e-mail notices too. Field trips are restricted to paid-up members (but visitors can sign up as a member for the day for a nominal fee).
We are on Facebook. Check out our Facebook page: NNS Facebook
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December 20, 2025: Merritt Christmas Bird Count
We held a very successful Christmas Bird Count – click here to see photos and data: Merritt CBC 2025
Coming up this winter and early spring 2026 ……
Thursday January 15th 2026, 7 PM at NVIT: Ellen Simmons – Indigenous knowledge, KiʔlawnaɁ (Grizzly Bear), seeing the landscape differently
Ellen Simmons is an instructor at NVIT here in Merritt and is completing her PhD at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She is Swampy Cree (Saskatchewan) and of Polish descent. Her research looks into the complexities around socio-ecological systems as they relate to grizzly bears, huckleberries and forest practices, through the lens of Indigenous and western science approaches. Her work contributes to research-based collaboration between Indigenous and academic communities. Ellen has extensive experience in combining Indigenous knowledge with landscape management in many different contexts.
Thursday February 19th 2026, 7 PM at NVIT: Dawn Brodie & Loretta Holmes – Tracking Burrowing Owls
The Burrowing Owl restoration program at the Upper Nicola Band land has been going for 10 years. At the end of the 2025 breeding season a few owls were fitted with tiny satellite-tracking devices. The data from these tagged birds is giving exciting new insights into their movements – here at the breeding grounds and well beyond on their long-distance migration. Dawn and Loretta will share some of the early results from this innovative work.
Burrowing Owls at their Upper Nicola breeding grounds. Photo: © Dawn Brodie
February (date to be announced): Snow Bunting Shiver Sunday
This is our traditional winter outing to the Douglas Lake Plateau to look for those rare winter birds and enjoy the stunning winter grassland scenery. And yes – we usually do find some Snow Buntings and other interesting critters like Horned Larks, Coyotes and Moose. Stay tuned for details (our field outings are for paid-up members only).
From the 2025 Snow Bunting Shiver Sunday, Horned Larks (L) and a Snow Bunting (R). Photos: © Alan Burger
Thursday March 19th 2026, 7 PM at NVIT: Rabeya Shikdar Orpa – Amending soil for reclamation of native plant communities at mine sites
Rabeya Shikdar Orpa is a master’s student of Environment Science at Thompson Rivers University, and also works with the Grassland Conservation Council of BC as an outreach and stewardship consultant. Her research focuses on greenhouse experiments with thirteen different native plant communities, testing potential amendments and fertilizer to improve the re-establishment of native plants on mine overburden and tailings (post-mine landscapes). Her work is specifically aimed at improving restoration of native plant communities at the Highland Valley Copper mine near Logan Lake.
And coming up in the months ahead (details to come) ….
Thursday April 16th, 2026: Jay Ackerley – Gardening with native plant species
Thursday May 21st, 2026: Tori Hartley – Research on the threatened Williamson’s Sapsucker in the B.C. Interior
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