McQueen Lake Forestry and Environmental Studies Camp

Story provided by Sheila Brown, District Coordinator of Trades and Transitions 

Students interested in forestry and environmental studies have a world of opportunities to explore—both in the field and the classroom. Recently, a group of grade 11 and 12 students from across the District had the chance to take a deeper dive into the career, volunteer and educational pathways available in this Career Cluster at the McQueen Lake Forestry and Environmental Studies Camp. Career program events like this one support students in our SD73 Mission of “Supporting learning opportunities and environments which inspire students to thrive.”   

Students participated in a wide variety of hands-on activities and information sessions with a diverse array of community partners and industry professionals. Thompson Rivers University Natural Resource Science Department brought students to the forest to study silviculture, forest management and ecohydrology, to the Grasslands to investigate diversity and invasive plants, and into McQueen Lake to study the living and non-living environment of the lake.     

Students learned about career opportunities and pathways directly from industry professionals. They were able to put ideas into practise as they went tree planting, saw the live use of drones as a tool in forest management, learned about traditional indigenous land use and culturally modified trees, and met with members of a variety of enforcement agencies such as Parks, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Natural Resource Officers.   

In order to support the students to “know who they are, and have plans for who they aim to become through their career pathway” students were introduced to EducationPlannerBC, an online tool which amalgamates program information for BC post-secondary institutions, and is the main vehicle for university applications in BC. They learned about summer student work opportunities in the career cluster and spoke with a panel of experts from TRU, the Ministry of Forests, and TRU Wildfire about career and post-secondary pathways. One student noted, “I learned about so many jobs and it really opened the door,” while another student remarked that “it changed my mind about jobs. Like I thought I wanted to do tree planting, but no.” Career exploration isn’t just about learning what you want to do. Learning what you don’t want to do can be equally valuable.   

Parents interested in learning more about EducationPlannerBC are invited to join Parents as Career Coaches on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, from 6:30 PM to 7:45 PM. Please register here.