[BNS_members] Get Involved: Who & What is Kings County? Share Your Natural History Insights!

Tue Mar 1 11:35:19 CST 2022

Dear BNS community, 

HERE IS AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR NATURAL HISTORY AND
ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHTS, AND CONTRIBUTE TO A COMMUNITY
PROJECT ABOUT OUR LOCAL LANDSCAPE! 

Ellen, curator of the Kings County Museum [1], recently contacted the
BNS asking for input and participation in a collaborative community
project. Your input, big or small, is welcomed and appreciated! Please
read below for ways to get involved, including a straightforward survey
that shouldn't take too much of your time [2] and ways to share your
photographs (also discussed in more detail below). 

WHAT IS THE PROJECT? 

Kings County Museum (in Kentville) has received funding to create a
community room within their building. The vision for this space is live
programming, but also wall panels that explore a variety of topics
relating to Kings County, including natural history and the environment.
They are currently looking for help to develop these panels, which will
include text and images. As part of this, they would like to engage BNS
members to help develop a series of panels about the environment and
nature of Kings County. 

The main prompts for this overall project are as follows: WHO IS KINGS
COUNTY? WHAT IS KINGS COUNTY? The connections between the landscape and
the people of this place will be a focus, and this project seeks to
determine what stories of this landscape and its ecology and history we
should be telling... Moreover, ELLEN HAS PROVIDED SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENT (IN THE SURVEY LINKED BELOW) THAT THIS
PROJECT SEEKS TO EXPLORE. 

HOW CAN BNS HELP? 

BNS members and local community members have rich knowledge of this
place and can help by provided information about the landscape of Kings
County, including features of the natural environment (ecosystems,
species, etc.), unique characteristics, influences of the environment on
people, climatic changes, etc. No need to be an expert, simply share
your knowledge, thoughts and insights - we all have something to say
about the place we live in and observe as naturalists and residents.

Ellen has provided a few ways to get involved: 

1) A SURVEY with a few guiding questions on the environment of the area.
You can fill out as much or as little as you like. This is quick and
straightforward. This is the link: https://forms.gle/2rZcgvpVD7P9Mz8C6.
(These survey questions are copied to this email as well as a word
document for those who don't want to use Google Forms.)

2) If individuals want to submit PHOTOGRAPHS that they think represent
the natural history/environment of Kings County, they can: 

 	* Email Ellen at collections at kingscountymuseum.ca
 	* Drop it off at the museum (37 Cornwallis St. Kentville) 
 	* Mail it (Kings County Museum, 37 Cornwallis St. Kentville, NS, B4N
2E2)
 	* Call me to discuss other methods of collection

*If individuals want to submit photographs, Ellen will be touch with
additional forms for them to review concerning sharing images and outing
how the museum would like to use images within the room and how they can
attribute the image owner. 

3) If members would like to contribute but don't use technology, they
can GIVE ELLEN A CALL AT 902-678-6237 and she can arrange a time to
meet. 

4) If a group of members would like to contribute FEEDBACK RELATING TO
DESIGN OF THE ROOM, Ellen can arrange a time for anyone interested to
drop by the museum to have a look and offer comments. This would likely
take place later after we get some initial content, likely within a
month's time. 

PLEASE LET ME OR ELLEN (collections at kingscountymuseum.ca) KNOW IF YOU
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. 

Thanks for your input! 

Caroline 

-- 
Caroline Beddoe
 She/her
 613-619-1098
 Coordinator, Blomidon Naturalists Society 

 Blomidon Naturalists Society activities take place in Mi'kma'ki, the
traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. This
territory is covered by the "Treaties of Peace and Friendship" which did
not deal with the surrender of lands and resources but in fact
recognized Mi'kmaw title. We want to recognize that outdoor education
and play would not be possible without access to the natural world that
has been stewarded since time immemorial by the many Indigenous peoples
of this land. We acknowledge that we have a responsibility to honour and
learn about their histories and current cultures and to actively work in
support of reconciliation. We are committed to fostering respectful and
sustainable relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of this land, with
all other organisms, with the land and with the water. 

Links:
------
[1] https://www.kingscountymuseum.ca/
[2]
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc30wNzhtu8BKR_CMO39x34ImL3NmPjnllVaoEkZXRMQ__sHQ/viewform
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