Brian and I glanced at each other nervously, then raised our binoculars back to our eyes and continued scanning the horizon. Nothing. We had been dropped off in the middle of a vast black spruce bog in Wood Buffalo National Park. We were to have lunch while our helicopter pilot flew back to the fuel...

Jasper National Park confirmed at least 34 caribou in the Tonquin Valley but did not spot any members of the Brazeau herd during aerial surveys in the fall.  Biologists collecting caribou scat // Parks Canada Biologists did, however, find tracks and scat of the Brazeau animals; remote wildlife camer...

I was driving on a snowy Maligne Road a number of years ago—one of those crisp winter days that make you glad you live in Jasper—when I spied a set of wolf tracks crossing the road. I stopped for a better look, and I had just crouched down to look at the tracks when I heard howling nearby. In my min...

They say good things come in threes, which explains the trio of jam-packed, star-studded, can’t-miss-it festival weekends that make up this year’s Jasper Dark Sky Festival. The celestial celebration runs from October 13 to 29, spanning three weekends. If you're a fan of all things astro or simply lo...

For those of you who enjoy wishing on a star, October is a double-header for meteor showers, which means twice as much fun for meteorite lovers in Jasper Dark Sky Preserve this Fall. While you can see a few solid streaks of light in the skies above Jasper throughout the year, the prime wish-making e...

The Dark Sky Festival is 13 years old in 2023—young in astronomical terms, sure, but as far as science festivals go, that’s light years of hard work. Jasper’s Niki Wilson has been with the event since it was just a nebula. As the Dark Sky Festival’s science content advisor and festival host, she hel...

A few years ago, I was helping Jasper National Park’s conservation biologist, Brenda Shepherd, conduct a survey for Black Swifts at Athabasca Falls. Black Swifts nest in canyons and even behind waterfalls. They leave the nest before sun up and don’t return until nightfall. Surveying for Black Swifts...