The YCI Innovators, a Climate Futures Lab team in Halifax, are a group of youth passionate about native species conservation. Lucien, Aiden, Ashlyn and Tara put their knowledge and unique skills together to raise awareness and donations for Atlantic whitefish conservation efforts.
Atlantic whitefish are a critically endangered species, only found in the Petite Rivière Watershed in Nova Scotia. Their populations have been severely impacted by overfishing, ecosystem degradation, loss of genetic diversity and competition from invasive bass and salmon population. Seeing this crisis, YCI Innovators decided to encourage public action and awareness by creating a digital art mural, unique and informative posters and made scientific information and research readily available to the public.
With their passion for art, the team created a beautiful mural displaying Atlantic whitefish in their native habitat. The mural was displayed for three weeks at the Halifax Central Library along with information and resources. To complement the mural, the team created vintage-style Atlantic whitefish posters, drawing inspiration from antique book illustrations. The team sold their posters and stickers on Etsy, raising over $1000 CAD for conservation efforts conducted by Coastal Action, a local organization focused on ecosystem conservation. The team’s efforts created ripples in their community and they were even interviewed by The Signal, a local student newspaper.
The YCI Innovators team reached out to and was supported by the municipality of Lunenberg, a town close to native Atlantic whitefish habitat, and by the team at Dalhousie University who are making strides in research efforts. The team plans to continue their awareness campaign by installing plaques at Lunenburg trailheads.
“I know they don’t look like much. I know they just look like a fish. A big part of this project is making these ordinary organisms look more exciting. There’s more to them than meets the eye.”
– Aidan, YCI Innovators
Learn more about the YCI Innovators and their conservation efforts by visiting their Linktree.
YCI’s Climate Futures Lab is funded by Canada Service Corps, a national movement that empowers youth to gain experience and build important skills while giving back to their community. Learn more at Canada.ca/CanadaServiceCorps.