A Professional Master’s Degree?
Part three of five of my Master of Environmental Science Series. There are two types of master’s degrees: course-based (or professional) and thesis-based. A course-based master’s is often one to two years in length, focusing on preparing students for a career. A thesis-based master’s focuses on conducting original research on an area of study. The…
My Move to Toronto
Part two of five of my Master of Environmental Science Series. I first visited Toronto back in 2015. I had no idea that I would find myself living in Toronto for a year less than five years later while completing my master’s degree. I have lived most of my life in Calgary, and I can…
Opportunities Are For Those Who Are Prepared
New year, new blog post! I’ve been away from my blog for a while, but I’m ready to start writing again! Before taking a hiatus from blog writing, I had mapped out a 5 part blog series on my Master of Environmental Science journey. This is part one of that series and focuses on my…
Tips for Eco-friendly Gift Giving
It feels weird that it is already the holiday season! This year has been incredibly slow at times, but it has flown by as well! This holiday season (and moving forward), I want to be more conscious of the environment through meaningful gift-giving and gift wrapping. I encourage you to do the same if gift-giving…
Fieldwork Essentials
It has been a while since I have conducted any fieldwork. I miss it often! But given that it’s currently cold here in Canada, I am not quite sure I want to be conducting fieldwork at this time of year anyway! I thought I would reminisce on my fieldwork days with today’s blog post. Before…
Being a Conscious Consumer
In last week’s blog post, I talked about Buy Nothing Day and being a conscious consumer. I thought that this week’s blog post would be a continuation, especially since I had a few questions and reactions to my previous blog post. In that blog post, I posed four questions to help you become a more conscious…
Buy Nothing Day
Since I have been stuck at home more often than not this past year, I have taken the time to declutter my living space. I have lived in this house for over 20 years, and items have accumulated during those years. While cleaning, I found expired vitamins, unused notebooks, and unworn clothing, among many other…
Golf Courses and Biodiversity
I took the above photo while walking my dog a couple of weeks ago. Do you notice anything interesting about the picture? The golf course is the only area that is still green. All vegetation outside the golf course has changed to brown since it is almost winter. My uncle is an avid golfer, so…
Ethical Wildlife Photography
I recently wrote a short post on my Instagram (@christinesong.ca) about ethical wildlife photography inspired by the above picture. I thought that it would be a good idea to write this blog post so I can discuss more about the importance of ethical wildlife photography. When I was interning as a monkey field researcher for…
Is Recycling a Sham?
Many recently published articles and a conversation with a close friend inspired today’s blog post. In the news, I have noticed a few articles that claim recycling is not as effective as we have been led to believe. My close friend shared one of these articles with me, which sparked a conversation about the effectiveness…
Tips for Birding Beginners
Here are some beginner birding tips written by a beginner birder… Me! I recently completed a bird taxonomy course as part of my master’s degree, which included a mandatory 20 hours of bird watching. I never paid much attention to birds before this course. Of course, I can identify obvious birds like common mallards and…
Recycle Your Old Electronics
Two recent events inspire today’s blog in my life: My old computer finally gave out after using it for over seven years. I bought it in my first year of undergrad, and it handled all the work I needed it to do through my undergraduate and master’s degrees. At the end of its life, the…
Trial & Error: From Veterinary Medicine to Conservation
My relatives told me that when I was younger, I would crawl around chasing my aunt’s puppy and I would cry if I wasn’t able to hold her. From as long as I could remember, I would always blow candles out on my birthday and wish for my own puppy. Like most animal lovers, the…
My Very First Blog Post!
Welcome to my website and my very first blog post! As you probably already know, I’m Christine, and I am a Master of Environmental Science Candidate at the University of Toronto who loves animals, all things nature-related, and baked goods. I have a few reasons for wanting to start this blog: 1. I want to…
Christine Song 