Celebrating Conservation Champions: Honouring the 2024 Lieutenant-Governor’s Award Recipients
Celebrating Conservation Champions
HONOURING THE 2024 LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR’S AWARD RECIPIENTS
WRITTEN BY JON MACNEILL, COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Somewhere in the shade of a spruce-lined trail, a group of new volunteers kneels around a forest map, learning how to monitor a boundary line. Walter Emrich, compass in hand, walks them through the steps — pointing out trail features, flagging subtle signs of wildlife, and passing along decades of quiet wisdom. There’s laughter, a bit of mud, and the unmistakable feeling of being part of something that matters.
A few hundred kilometres away, deep in a protected natural area, the hum of discovery is in the air. BiotaNB is underway — the New Brunswick Museum’s immersive “bioblitz” field camp. Scientists, students, artists, and community members gather in canvas tents and field labs, cataloguing every living thing they can find. At the centre of it all are Dr. Donald McAlpine and Dr. Stephen Clayden — guiding, teaching, and opening eyes to the richness of New Brunswick’s biodiversity. Back at the Museum, Dr. Randy Miller prepares to receive the specimens — ensuring each is carefully preserved, catalogued, and stored as part of the province’s natural legacy.
Different landscapes. Different tools. But the same mission: connecting people with nature, in ways that leave a lasting impact.
That shared spirit is what made this year’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation ceremony at Government House on Thursday, May 8, 2025, so special. We were proud to honour those whose work has not only protected land — but brought people into it.
Walter Emrich and the Natural History Department of the New Brunswick Museum (represented by Dr. McAlpine, Dr. Clayden, and Dr. Miller) have spent decades getting people involved in conservation, one outing, one field guide, one moment of wonder at a time.
A Legacy of Leadership: Walter Emrich
Walter Emrich at the Keiko & Errol Nature Preserve on Ross Island.
For more than two decades, Walter Emrich has been a guiding force in the Nature Trust’s mission to protect New Brunswick’s most cherished natural spaces. What began in 2001 as a volunteer land steward role quickly evolved into a lifelong contribution to conservation. Walter has played nearly every role possible within the Nature Trust — from hands-on trail building and forest health monitoring to strategic leadership as a long-serving board member, acquisition committee member, and treasurer.
Behind the titles, Walter is the kind of volunteer who never stops giving. He’s the one out on the trail, noticing a broken footbridge and quietly organizing a team to rebuild it — using reclaimed rope and dock boards that washed ashore during a storm. He’s the one paddling alongside first-time kayakers during a cleanup, guiding them safely through shifting winds and waves while hauling marine debris back to shore with a steady calm and a quiet smile.
His impact is etched across more than 40 nature preserves and thousands of protected acres — not just in the land he’s helped secure and care for, but in the volunteers and staff he’s mentored along the way. As one former staff member, Bethany Pohl, shared, “Walter is a supportive mentor and friend. He makes sure that everyone is engaged and learning on a trip — and most importantly, that everyone is safe. I still remember that paddle back from L’Etang Islands Nature Preserve, waves smashing over our bows, and Walter shouting encouragement through the wind. We made it back with jello arms and big smiles.”
Walter’s steady hand and innovative mind have helped shape the very way we do conservation. He pioneered policies around boundary line monitoring, championed the use of remote sensing to identify stewardship challenges early, and laid the groundwork for volunteer training programs that continue to grow today.
“Walter has been a cornerstone of the Nature Trust’s success,” said Acting CEO Carli le Roux. “His contributions — from strategy to stewardship to mentorship — have strengthened the roots of our organization. This award is a celebration of his tireless work, his integrity, and his deep love for New Brunswick’s natural places.”
Science Meets Story: The New Brunswick Museum’s Natural History Department
It’s rare to find a group of scientists whose work so seamlessly blends rigorous research with public inspiration. But for decades, that’s exactly what Drs. Don McAlpine, Stephen Clayden, and Randy Miller have achieved through their leadership at the New Brunswick Museum’s Natural History Department.
Dr. Donald McAlpine bat counting at White Cave, Albert County, NB, April 2014. Photo credit: Karen Vanderwolf
As individuals, each has brought a remarkable depth of expertise. Together, they’ve shaped how we understand — and protect — the natural history of New Brunswick.
Dr. Clayden and Dr. McAlpine helped lay the scientific foundation for New Brunswick’s Protected Natural Areas Act, using decades of fieldwork and species documentation to help identify ecologically significant areas across the province. Their work has been instrumental in ensuring that New Brunswick’s protected areas represent the true diversity of its landscapes and ecosystems — from the bogs and barrens of the north to the Acadian forests of the south.
Their efforts extend far beyond policy. Since 2009, the Museum’s BiotaNB project — an intensive biological inventory of New Brunswick’s largest protected areas — has brought together hundreds of scientists, students, artists, and volunteers. These week-long field camps aren’t just about collecting specimens; they’re about building community, sparking curiosity, and training the next generation of conservationists.
And behind every plant pressed, every insect catalogued, and every fossil uncovered, is the steady curatorial leadership of Dr. Randy Miller. As head of geology and palaeontology, Dr. Miller led the curation of over 50,000 specimens and was the driving force behind the Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark, the first of its kind in North America. This groundbreaking initiative brought international recognition to New Brunswick’s unique geological features — and wove together conservation, community engagement, and sustainable tourism. Randy’s efforts ensured not just the protection of extraordinary geological sites, but also public access and pride in them.
The Fern Ledges is a notable Saint John fossil site that has been known since the 19th Century. Miller collected at the site, building on the work of some of Canada’s pioneer paleontologists who worked the site previously.
As a team, the department has curated and safeguarded an irreplaceable scientific archive — one that fuels policy, education, and discovery. Their collections have informed land acquisition decisions by conservation groups, including the Nature Trust, and their guidance has been freely shared with landowners, students, and community members alike.
“As I see it, this award gives welcome recognition to the New Brunswick Museum’s ongoing role in biodiversity and land conservation,” said Dr. Clayden. “The Natural History Department is not only an archive of collections, but also a centre for original research, discovery, and public education... It is an incubator for curiosity, expertise, and attachment to the natural world.”
Kendra Driscoll and Dr. Stephen Clayden crossing the Nepisiguit River in the Nepisiguit Protected Natural Area. Kendra works in the Department of Natural History at the museum, where she's the Curatorial and Research Assistant in Botany and Mycology. Photo credit: Dr. Donald McAlpine
And that impact continues to ripple outward. The scientists trained by Don, Stephen, and Randy are now leading biodiversity research, training volunteers, and supporting land conservation efforts across the province. Their legacy lives not only in the specimens and publications they’ve created — but in the people they’ve inspired to look closer, go deeper, and care more.
“The contributions of Don, Stephen, and Randy have shaped the very foundation of how we understand and protect nature in this province,” said le Roux. “They’ve helped ensure that science, education, and conservation go hand in hand — and they’ve done it with generosity, humility, and a deep love for New Brunswick’s wild places.”
A shared vision for the future
Whether through a microscope, a kayak, or a trail-building project, the recipients of the 2024 Lieutenant-Governors Award for Excellence in Land Conservation remind us that protecting land is as much about people as it is about place. It’s about mentorship, memory, and passing something meaningful on to the next generation.
We’re grateful to Walter, Don, Stephen, and Randy for the gifts they’ve given New Brunswick — and proud to celebrate their legacy.
About the award
The Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation was established in 2012 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Nature Trust of New Brunswick. It is presented annually by the Honourary Patron of the Nature Trust, Lieutenant Governor Louise Imbeault. Previous recipients of the award include Mary Majka, the Meduxnekeag River Association, Roberta Clowater and Don Dennison, Bill Jones, Jim Goltz, Owen and Sheila Washburn, Jessie Davies, and Sentinelles Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, Wayne Burley, and Dr. C. Mary Young.
Inspired to make a difference?
Learn more about the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation and how you can support the Nature Trust’s mission. Whether by volunteering your time, exploring opportunities to protect nature, or signing up for our newsletter to stay informed, there’s a way for everyone to contribute. Together, we can ensure New Brunswick’s natural legacy endures for generations.