{"id":1997,"date":"2022-12-05T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T11:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ae.opacity.design\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2023-06-01T23:55:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T23:55:40","slug":"suzanne-cards-lifelong-love-of-nature-evolved-into-a-flourishing-career-in-wetland-ecology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/articles\/suzanne-cards-lifelong-love-of-nature-evolved-into-a-flourishing-career-in-wetland-ecology\/","title":{"rendered":"Suzanne Card\u2019s lifelong love of nature evolved into a flourishing career in wetland ecology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From a young age, Suzanne Card<\/strong> enjoyed being in nature with her family, whether she was camping, hunting, or exploring. She continues to emulate her father\u2019s respect and love for nature, and credits him as the biggest influence in her life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In elementary school, she attended a presentation by Ducks Unlimited<\/a> and was intrigued by the idea of being able to work in nature. Suzanne reflects, \u201cIt is fun to think back on how something so simple can impact the trajectory of one\u2019s life.\u201d Later, she worked with Ducks Unlimited as a junior ecologist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzanne also acknowledges early mentors (Rhonda McDougal, Tom Goddard, and Tony Brierley) who helped shape her career. She says, \u201cThey saw something in me that I wasn\u2019t able to see in myself.\u201d Their belief in her gave Suzanne the confidence to pursue a career in science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an ambitious young professional, Suzanne maintained an open mind and jumped at opportunities that came her way. In addition, she was never afraid of doing the \u201chard things\u201d, both physically and mentally. While working for Ducks Unlimited, she ran a carbon sequestration study with many responsibilities and unknowns, but Suzanne was up to the task. In her first job after graduate school, Suzanne worked in the field for weeks at a time, in all types of weather, digging soil pits in challenging terrain. She advises young scientists, \u201cIt\u2019s important to splurge on a good pair of boots and a good cruise vest; they will save you in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After deciding to pursue a career in wetland ecology, Suzanne knew that she wanted to work with the best. She shares, \u201cI saw Kristen Andersen\u2018<\/a>s [Associated\u2019s Technical Specialist, Wetlands & Restoration] presentation at a wetland conference. I met her and Sandra Meidinger<\/a> [Associated\u2019s Division Manager, Environmental in Alberta North], and I knew that I wanted to work with them. They are passionate and focused on quality and client service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suzanne tells us that her most memorable experiences have been on wetland replacement projects involving municipal clients and Alberta\u2019s Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas<\/a>. For Suzanne, putting wild places and wetlands back on the landscape is very motivating!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking in wetland ecology means constantly operating in a grey world, where answers are not necessarily black and white. We must always think about what the client\u2019s needs are, what is the right thing to do, and what is required from a regulatory perspective.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Manager of the Applied Ecology<\/a> group in Edmonton, Suzanne shares, \u201cIt has been very fulfilling for me to apply my technical and project management skills and lead this wonderful team.\u201d As a leader, Suzanne follows a philosophy centered around care, reliability, sincerity, and competence. She credits this approach to helping her become a better leader. Suzanne also believes in mentoring, passing on knowledge, and helping those around her to reach their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn consulting, I have discovered my true passion. I focus on wetland ecology, which combines vegetation, soils, and hydrology.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of work, Suzanne loves to read and travel.\u00a0 She combines her travels with her interest in sharks, through diving and snorkeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Suzanne has volunteered with the SPCA <\/a>over the years, and as a teacher for a wetland delineation course through the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension<\/a>, supporting her community and future generations of wetland ecologists. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suzanne is a wetland ecologist and soil scientist with extensive experience in soils, ecosite, weeds and rare plant assessments, as well as wetland and vegetation ecology, including wetland delineation and classification.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,117,19,64,118],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-ecologist","tag-ecology","tag-ready-for-review","tag-staff-profile","tag-suzanne-card"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ae.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}