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About the event leader
Mary Gartshore, an Honours BSc. Zoology graduate (Guelph ’73), has led field research in West Africa and Canada. In Norfolk, she and Peter Carson restored over 700 ha through native plant propagation. She has advised on major restoration projects, served on conservation boards, and authored 50+ publications. Mary brings deep expertise in biodiversity, ecological restoration, and land protection to Long Point Basin Land Trust.
About Spring Arbour Farms Nature Reserve
In 1990, Ken McMullen and Joan Shirlow bought an exhausted farm and immediately began regenerating it into an organic fruit and vegetable farm. They planted windbreaks, removed decades of garbage, created buffer zones with native plants around the Venison Creek valley, and remediated the soil. To fulfill their desire for Spring Arbour Farm to become a nature reserve, Joan donated a significant portion of the property in memory of Ken. Their legacy of environmental and humanitarian dedication lives on in Long Point Basin Land Trust’s acquisition and stewardship of the property.
Learn more about this nature reserve.