DAN CEARNS The Standard
SCUGOG: Scugog author, and longtime nature columnist for The Standard, Geoff Carpentier has won the 2020 Carl Nunn Media and Conservation Award. The award is provided by Ontario Nature and, according to a letter, is given “to individuals or media outlets that engage in effective communication on one or more conservation issues.” “Your extensive writing on conservation issues through authoring multiple books, magazine articles, and nature columns on a wide variety of topics makes you very deserving of this award,” read a letter sent to Mr. Carpentier from Ontario Nature. In a CV sent to The Standard by Mr. Carpentier, he describes himself as “a specialist and expert on birds and mammals, with a particular interest in local nesting and migrating birds in the Kawarthas and nearby areas including Durham Region.” “While ornithology is my primary interest, I am well versed in all aspects of Ontario’s flora and fauna and have more than 50 years of experience in the field,” read Mr. Carpentier’s CV. He told The Standard he was pleased and surprised when he learned he had won this award in late June. “I didn’t know that I had been nominated, so it came literally out of the blue. It was very pleasing, because often when you do a lot of volunteer work, or try to share information, you don’t often get feedback and so it was nice to have something positive, some appreciation for some of the stuff you try to do.” Mr. Carpentier later learned it was North Durham Nature, a group he has been a part of, that nominated him. “Hopefully some people have learned some stuff because of the time I’ve spent writing,” he said. For Mr. Carpentier, the inspiration to write about nature and conservation started when he was enrolled in the University of Guelph for zoology and biological sciences. “A lot of what you do is getting entrenched in scientific articles when you go to university. So I think my interest was kind of sparked there about writing in general, but specifically about something scientific. When I graduated, it was more fulfilling to me to write articles for the general public, as opposed to writing scientific articles all the time,” he said. Mr. Carpentier talked about what he likes about writing. “Part of it is, I want to try to share what I know, and I want to try to get people interested in helping out. When I do a column, there’s usually something that sparks my interest in the immediate past, I’m out and I see something. Then I wonder if someone would want to learn more about that. For me, here’s something right now that’s happening out there, I would like to share that with some people and teach them a little bit about it, so they could literally go out the door and maybe have the same experience or a similar experience.”