The Mary Stuart Education Award was established to recognize members, non-members or organizations for their outstanding achievements in the field of natural history education in the Ottawa Region.

The award for 2009 is presented to the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre (OCWC) and its president, Donna DuBreuil, for their efforts to educate people about wildlife and to help foster an appreciation for the natural world as well as to give people the basic tools to solve human/wildlife conflicts in a humane and cost-effective way.

First and foremost, this award recognizes the Centre's successful Wildlife Education School Program, launched some years ago to help children take the first crucial steps in conservation, coexisting and appreciating wildlife in their own backyard. This education program is both unique in providing a presence in Ottawa area classrooms (from grades Junior Kindergarten to eight) and exceptionally timely in its mission to reconnect children to the natural world. A large part of the program's success results from the special perspective that Centre takes into classrooms. Not only are Donna DuBreuil and Kate MacNeil, the Education Coordinator, passionate about wildlife but they also have firsthand experience gained during years of doing wildlife rehabilitation. Their personal accounts of amazing animal stories intrigue students and help them relate to wildlife.

Second, this award recognizes the outstanding efforts of the OCWC and Donna and Gary DuBreuil to raise awareness of the general public and city officials as well, on the premise that many instances of human/wildlife conflict can be avoided if there is a better understanding and appreciation for wildlife so that actions are taken to mitigate the impact of development and human encroachment into wildlife habitat.

They maintain an informative wildlife website on how to deal with wildlife problems, and produce an informative newsletter available in hard copy and on their website. They work with individuals and community groups to resolve situations of conflict with wildlife, as for example, working with the Graham Creek community on problem beaver. Our club has also sought advice from the OCWC -- when a young beaver turned up in the Amphibian Pond at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden and began cutting trees, making a dam and a bank burrow, we were not sure how to deal with this situation for various reasons. Donna provided a lot of support, valuable help, and information.

Donna writes many articles on wildlife in Ottawa community newspapers. Donna with The Greenbelt Coalition is working to raise awareness of City of Ottawa officials on the need for a comprehensive wildlife strategy focused on development planning and public education as a necessary component in the face of urban development which continues to move out into wildlife habitat, and that community consultation needs to be part of its development to educate new rural dwellers on wildlife around their new homes.