The Biodiversity Guild
Welcome to the Guild
Why a guild? Ecologically speaking, a guild is defined as "A group of diverse species, especially animal species, that occupy a common niche in a given community, characterized by utilization of environmental resources in the same way". The Biodiversity Guild is a place where environmentally active students can collaborate and play together, and hopefully make this world a little greener as a result.
What Does the Guild Do?
The group focuses on education and action centred around biocentric issues, especially those concerning threatened or endangered species and habitats. We address ecological issues on any scale, from local/regional up to the global scale.
The Biodiversity Guild spearheads several fundraising ventures for causes such as the World Wildlife Foundation's "Adopt an Animal" program, and the Georgian Bay Islands National Park Land Trust. We were able to raise the money to adopt an emporer penguin through the WWF by giving penguin pins as donation gifts, so our donors could keep a "piece of the penguin" they helped adopt. Our other funds were mainly raised through the sale of environmentally friendly jute bags, and by organizing charity field trips (last year we went to Wellington Brewery). These fundraising ventures have continued into this school year, in addition to some new ones, such as the sale of small potted plants, and the prospect of some sort of "Green Carnival" in the winter semester.
We also host events to raise awareness regarding environmental issues. Last year, we conducted a workshop at the Global Citizenship Conference regarding the ecological implications of the Millenium Villages project. We also hosted an evening with Hamilton's own writer/environmentalist Kay Chornook. This year, we are already preparing a workshop for the Peace Conference happening this November, regarding environmental justice in Ontario. We also aspire for our outreach to go past the university campus, and get involved with some of the local high schools.
Interested in Getting Involved?
If you have any questions you'd like to ask, ideas you'd like to share, or would just like to be added to our mailing list, please drop us a line at biodivguild@gmail.com. We'll also let you know when and where our next general meeting will be; they (usually) occur every other Wednesday at 6pm.