This Quarter at Trebek
Issue #4
| June 23, 2025
TREBEK FOLLOWS
THE FISH
IN THIS ISSUE:
As climate change, industry, and invasive species put growing pressure on Canada’s rivers and lakes, Trebek Grantees are tracking the impacts where they appear first, in the water. These stories reveal how changes in water and biodiversity can ripple across ecosystems.
EXPLORE TREBEK’S 2024 IMPACT REPORT: The 2024 report includes an update on four impactful Trebek projects happening across Canada. From cultural burning to ocean monitoring, it outlines how science, Indigenous knowledge, and storytelling are helping restore ecosystems, shape policy, and support community-led conservation.
TREBEK FOLLOWS THE FISH: Trebek Grantees are uncovering the forces reshaping Canada’s waters. Nick Hawkins follows the resilient migration of Atlantic salmon from inland rivers to Greenland’s fjords,Dalal Hanna tracks how forestry alters freshwater health in streams, and Yvonne Drebert documents the invasive mussels transforming the Great Lakes.
2025 PROJECTS ANNOUNCED: Six new voices join a growing network of 45 Trebek Grantees working across Canada. This year’s work spans deep-sea exploration, community-led polar bear research, warming tides in the Bay of Fundy, human-wolf coexistence, freshwater turtle recovery, and new science to track salmon health.
WHERE IS TREBEK ACTIVE? Since 2021, Trebek has supported 45 projects—22 completed, 23 ongoing—led by Canadian researchers, conservationists, scientists, and storytellers working across Land, Water, Wildlife, and History & Culture.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Each issue of This Quarter at Trebek takes you into the field with our Grantees, tracking wildfires, restoring wildlife corridors, following disappearing ice, and protecting Canada’s waters. Catch up on the stories and discoveries shaping the future of conservation across the country.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Join National Geographic Explorers across Canada for a live speaker series that features immersive storytelling and unforgettable insights. From ancient queens to wild seas and close-up encounters with elusive wildlife, these events bring science, culture, and conservation to life on stage.
TREBEK FOLLOWS THE FISH
What’s Happening Beneath The Surface And Why It Matters
Canada's fish are under stress from the Atlantic to the Pacific and into inland headwaters. Warming waters, habitat loss, and industrial impacts are reshaping the ecosystems they rely on. These Trebek Grantees are on the front lines, helping salmon recover, restoring habitats, and revealing how upstream actions shape life downstream.
2024 Trebek Grantee
Nick Hawkins
Atlantic Salmon: The Fight to Survive
Atlantic salmon once returned to rivers in the hundreds of thousands. Today, many runs have nearly vanished, but local efforts to restore them are building awareness and support.
Nick Hawkins is documenting their full migration from Canadian headwaters to Greenland’s fjords, using drones, underwater ROVs, and custom camera systems to capture moments of beauty and resilience in this iconic keystone species.
Nick’s work explores the migration of Atlantic salmon and the mounting pressures they face along the way. Warming rivers, habitat loss, and the spread of open-net aquaculture threaten a keystone species with deep cultural and ecological ties to Eastern Canada and many Indigenous communities. Through cinematic storytelling, Nick is building momentum and hope for the recovery of one of Canada’s most iconic fish.
➡️ Dive deeper into Nick’s work: Atlantic Salmon: The Fight to Survive
2024 Trebek Grantee
Dalal Hanna
The Legacy of Logging on Freshwaters
Forestry has long shaped Canada’s landscapes. But what does that impact look like underwater? Dalal Hanna is leading the first national “StreamBlitz” to find out.
Her team is collecting water samples and environmental DNA from 100 rivers and streams to explore how biodiversity and water quality recover decades after timber harvesting.
While the data will inform forestry policy, Dalal’s work goes further, engaging students, communities, and decision-makers through interactive story maps and public events. Her goal is to spark a national conversation about how land use shapes freshwater health and how we can protect it for the future.
➡️ Explore Dalal’s work: The Legacy of Forestry on Freshwaters
2022 Trebek Grantee
Yvonne Drebert
All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are undergoing a quiet transformation. Quadrillions of invasive quagga mussels filter the water, leading to unprecedented clarity but disrupting the food web.
Filmmaker Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick capture this phenomenon in the documentary All Too Clear: Beneath the Surface of the Great Lakes.
The film uses cutting-edge underwater drones to explore how these tiny invaders transform freshwater ecosystems in ways not seen since the last Ice Age. Yvonne's work highlights the scale of this shift and the urgency of protecting the ecological balance of the Great Lakes.
The documentary is now available to stream on TVO.org
A school of ciscoes. (Photo: Inspired Planet Productions)
THE TREBEK INITIATIVE
2024 IMPACT REPORT
From fire-managed forests to fossil-rich mountains, this year’s report features four powerful stories of science and stewardship.
Trebek Grantees document wildlife corridors to inform regional planning, use AI to protect fisheries, and uncover new dinosaur species that shed light on ecosystems before the last mass extinction 66 million years ago.
Check out our 2024 Impact Report to learn more ➡️
🔽 Explore Trebek’s Past Impact Reports (2021–2023)
The Trebek Initiative is proud to support six new Grantees whose work spans four provinces and some of Canada’s most dynamic ecosystems, including Arctic shorelines, deep-sea habitats, freshwater wetlands, and coastal forests.
Each project reflects a different way of seeing and responding to change. Some are guided by Indigenous leadership and grounded in community priorities, while others draw on emerging science or storytelling to explore environmental challenges. Together, they offer new insight into the pressures facing these lands and the efforts to care for them.
Trebek Has Now Funded 45 Projects Since 2021
2025 PROJECTS ANNOUNCED
NICOLE HOLMAN – Deep-Sea Guardians
Few people ever see the ecosystems that exist thousands of metres below Canada’s Pacific coast. Nicole Holman is helping change that. As the only filmmaker aboard Canada’s largest deep-sea expedition, she’s capturing rare footage of life on the ocean floor, including what may be the world’s fourth-known octopus nursery. Her film aims to bring attention to ocean life that remains largely unprotected.
MITCH BOWMILE - Southern Bears
In Eastern James Bay, Cree communities have begun noticing more polar bears on nearby islands. Mitch Bowmile is working alongside researchers and local leaders to document how the community responds. His film supports efforts to improve safety and guide future regional marine conservation planning.
LIAM BRENNAN – Tides of Change
The Bay of Fundy is warming faster than almost any other ocean region on Earth. As marine species struggle to adapt, photographer Liam Brennan tracks what’s being lost and what remains. His images aim to build public understanding and support Canada’s goal to protect 30 percent of its oceans by 2030.
SAM ROSE PHILLIPS – QʷAYAĆIIK
On Vancouver Island, filmmaker Sam Rose Phillips explores human-wolf coexistence in Nuu-chah-nulth territory. Her documentary, created with the National Film Board of Canada, is rooted in Indigenous leadership and invites reflection on the changing relationship between people and wildlife on the coast.
SAMANTHA J. STEPHENS – Road to Recovery
Across Ontario, freshwater turtles are being hit by cars in alarming numbers. Photographer Samantha Stephens is documenting the people stepping in to help, from roadside rescues to shell repair. Her work captures a growing community working to protect turtle habitats for the long term.
ROBERT MASAKI HECHLER – eRNA and Salmon Health
Salmon face growing stress from warming rivers and shifting ecosystems. In British Columbia, researcher Robert Hechler is piloting the first field test of environmental RNA to detect early signs of strain in wild salmon. Working with Indigenous partners, he’s advancing a promising new tool for conservation science.
WHERE IS TREBEK ACTIVE?
Since 2021, the Trebek Initiative has supported 45 projects across Canada—22 completed, 23 ongoing—led by Canadian researchers, conservationists, scientists, and storytellers. These projects span four focus areas: Land, Water, Wildlife, and History & Culture.
🔽 Scroll below to locate and explore all 45 Trebek-supported projects across Canada.
We publish This Quarter at Trebek to share the impactful stories behind our Grantees’ work and bring their discoveries to a growing network of partners, supporters, and communities across Canada.
Each issue spotlights some of Canada’s most pressing environmental, cultural, and historical challenges. It highlights research-driven and community-led efforts that protect landscapes, wildlife, and heritage while reimagining how we care for them in a rapidly changing world.
🔽 Catch up on our past issues:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
ISSUE #1
ISSUE #2
ISSUE #3
UPCOMING EVENTS
Don’t miss the chance to engage directly with National Geographic through a series of exciting events across Canada, offering unique opportunities to connect with explorers and discover the impactful work being done.
October 15, 2025 | Vancouver, BC
NG Live – Nalini Nadkarni: From Roots to Canopy
Explore the hidden world of forest canopies with ecologist Nalini Nadkarni.
Through years of climbing into treetops across the globe, Nadkarni reveals how these overlooked ecosystems influence everything from biodiversity to climate regulation—and what they teach us about resilience.
November 23-25, 2025 -Toronto, ON
NG Live - Jaime Rojo: Chasing Monarchs
Join National Geographic Explorer and photographer Jaime Rojo as he reveals the extraordinary story of monarch butterfly migration. Through powerful visuals and firsthand reporting, Rojo shares the challenges these iconic pollinators face and the work done by communities, scientists, and citizen stewards to protect them across North America.
Follow @trebekinitiative on Instagram
For more inspiring stories and discoveries from our Trebek Initiative Grantees.
Stay informed about groundbreaking projects led by Trebek Grantees and follow their journey of exploration, innovation, and hope—shedding light on and celebrating Canada’s rich natural and cultural heritage.
THANK YOU
Your commitment fuels our Trebek Grantees’ efforts to make a meaningful impact across Canada —whether they’re discovering solutions to our shared challenges, preserving Canada’s cultural treasures, or inspiring the next generation of scientists, storytellers, and educators.
Together, we’re igniting a passion to preserve across Canada.
