The vacant courtyard outside Dalhousie’s Life Sciences Centre will soon be a vibrant educational garden, lush with a unique display of Nova Scotia’s natural bio-diversity.

Organized into sections to represent the eight ecoregions of Nova Scotia, the new Dalhousie Outdoor Ecolab will showcase native trees, plants, rocks and minerals from across the province, to be leveraged for field study, traditional labs and lectures.

Spotlight on Nova Scotia’s bio-diversity

The project’s roots can be traced back to former biology department chair Dr. Bill Freedman, who spent the last years of his life populating his lawn at his South Street property with over 100 native plant species from across Atlantic Canada. As a continuation of Dr. Freedman’s initiative, the Ecolab will serve as a living lab for students, a public spotlight on the benefits of organic agricultural practices and an ode to the province’s natural bio-diversity.

“By introducing invasive species, insects, pesticides and pathogens into our ecosystem, we’ve done serious, often irreparable harm to our native ecology,” explains Dr. Freedman’s widow, George Anne Merrill. Merrill, now selling the South Street home following Dr. Freedman’s passing in 2015, has arranged to transfer the garden to form the beginning of the new Ecolab, where it will pay tribute to her husband’s work and inspire the next generation of students, faculty and beyond.

“By bringing the province’s bio-and geo-diversity to campus, this naturalized landscape will create an experiential learning space for various disciplines like biology, environmental science and geology,” says ecology professor Dr. Allison Schmidt, the visionary behind the initiative.

A unique sanctuary

In addition to being leveraged for field study, the Ecolab will provide a unique sanctuary for all students to enjoy, whether studying, having coffee between classes, or attending an outdoor lecture. Educational signage and pathways will also be installed, encouraging self-guided tours for both Dalhousie students and the general public alike.

“As an open public space, the Ecolab will have an impact on the wider Dalhousie community, as well as the Halifax community as a whole,” explains Dr. Schmidt. “Local schools, non-profit and government organizations may use the space for educational purposes, folks will wander in while walking their dogs, and a whole new appreciation for our province’s complex geology and natural ecosystems will be inspired.”

Realizing the vision

There is still much work to be done to transform the Ecolab vision into a reality, from transporting Dr. Freedman’s garden and purchasing additional native plants, through to the construction of a research-grade weather station and bringing in large rock specimens. Dr. Freedman’s living legacy on campus is set to be complete in late 2018.

Please make a gift if you want to support the Dalhousie Outdoor Ecolab.