Team Ontario Takes Bronze at the NCF-Envirothon

From provincial to international competition through the eyes of a participant.

By Diya Rangrej (team captain)

My first exposure to Forests Ontario and Envirothon was in the spring of 2022. My passionate, adamant, environmental science teacher convinced me, and four other unsuspecting classmates, to compete in the Envirothon that year. Ontario’s 2022 Envirothon was a mixture of a regional competition involving iNaturalist challenges and the classic oral presentation prompt for provincials, both being virtual tasks. The virtual competition presented many challenges to my scrappy, impromptu team. We placed 14th in the 2022 provincials, causing me to vow to never compete in the Ontario Envirothon again.

Come spring 2023, I caved and broke the vow I made the prior year. At the very last minute, I put a team together knowing that I could perform better than I had in the previous year. I was determined not to replicate my past mistakes. I guess my environmental science teacher really got to me, and months later, our combined efforts (with one too many lunch period study sessions) paid off and we were first in the province. While juggling the culmination of my semester with exam preparation and final projects, I was filling forms for my team’s participation in the NCF-Envirothon*. 

The NCF-Envirothon was an insightful, well-put together event held at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. The university campus and sites we visited for training, testing, and free time were stunning. I realized my receptiveness to the competition testing material when I found myself applying the knowledge I acquired through Envirothon to a range of activities we partook in. My teammates would be hiking through a forest and stopping to identify a tree or picking up a rock to figure out how it was formed. There was even a trading session on the first day that helped me connect with the other teams and collect meaningful souvenirs, items that I look at now and reminisce about the eventful week. My team and I also traveled to Halifax to sightsee for a couple of days before heading back home to Ontario – two days well spent! If you ever happen to find yourself on the East Coast, some of my Maritime favourites were Peggy’s Cove, Polly’s Cove, and Irving Nature Park (NB). 

I still cannot believe the progress my team has made. I can still remember huddling with my team, holding our hands and our breaths, as the supervisors of the provincial event announced the winners of the testing. The moment when our team was announced as the first-place testers, we all screamed with joy. Just two months later, we had the same exact reaction when we were announced as one of the top-three teams in the NCF-Envirothon competition.

Going into the NCF-Envirothon, I had no idea what to expect from the other teams and the level of competition. I was delighted to connect with passionate people my age and deepen my understanding of our environment. To be specific, applicable understanding of the environment and its relevant industries. I truly feel grateful to many parties for the progress my team has made: Forests Ontario for covering the extensive registration fees; York Region District School Board (my school district) for making the competition accessible to me and my school; and most of all, my environmental science teacher for her ardour and outspokenness, something I truly admire.

From the lunch periods my team and I spent studying and practicing our oral presentation, to the night I didn’t get to sleep until 1:00 a.m. during provincials after preparing the oral presentation component of the competition, to the fanatic note taking in preparation for testing, everything I have done for Envirothon has only increased my dedication to the competition. There is truly no beating that feeling of accomplishment when your hard work pays off, especially when your fellow competitors are working just as hard. I stand here, looking back at where my team and I started, and I am only exhilarated to think about what our future may hold for us.

*NCF-Envirothon is an international environmental and natural resource conservation problem-solving, teambuilding and leadership experience and competition for high school students.

Team Ontario from Markville Secondary School holding their trophy.