Joggins Fossil Cliffs Image - Classic View

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

This is a classic view along the cliffs late in the afternoon, when the sun casts a peachy glow on the dramatically stratified layers of the cliffs, which stand sentry against the Bay of Fundy tides, the highest in the world.

Who will be the new faces of Team Orange?

We recently attended the Summer Student Career Fair in Halifax and were thrilled at the response we experienced from summer students excited about the prospects of employment at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs over the summer.

We apply for both provincial and federal funding schemes, which enable not for profit organisations such as ours to enance our summer compliment of staff with some fantastic students.

The scheme offers an excellent opportunity for students to gain experience in their chosen field and for employers to get the most enthusiastic candidates on staff.

We are very impressed with the calibre of students who have applied this year and so begins the long process of shortlisting and selection. You can be sure that who ever we select, will have a great summer. Who wouldn't want to spend their time walking on the beach, meeting some very interesting people and spending time in such a supportive and progressive environment?

Why Team Orange? Well, our team are getting recognised everywhere for their orange shirts and everyone is proud to wear them. Orange is a great colour to heighten visibility of staff on the beach and within the centre.

Good luck to everyone who applied. There is an orange shirt awaiting the chosen few...

CNTA Attraction of the Year

On Friday evening, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were presented with another award from the provincial tourism industry.

The CNTA (Central Nova Tourism Association) bestowed upon us the Attraction of the Year Award.

The awards, which followed the CNTA's Annual Conference, were an intimate affair, thanks to yet another winter snow storm, which kept some attendants away. The conference had some fantastic speakers on the itinerary and we were reminded of the value of Social Media, such as our blog, in inspiring discussion and dialogue, in engaging you the public and in receiving feedback and suggestions.

We are incredibly proud to win this award and thank both the CNTA and the people who nominated us.

It is a strange category for us. Indeed we are an attraction, but we are so much more than that too. We are educators, conservators, interpretors, international ambassadors and heritage managers. The site would exist even if we weren't there in our fantastic visitor centre, but would visitors understand it? Would its significance be appreciated? Probably not, which underlines the value in promoting the site as an attraction.

Thanks CNTA, we appreciate your support.

Earth Day - 58 days and counting

We opened for our first season last year on Earth Day, 22nd April.

It seemed a fitting day to open the greenest building in Atlantic Canada and to raise awareness about the environment. It also seemed appropriate for us to establish a regular calendar of our own, which ties our season into existing national and international calendar events.

As already mentioned, this year is Darwin 200 and hylonomus 150, which we shall be celebrating with a number of events and festivals but we are also investigating other notable dates and events, which we too can celebrate in our own way.

For example, did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and where better to see the stars, than from right here in Joggins? where there is no light pollution and the celestials are glorious in the massive expanse of sky above the Bay of Fundy.

2009 is also the US Year of Science (with a heavy focus upon evolution) and this year is also the International Year of Natural Fibers and of Reconciliation. Not sure how we can tie into those but perhaps there are some of you reading this who might be inspired. Here are some other worthy dates for your diary:

• 22nd May is the International Day of Biodiversity.
• 4th July is the International Day of Cooperatives
• 7th July is one year since the inscription of Joggins onto the World Heritage List
• 20th September is the International Day of Peace

We are still working on our calendar of events (which will be posted on our website of course) but the date to remember at the moment is 22nd April 2009, Earth Day, when the Joggins Fossil Centre opens its doors once again for the season.