To Begin ...

The Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill* is a 350 hectare parcel of land on the Oak Ridges Moraine, donated to the University of Toronto by Drs. Murray and Marvelle Koffler in 1995. The University has established a field research and study centre for biodiversity, ecology, and conservation biology on the property. It is a beautiful place.

                           This photograph of the pond was taken by Jenny Kerber.

KSR is about an hour’s drive north of my home in Toronto, and I’m delighted that, beginning this month, I will have the privilege of spending a few days a week living there. My involvement with the Reserve came about because I wanted writing space out of the city. Last spring I met with Dr. Art Weis, the Reserve’s Director. He told me that, once the summer programs were over, a small house would be available for rent.

Though the Koffler’s prime mandate is to support its scientific research and study projects, it also supports the arts in whatever ways it can—even choosing a director whose name is Art...  Art wondered if I was interested in being involved with the Reserve, and indeed I am. The upshot of our conversation is that I will be the first participant in the Jokers Hill Artist-in-Residence Program. Art has asked that I give a reading at the Reserve some time this fall, and offer a workshop in the spring. I have some ideas of my own for the Residency, this blog being one of them. 

I’m very excited about growing a connection to Jokers Hill. In Field Notes: Jokers Hill I will be writing about my explorations and discoveries there—land, light, weather, birds, plants and other inhabitants, as well as people and their activities. I want to come to understand the Reserve as a place with history and meaning, one that has been and is important to many people.

My thanks to Art Weis for inviting me in, and to Ann Zimmerman, the first Director of the Reserve, for making the connection.

*To learn more about the Reserve go to its website:  (http://ksr.utoronto.ca) There you’ll find a list of the impressive variety and quantity of research being carried on, as well as species lists, maps, and public activities, a photo gallery, and history.