It’s the official #ThankYouPatrons day around the world, and we’d like to thank our amazing Patreon supporters for making Nature Labs possible.

In fact, today marks a HUGE milestone for us. We’ve now wrapped production on Nature Labs (with one major exception of having to finish documenting our main character, Mount Robson’s most iconic grizzly bear: Chocolate) and will move on to post-production for the project.

Aldonna, Alice, Aly, Arika, Candace, Clive & Carol Ann, Daniel, Davin, Diliana, Erica, Gena, Jade, Jamie, Jessie, Joan, Judy, Katie, Kerri, Kerrie, Kristen, Lori, Lorraine, Marjorie and Dave, Marie-Eve, Mehernosh, Michelle, Ollie, Pattie, Peter, Robyn, Salimah, Sean, Shannon, Susan, Tanya, Theresa, Tom, Victor, & Yemisi:

– You’ve helped us consult 300 educators, students and community stakeholders to shape the vision for Nature Labs.

– You’ve enabled us to create 60 lesson plans for five grade 10 courses, curriculum connected in all 10 provinces and three territories in Canada.

– You’ve given us the time to identify, curate and analyze 1500 external resources for student learning.

– You’ve made it possible to interview 150 diverse thinkers and leaders from across the country and around the world.

– You’ve provided the resources to gather 60 TB of content from across Canada (and survive 13 months in a tent during our production work) to visually tell the story of our fragile and resilient relationship with nature.

Wow. This has only been possible thanks to our patrons on Patreon, as well as our offline patrons (you know who you are) and those who have purchased images, brought in Simon to speak at your event, taken us for dinner (or a much needed drink!), helped us learn video and audio and editing, and offered kind words of support throughout what has been a rollercoaster of a journey. To each of you: Our sincerest thanks from the bottom of our hearts.

And, of course, our continued thanks goes to our exceptional supporters at BC Parks and Mount Robson Provincial Park, Nikon and the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. You have given us the physical space and the physical tools to bring nature to life for students, and the credibility to make this impossible dream a reality. Becs Hoskins at BC Parks and Elliott Ingles at Mount Robson will forever be heroes to us.

What’s next? Well, quite a bit! Jill has the daunting task to build the full, immersive online platform and Simon has to take all of the content we’ve captured and produce 370 (!) media pieces to bring Nature Labs to life. As mentioned, we also have to finish telling the story of the elusive Chocolate, the grizzly. And then we have to get this into classrooms across Canada and around the world.

The final leg of this journey will only be possible with your support. So if you can, please join our growing community on Patreon and enjoy the fun, exclusive content we’re creating from behind the scenes. In the doing, we can show the world what two people with a passion can create, when fuelled by an army of believers who dare to dream that we can deliver balanced storytelling in a divided world; that we can spark a new generation to think critically and act creatively; that we can foster a better balance between the needs of people and nature.