B.Sc. (Hons), B.Ed., M.Ed.
Instructor
Faculty of Global and Community Studies
School of Outdoor Recreation Management
604.986.1911 ext. 2058
Cedar Building, room CE322
bridgetmcclarty@capilanou.ca
Education
M.Ed., Outdoor Education, University of British Columbia, 2021.
B.Ed., Secondary, Biological Science and Outdoor Education, University of Alberta, 2003.
B.Sc. (Honours), Ecology and Environmental Biology, University of British Columbia, 1999.
Bio
Bridget McClarty (M.Ed., University of British Columbia, 2021) is an experiential educator, a natural history enthusiast and a passionate explorer.
After completing her honours thesis studying circadian rhythms in Arctic predator-prey relations and discovering that lemmings do not cliff-jump, McClarty researched wildlife in Australia and southern Africa. Later, she studied movement patterns of large carnivores in Banff National Park, tracking and monitoring wolf packs in winter and grizzly bears in summer, and submitting recommendations to Parks Canada.
McClarty attended the University of Alberta to complete her B.Ed., with the intention of pursuing a career in environmental education and activism. However, she discovered with delight that she enjoyed teaching secondary school students, and taught biology and outdoor education for over 15 years in Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon. She joined the Outdoor Recreation program in 2014 and also teaches for the School of Tourism.
When she is not teaching, McClarty can be found outdoors, learning from nature. Some favourite personal trips include ski traversing from Whistler to Waddington, pack-rafting in Jasper, canoeing the Nahanni, rafting the Grand Canyon, backcountry skiing in Rogers Pass, and walking very slowly through the Squamish estuary.
McClarty lives and plays in beautiful Squamish, B.C.
I love teaching and learning, and often I find that I learn as much from my students as they do from me.
I try to help my students recognize their inherent connection to, and impact on, our planet. Through my teaching, I found that developing and nurturing my relationship with my students, and encouraging the development of our classroom community, is necessary to instill the trust and support required to grow connection and vulnerability.
I arrive from a holistic ecology perspective, and it is my hope that my students are able to develop and nurture a life-long sense of wonder, connection and deep gratitude for the natural world and all it provides.
My research interests include land- and place-based experiential learning, the relationship between awe and connection to nature, and decolonizing outdoor education.