McMaster expands Forest Nature Preserve and launches first-of-its-kind climate research station

“McMaster University is expanding the McMaster Forest Nature Preserve with the addition of more than 14 acres of ecologically significant, biodiverse land in West Hamilton, strengthening opportunities for research, learning and long-term environmental stewardship. The expansion was made possible through a philanthropic gift from the Patrick J. McNally Charitable Foundation, along with land donations from local landowners Mark Tamminga, Joany Verschuuren, Bill Walker, Heather Hill and Ken Vanderlaan. Together, these contributions ensure the land will be protected in perpetuity. The announcement coincided with Earth Week at the McMaster Carbon Sink Forest, where more than 100 students, faculty, staff and community members gathered for the forest’s annual tree planting. “What makes today meaningful is not only what has been protected, but what has been made possible,” said McMaster President and Vice-Chancellor Susan Tighe. “We are deeply grateful to the donors who are helping us deepen our commitment to discovery, experiential learning and partnership, while caring for the natural spaces we share with our community.” The newly protected land includes the Carbon Sink Forest, which operated on land leased from the donors for $1 per year since 2021. It now connects directly into the forest preserve to create a continuous natural corridor where McMaster students, faculty and staff will continue to monitor biodiversity, remove invasive species and experiment with environmental stewardship practices. “The highest form of stewardship is not holding on but knowing when to pass the torch so the land can thrive long after I am gone,” said Vanderlaan, who joined a collective of long-time Hamilton residents with deep ties to their communities to gift his Wilson Street property to McMaster. “I wanted this land to become a place for students to explore, innovate and ensure that it remains productive and healthy — not paved over by builders.” A new chapter for climate research The event also marked the introduction of McMaster’s new Urban Environmental Monitoring Station (UEMS), the first greenhouse gas monitoring station of its kind in Canada. The station was established at the Carbon Sink Forest by Professor Altaf Arain and the McMaster Hydrometeorology and Climatology Lab in December 2025, with additional construction set for summer 2026. Once complete, the UEMS will feature a 34-metre-high monitoring tower capable of measuring exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy across a two-kilometre radius. With ideal weather conditions, the UEMS can monitor upwards of three kilometres in all directions. As the first urban flux station in Canada, the UEMS will strengthen McMaster’s leadership in environmental science, planetary health and experiential learning. Using high-frequency sensors, the station captures how an ecosystem breathes, measuring what it absorbs and what it releases back into the air in real-time. Unlike existing monitoring stations in Canada, which are primarily located in rural or remote ecosystems, the UEMS is based in a densely populated urban region where emissions are concentrated. As a result, the data collected will help fill a critical gap in national and international research networks that inform climate modelling and evidence-based policy. “Urban forests and green spaces are still an untapped part of Canada’s climate solution,” said Arain. “With the Urban Environmental Monitoring Station, we can now measure in real-time how trees, greenspaces and city landscapes exchange carbon, water and energy with the atmosphere. That kind of data has been largely missing in Canada, and it allows McMaster’s natural lands to contribute not just locally, but nationally and internationally to climate research.” The station builds on the steady evolution of the Carbon Sink Forest, a model forest planted in 2021 with 1,000 native trees. As the forest matures, students and researchers are tracking tree survival, growth and the forest’s capacity to collect and store airborne carbon. Through a combination of field measurements, remote sensing and long-term modelling, the project will help researchers understand how urban forests respond to pollution, infestations and extreme weather, and how those pressures affect the environmental health of densely populated cities. Over time, this work will inform predictive climate models that help governments, planners and communities assess how nature-based solutions contribute to net-zero goals and climate resilience. Deep roots in stewardship and partnership With this expansion, the McMaster Forest Nature Preserve now protects more than 140 acres of ecologically sensitive land across Hamilton, Ancaster and Dundas. Once overrun with invasive buckthorn, the nature preserve now contains rare Carolinian forest and wetland habitats, supports hundreds of plant and animal species and forms part of a nationally recognized ecological corridor connecting the Niagara Escarpment to Cootes Paradise. The area was designated an environmentally significant natural land in 2015 and reflects more than a decade of conservation work led by McMaster. Left: Altaf Arain welcomes Ward 12 Counsellor Craig Cassar to the Carbon Sink Forest. Right: Dr. Myles Sergeant adds to the 1,000-tree model forest, located 10 minutes from McMaster University’s campus. McMaster works closely with partners including the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the Cootes to Escarpment EcoPark System, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Indigenous leaders to restore habitats, improve ecological connectivity and protect sensitive lands within a rapidly growing urban region. Faculty and students conduct work ranging from pollinator monitoring and bird research to habitat restoration and Indigenous land-based learning, often in collaboration with local organizations. “Protecting land at this scale is critical for biodiversity and long-term ecological health,” said Lisa Burnside, chief executive officer of the Hamilton Conservation Authority, during the Earth Week announcement. “McMaster’s ability to bring research and long-term monitoring to these lands complements the conservation work happening across the region, and together we can see how these natural systems are changing. As a Mac graduate, I’m proud to see the work the University is doing in our community.” Together, the expanded preserve, the Carbon Sink Forest and the UEMS demonstrates McMaster’s commitment to working alongside communities to protect land, generate knowledge and advance climate action. “This region offers something rare in Canada: an urban environment with extraordinary ecological diversity, where research and learning can happen in real-time, alongside the communities who live here,” said Tighe. “Quite simply, these are lands we learn from.” The post McMaster expands Forest Nature Preserve and launches first-of-its-kind climate research station appeared first on McMaster News .

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