Mission: Fragile Inheritance promotes and supports the long term study of species and habitats, human & environmental effects on them, and the conservation of biodiversity, based on the lifetime work of Fred Schueler & Aleta Karstad.

"I am increasingly convinced that the study of biodiversity is far and away the most important endeavor in the history of humanity, certainly until now, and very possibly into the future as well. . . . Unlike physics, unlike chemistry, unlike geology, the clock is ticking on our ability to capture this information before it's gone. Forever."

Fragile Inheritance
6 St-Lawrence St
Bishops Mills Oxford Station
Ontario, Canada KOG 1T0
(613) 299-3107
info@fragileinheritance.ca

Partner Organizations

Canadian Museum of Nature

Canadian Museum of Nature CMN, Canada's national natural history museum, has held a data sharing agreement with Fred Schueler and Bishops Mills Natural History Centre, and Fragile Inheritance since 2003. Fred is their longest Research Associate. The CMN also supported the 30 Years Later project in 2010 as their International Year of Biodiversity project.

Natural Heritage Information Centre

Natural Heritage Information Centre NHIC, Ontario's conservation data centre and one of the long term repositories for backups of the Fragile Inheritance database.

New Brunswick Museum

New Brunswick Museum, Canada's oldest museum has had a longstanding research and collections relationship with Fragile Inheritance, providing support for our work in the Maritimes, and commissioning artwork. Over 40 original Karstad paintings are in the museum’s natural history collection, and Aleta has been “Resident Artist” for ten years of annual BiotaNB surveys.

Canadian Herpetological Society

CSH (formerly Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network CARCNET), has provided support for our 30 Years Later revisit of the 2006 Chorus Frog study, and provides us with contacts with herpetologists across Canada. Fred was the recipient of their Silver Salamander award for public education in 2005 and the Michael Rankin Distinguished Canadian Herpetologist Award in 2020.

Eco-Kare International

Eco-Kare International, Canada's first road ecology consultancy, providing Geographic Information System (GIS) maps, cartographic and analytic support for Fragile Inheritance.

South Nation Conservation

Fred became a member of SNC’s Fish & Wildlife Committee in 1999. Since then Aleta has joined the committee, and Fred has been its Chair since 2013, acting as both volunteer advisor and receiving support for our biotic surveys. SNC has also supported our work through purchase of several paintings. We’ve written two books about their territory, and we are pleased to work with one of Ontario’s most effective conservation authorities.

North Grenville Historical Society

We’ve worked with NGHS on environmental and natural history since 2017. Fred has been a board member since 2020. They have set a precedent among historical societies and local museums, in having including local natural and environmental history in their official mandate.

Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society - Ottawa Valley

CPAWS has been an active partner and supporter in our art and science projects since 2016, as we participate in theirs - in the studies of road ecology and biodiversity, and in the conservation of wilderness through art.

Ontario Herp Atlas

The "Herp Atlas", now managed by Ontario Nature, is the repository of data collected over 40 years by Ontario Herpetologists. Fred has contributed reptile and amphibian data to it from its inception as the Ontario Herpetofaunal Summary in 1984. We triggered the formation of the steering committee of the Ontario Herp Atlas and hosted its first meeting in 2009. Our database has been the largest contributor of records to the atlas.

What can we do to increase awareness of habitat loss, invasive species, and human impact on nature?

There is no other independent organized group in Canada which is dedicated to promoting long term monitoring. This is your chance to support the work of Fragile Inheritance.

About the book...

FRAGILE INHERITANCE:

a painter's ecology of glaciated North America

lavishly illustrated with watercolours and
descriptive prose from sea to sea
drawing the baseline for
a legacy of beauty and
change - Aleta Karstad
and Frederick W .
Schueler's life work