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The thought of returning to school for Lacey Lescaudron after 17 years was daunting to say the least.  In the middle of a global pandemic? – even more so.

“Having been out of school for nearly 17 years, the thought of hitting the books again was daunting, but exciting,” said Lacey.  “Choosing a field of study was a challenge for me.”

Farming, to one degree or another, has been part of Lacey’s family for generations.  She grew up on a small hobby farm in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley farming Holland lop and Flemish Giant rabbits along with chickens for eggs and meat. As she grew, so did the farm, adding Flemish Giant and Californian rabbits, a variety of goats and Berkshire pigs.   

“Growing up on a hobby farm I developed a love for animals and was taught the importance of caring for them properly,” explained Lacey.

After high school Lacey moved to Halifax to pursue reptile keeping.

“I was a keeper, outreach educator and later social media manager for Little Ray’s Nature Center based out of Ottawa Ontario,” she said. “A few years after I started with Little Ray’s they opened a franchise in Nova Scotia, with whom I did a lot of work as well.”

With her zoo career taking her in a slightly different direction, Lacey felt she had lost touch with her roots. It didn’t take long, to get back into it.

“There is something very special about working with and educating the public about the importance of agriculture and significance of heritage breeds,” said Lacey.

Just over a year ago Lacey became the Outreach Education Director at Nashwaak Valley Farm in Fredericton New Brunswick and fell back in love with the world of agriculture.  The farm provided several educational programs for schools and daycares, animal therapy for senior’s homes and long-term care facilities and developed a summer camp program.

“Once Covid hit, the farm lost a large portion of our outreach revenue and even with a successful summer of our very first Future Farmer summer camp we still couldn’t make ends meet,” said Lacey. “With a hay shortage in New Brunswick, due to an extremely dry season and no end on the Covid related restrictions we sadly had to downsize our herd and close the barn doors for the last time.”

Lacey loves learning, that along with a desire to open her own agricultural-based educational facility, drew her to the Faculty of Agriculture.

“Thanks to Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture I am able to continue chasing my passion, while working a full-time job in aquaculture. The program is wonderful and learning online has been much easier than I thought,” she added.

Lacey is currently taking Animal Biology and Management while working full-time at Cooke Aquaculture. She is hoping to work towards a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in the future.

“I can not wait to continue my studies next semester and hopefully, once the world is back on its feet, I will be able to bring more agriculture appreciation and education to the public, through my own educational farm and outreach facility.