About the Sable Island Institute

The Sable Island Institute is a community of Sable Island experts, researchers, educators, advisors and supporters who contribute skills and interest in science, education, arts and culture. Led by Zoe Lucas (who has over 40 years experience as a naturalist on Sable Island), the Institute conducts research and educational programs both on and off the island. Donations to the Institute help ensure the continuation of this research and stewardship.

Visit the Sable Island Institute Website

 Role of the Sable Island Institute

- Conserve and protect Sable Island’s unique ecology and culture

- Generate evidence based knowledge through research and monitoring

- Provide educational opportunities through graduate studies, internships and programs- Emphasize the integration of arts and science

- Bring Sable Island to Canadians through exhibits, virtual experiences, school and citizen science programs, workshops and publications

About Sable Island

- Remote and isolated island off Nova Scotia’s coast surrounded by the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

- 45 km long & 1.3 km wide, with sandy dunes, heath, shrubs, freshwater ponds and cranberry patches

- Homes to wild horses (~500), Harbour Seals, Grey Seals, Ipswich Sparrows and other rare species of plants and animals

- Historically known as “The Graveyard of the Atlantic” due to the island’s dramatic history of shipwrecks

- The life-saving station, the Sable Island Humane Establishment, began operation in 1801 and continued into the 1900s

- Protected as a National Park Reserve since 2013

The Sable Island Institute is registered under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act S.C. 2009, c.23, and is a charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency. 

Gallery Photos - Zoe Lucas, Sable Island Institute