By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor WHITEFISH RIVER FIRST NATION—On a humid July morning, beneath the thick hush of a wetland waking to life, two women move with care and intention. One adjusts the thermostat on a humming incubator, the other weighs a tiny, glistening egg. The numbers have to be right. The moisture has to be right. The future of a species—centuries-old, sacred and under siege—depends on precision. This is not just science. This is care work. This is the Turtle Incubation Project, co-created between Whitefish River First Nation (WRFN) and two environmental researchers: PhD candidate Reta Meng of McMaster University and Alexis McGregor, a master’s student in environmental engineering at Carleton University. What started as a student partnership has become a community-led research…