What better way to learn about Marc Bieler’s passion for agriculture than by meeting him on his cranberry farm during the fall harvest. Located 100 kilometres southwest of Quebec City, Bieler’s operation is the largest single-site cranberry farm in Canada.
Bieler, DipAgr’58, BA’64, made a landmark $15-million gift commitment to the McGill School of Environment in October 2020 – the largest ever from a graduate of McGill’s Macdonald Campus. The School has been renamed the Bieler School of Environment in recognition of his extraordinary gift.
“We’re close to the land so we see the changes that are happening in the climate,” Bieler says.
“I decided that I should do something major and obviously the environmental question came up in my mind…What do you do to help the world and its predicament that we’re in right now. We have children who are in their twenties. They’ve got to be worried about what’s going to happen 20 years down the line because if present trends continue, it’s disastrous.”
Take a few moments and watch as Marc Bieler gives us an up-close view of his gorgeous rose-coloured cranberry bogs during the fall harvest. You’ll also hear about his connection to McGill and Mac Campus and the motivation behind his extraordinary gift.