Welcome to the Earth Sciences blogspace.
Congrats to all of the Graduates for 2019.
Elenor Chisholm
Juan Chavez
Makani Joinville
Michelle Echeverri
???
Tanner Milne
Lauren Morris
These are the photos I have, thanks to Grant Wach. This is not all of our graduates. I will add more photos as I receive them.
Graduation Luncheon
The Dalhousie Earth Sciences Ringers
Bryan Maciag, Ryan Taylor, Tanner Milne, Elenor Chisholm, Max Angel, Juan Chavez, Makani Joinville, Maureen White, Patrick Ryall, Ronnie Gobin, Grant Wach, Kanwar Multani, Catherine Evans, Galena Roots, Tristan Wolfe, Sarima Vahrenkamp.
The Earth Ring Ceremony was officiated by Dr Pat Ryall and alumnus Maureen White, BSc (Honours),Class of 2005.
Nearly 50 were in attendance from the earth science departments of Nova Scotia. The ring and oath that is administered represent the obligations an earth scientist has to society, their peers and themselves.
Alumnus Ronald Gobin, BSc, Class of 2018, traveled from Ottawa to participate and receive his ring.
Ronald Gobin, Tristan Wolfe, Tanner Milne
Dear Laurie Dake Challenge participants of Dalhousie University, Max Angel, Juan Chavez Cabrera, Ray Craddock, Tanner Milne, Kanwar Multani.
I really appreciate your well done job during the second round, the next step is waiting for the 6 finalist teams in London.
Thank you for your participation in the Laurie Dake Challenge 2019.
The 6 finalist teams that will compete in the next Laurie Dake Challenge in London are:
| University of Stavanger |
| Dalhousie University |
| Institut Teknologi Bandung |
| IFP School |
| Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo |
| Petroleum University of Technology (PUT) |
Congratulations to the selected teams!
Once again, Dalhousie hosted an Earth Sciences Alumni gathering at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention held in Toronto.
The event was held at the Strathcona Hotel, on Monday, 4 March.
It was great to meet with alumni and departmental friends, and the current crop of undergraduates made use of an excellent opportunity for networking.
A special thanks goes out to Emeritus Professor Marcos Zentilli for helping to represent the department. Many of the alumni have very fond memories of Marcos as a mentor and teacher, as well as his exceptional ability as a resource geologist.
If folks would like to take the lead on an alumni event, please contact Department Chair James Brenan.
Charlotte Adams, a student from Dalhousie Earth Science, is working with Matt Stimson (Saint Mary’s University) to study a series of Carboniferous fossil footprints at the Nova Scotia Museum. The fossil footprints were collected by David Honeyman in 1873.
David Honeyman was the first curator of the Museum and the first Professor of Geology at Dalhousie University (1878-1883). In his publication Giants and Pigmies (1887) and a paper in the Proceedings of the Nova Scotia Institute of Science (1874), Honeyman mentions fossil footprints from Wentworth, NS. In collecting the specimens, Honeyman was “assisted by Andrew Jack” and the Museum collection record for the footprints lists Andrew as a Collector. The Proceedings also lists two other people as field assistants, Mr. Frank West and Mr. Robie Cogswell.
Wondering who these assistants were, we find the 1871 Census shows these fellows lived in Halifax and were 14 years old in 1871. From this, it seems these Assistants were a few of the students in the “Practical Geology” classes that Honeyman organized at the Museum from 1870 – 1873.
Today, having a Dalhousie student returning to examine these fossils 140 years after they were collected as part of an early Practical Geology program run by Honeyman and the Museum — well, that is pretty neat! #NSM150 #Dal200
By Dr. Tim Fedak
Curator of Geology, Nova Scotia Museum and Adjunct Professor, Dalhousie Earth Science.
Links and References
Thanks to everyone who turned out for the Department Holiday Potluck held on Tues, Dec 4. The graduate students did a great job (especial thanks to Bryan and Lobke) at getting us all to contribute a favourite dish. As you can see, it looks like everyone is enjoying the outstanding food!
Earth Sciences Departmental Awards – Fall 2018 Report
Awards Committee: Mike Young (chair) in consultation with Isabelle Coutand, Yana Fedortchouk, Lexie Arnott, Owen Sherwood, Richard Cox, John Gosse, Grant Wach, Sean Kelley, Dawson Undergraduate Club, James Brenan.
Memorial Awards Day – Friday, 9 November 2018
MacEachern-Ponsford Award – Ian MacEachern and Mark Ponsford were two Dalhousie graduates who were killed in December 1984 when the trench in which they were working collapsed on them. An award was established by friends and family in their memory to be presented to a student who has excelled in Field School, who is of honours calibre and who has been an active participant in student activities. The first award was made in 1986; this year is the 33rd annual presentation of the award.
This year’s award is to be shared between two students:
Bay Berry for her performance at the 3000-level Field School, stellar academic record, and her service to the Dawson Club including serving on the AUGC organizing committee. Bay is from Fall River, Nova Scotia, entered Dalhousie through the Integrated Science Program and is a coop student most recently working at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.
Kanwar Multani for his performance at the senior-level Trinidad and Nevada-California Field Schools, for his excellent academic record, and his continued service on the Dawson Club executive for the last two years. Kanwar is from Alberta and transferred to Dalhousie after attending Red Deer and Lethbridge Colleges and working in the private sector. Kanwar is currently working on his honours thesis involving an experimental study of kimberlites.
Douglas Award – This award commemorates Dr. George Vilbert Douglas, Head of the Department of Geology from 1932-1957, and the first to hold the appointment as Carnegie Professor of Geology, which was established 1933 with a gift of $125,000 from the Carnegie Foundation. Before coming to Dalhousie, Douglas was the Geologist on Shackleton’s Last Antarctic Expedition (1921-22) and he explored Rio Tinto’s concession on the Congo/Zambia (formerly Rhodesia) border in 1930-31. This award is given to a student entering second year Earth Sciences with an outstanding academic record in their first-year studies. The first award was made in 1962; this year is the 56th annual presentation of the award.
This year’s award is to Anna Ryan for her exceptional performance in first year where she took the equivalent of 7 courses per semester and achieved an A+ standing.
Barlow award – The award is named for David Barlow, who had completed his second year in the Geology program in 1983. He was in the Regular Officer’s Training Program and attending summer training at the naval base at Esquimalt when the vehicle in which he was riding was struck by another and he was killed. On the recommendation of the Dawson Geology Club in consultation with the Departmental Awards Committee and Department Chair, the award is to recognize a 3rd year Canadian student in the Earth Sciences program with a good academic record, and who has shown qualities of leadership in departmental, student or community affairs. The first award was made in 1989; this year is the 29th annual presentation of the award.
Normally, this award is presented at the spring banquet organized by the Dawson Club and it is meant to recognize the contributions of a student leader over the preceding academic year. This year, the department would like to recognize a group of students for their exceptional efforts in organizing an outstanding AUGC conference. It is quite unusual to make this award to multiple people, but this group of 10 students truly epitomize teamwork, with each member taking on their tasks with an inspired sense of responsibility and pride. We very much appreciate and value the dedication and hard work of the AUGC organizing committee and are proud to have the award shared by:
AUGC Committee: Juan Chavez, Ryan Taylor, Kanwar Multani, Bay Berry, Tanner Milne, Jordyn Souter, Aliya Anderson, Ben Myrer
Jordyn Souter Co-Chair
Ryan Taylor Co-Chair
Catherine Evans Field Trip Coordinator
Tanner Milne Judge Coordinator
Max Angel Registration Coordinator
Kanwar Multani Treasurer
Bay Berry Webmaster
Juan Chavez Venue Coordinator
Aliya Anderson Secretary & Program Editor
Ben Myrer Hotel and Banquet Coordinator
Each committee member will share the named award which will appear on their transcripts. They will also share monetary value of the award with the co-chairs receiving slightly more for orchestrating and managing such an effective team.
On Thursday evening, 8 November, the department held its first ever Alumni Panel discussion. The gathering included Earth science graduate and undergraduate students, alumni from the HRM, and our guest panelists (pictured from left to right) Scott Swinden, Jacquie Stevenson, Emmaline Atherton and Billy Garrison. The discussion was moderated by emeritus professor Becky Jamieson, and thanks to Jocelyn Adams (at the mike), the Faculty of Science alumni affairs officer, for organising.
Alumni panel: Jacquie Stevens (BSc’96), Billy Garrison (BSc’16), moderator Becky Jamieson (BSc’74). Emma;ine Atherton (BSc’15), Scott Swinden (BSc’70),
Students and alumni got to hear about the diverse career paths of the panelists, as well as got tips on how best to land your dream job.
In addition to input from the panelists, we also got to hear from Dal alumni Mike Parsons (GSC Atlantic), who provided further insights on how to be successful in your career.
After the formal question and answer period, students and alumni got a chance to socialze, and practice their networking skills.
The field trip lead by Richard Cox and Becky J to the outcrops of the South Mountain Batholith exposed at Peggy’s Cove. Very wet, but as you can see, Richard has a lot of loyal followers!
Richard and Becky whip the attendees into a frenzy. They are chomping at the bit to get onto the rock and learn things.
And if you look way over there you will see fog.
Funny how the tides come in at the most inopportune time.
Clint Tippet is the current Canadian Society of Petroleum Geoscientists (CSPG) president. The CSPG is the largest geoscience organization in Canada. Clint is retired from Shell Canada and was at Dalhousie for the Atlantic Universities Geoscience Conference hosted by the Dawson Geology Club.
Carlos Wongm Kenneth Martyns-Yellowe and Trevor Kelly show Clint Tippet around our new Core Teaching Lab.