March 2008 Issue
STUDENT COLUMN
Geos Merge for GeoSkills
BY MARK JERONCIC & LEATINA WOOD
University of Alberta
Student Columnists (Geosciences)
Times are certainly changing for students about to embark on geo-science careers in Alberta. A current APEGGA vote on combining the geophysics and geology professional designations under a single professional geoscientist designation is certainly making students examine what it means to be a geoscientist.
It seems that not too long ago, geophysics and geology lived in their own ivory towers, separated, perhaps, by mutual misunderstanding. Students today, however, are certainly becoming more aware of the importance of becoming a well-rounded geoscientist and not just a geology or geophysics student.
This ongoing evolution became the backbone for GeoSkills 2008. About 25 University of Alberta geology and geophysics students joined fellow U of C and SAIT students on Feb. 6 in Calgary to attend various geoscience talks and mixers.
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GEOSCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING |
A year and a half ago, the geophysics societies at the U of A and the U of C began to discuss a joint event to bring students from both programs together. With our main sponsors — CSPG, CSEG and APEGGA — expressing interest in the whole-day affair, the geology students with Rundle and P.S. Warren were also brought in to truly make it a geoscience event.
The day started off with a warm welcome from Dr. Gordon Williams, P.Geol., President-Elect of APEGGA. His message conveyed the importance of professionalism in geosciences and the various changes new graduates will see in the future of APEGGA.
Next came an informative talk on the history of the Canadian Cordillera from Dr. Leslie Reid of the University of Calgary. Squeezing 250 million years of geological history into an hour is a tough thing to do!
During lunch, representatives of APEGGA, the CSEG and the CSPG gave brief overviews of the roles their organizations will play in the lives of students after graduation.
The afternoon was filled with three geology- and three geophysics-related technical talks. Students chose which talks to attend. Topics ranged from examples of seismic and geological interpretations in the oil and gas industry to talks on uranium and frontier asteroid exploration.
The day ended with a student mixer, giving students a chance to socialize with industry representatives, and learn about the geoscience role in various industries. This was particularly worthwhile for students from Edmonton, where geoscientists aren’t exactly plentiful.
On behalf of the U of A students, we’d like to thank all the sponsors who made monetary, room and swag donations, especially CSPG, CSEG and APEGGA. We would also like to give special thanks to representatives of Rundle and the Geophysics Undergraduate Students’ Society in Calgary, especially Victoria Walker, an APEGGA student member, and Nicole Wilson, who both gave up many hours to host this event.
With the success of GeoSkills 2008, ideas of expanding this type of event to attract more geoscience students are already in the works. Next year should see a bigger, better, and more consolidated event.
Aside from GeoSkills 2008, both student geo clubs at the U of A are kicking it into high gear for graduation. They’ll be actively fundraising for graduation, so each club should be seeing a variety of events in the coming weeks.
Times are certainly changing for all geoscience students, especially with
club elections coming up. Stay tuned!