APRIL 2008 Issue
Geoscience affairs
NEW MANAGER BRINGS REAL-WORLD LESSONS TO GEOSCIENCE AFFAIRS
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TOM SNEDDON, P.GEOL. one. |
Licensure is no abstract concept to APEGGA’s new Manager, Geoscience Affairs. In fact Tom Sneddon, P.Geol., has learned from experience how important a licence is and what it means to a career.
“In government circles there’s a legend that geoscientists do not need to be licensed and earlier in my career I bought into that,” said Mr. Sneddon, who has moved over from a contract consultant position with the APEGGA Compliance Department. “When I got into the real world, I was shocked to discover how important it is from both a personal and a business perspective to belong to the Association.
“No one would take me seriously until I had the APEGGA certificate on the wall and my company had a permit to practice.”
An earth sciences veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Mr. Sneddon is now taking his message on the value of licensure directly to the geoscience community. Compliance rates suggest he needs to be heard.
An APEGGA survey last year found that the compliance rate for Alberta geologists is only 65 per cent. For geophysicists, the percentage is an even less impressive 53 per cent.
One of Mr. Sneddon’s goals is to help APEGGA boost those stats to 100 per cent over the next decade, through persuasion. “My approach is pretty straightforward — meet people,” said Mr. Sneddon, who works from the Calgary APEGGA office.
“When I talk with people, I stress the need for licensure, from the perspectives of public and investor expectations, professionalism, ethical behaviour and legality. I also stress the benefits of membership — having a voice, being able to make a difference by volunteering, and so much more.
“Membership gives us a community of interest that can be canvassed when necessary. It’s a chance to interact with the other professions regulated under APEGGA’s legislation, and that just isn’t available anywhere else.”
To those who balk at the whole APEGGA regulatory model, Mr. Sneddon has this to say: “Self-government by fellow professionals is far better than some imposed regulation by the unknowing and the indifferent.”
For Mr. Sneddon, a brief but productive stint with Compliance was a great training ground. It sold Mr. Sneddon even more on the value of licensure and self-regulation. At Compliance, Mr. Sneddon’s role involved enforcement — investigating those people and companies APEGGA suspected were practicing or holding out to practice without a licence.
Mr. Sneddon recalled meetings of the Enforcement Review Committee, where Compliance staff takes the less straightforward cases. “There isn’t a lot of chit-chat at ERC. It’s serious business, taken seriously.”
Getting registered is a serious business, too, which Mr. Sneddon knows well from joining the Association, mid-career. It was a non-traditional route that got him here — seismic processor, engineering degree, and geoscience field work, including glaciology, hydrogeology and environmental geology in government and private practice.
“I had to write a lot of exams to prove my expertise. That was a rush — hey, I do know my stuff! — but also humbling — boy, these guys have sure learned a lot of new stuff since I was
in school!”
“My approach is pretty straightforward — meet people. I stress the need for licensure, from the perspectives of public and investor expectations, professionalism, ethical behaviour and legality. I also stress the benefits of membership — having a voice, being able to make a difference by volunteering,
and so much more.
-Tom Sneddon, P.Geol.
APEGGA Manager, Geoscience Affairs
Compliance helped him “fully understand and appreciate” the permit-to-practice system. “Properly administered, the permit’s profes-sional development and quality control processes ensure professionals stay on top of their science and management techniques. Permits also ensure young members receive the kind of mentoring and supervision they need.”
Do permit holders and Responsible Members themselves share his enthusiasm? Many do. In fact Mr. Sneddon has seen some of them go through the same transition he did, by learning just how much credibility APEGGA has outside its offices and around the world.
Despite all that value, APEGGA must keep evolving in its service to the geoscience community, Mr. Sneddon said. His goals include working with others in the organization on mobility, practice standards and professional development for geoscientists.
“APEGGA can never do enough consultation with its members, particularly on the key issues of mobility and compliance,” says Mr. Sneddon. “Our members may never leave their Calgary offices, but in a typical day they could be working on prospects in five provinces and three or four countries. Each of those jurisdictions wants us to belong to its association, but that becomes both costly and cumbersome to administer.”
Again, he has personal experience in mobility. Mr. Sneddon is a licensed P.Geo. with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia.
All this knowledge of the industry and regulatory roles stems from one place for Mr. Sneddon: the rocks. He’s collected them since he was about five. Since 1963 he’s also been a ham radio operator, and there’s a work connection there, too.
“The combination of the two (rocks and amateur radio) plus an accidental foray into seismic processing early in my career have also given me a lifelong interest in geophysics, at which I consider myself an enlightened amateur,” he said.
Mr. Sneddon also instructs buried facilities locating for Enform. His wife, Maria, is an instructor with DeVry Calgary.
Len Shrimpton, P.Eng., APEGGA Director, Internal Affairs, welcomed Mr. Sneddon to the team. “Tom’s approach, his knowledge and his strong connection to his industry are exactly what we need, as we continue to evolve in our relationship with the geoscience community,” he said.