November , 1999
The APEGGA Education Foundation, as part of its ongoing support for various educational initiatives, has donated $10,000 toward a Yoho Burgess Shale Foundation program to improve understanding of climatic change. A cheque presented to Nat Rutter, P.Geol., PhD, president of the Yoho Burgess Shale Foundation, will to allow the latter to incorporate climate change as part of the its Earth Science Education program. The Yoho Burgess Shale Foundation sponsors and promotes a number of programs to increase public understanding and exposure to earth sciences, including geology and paleontology. Most of the foundation projects are geared toward students (ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 12). The projects include the Burgess Shale High School Research Project which allows selected groups of students to visit the Mt. Stephen Fossil Beds and Walcott Quarry, part of a UNESCO-designated world heritage site near Field, B.C. Dr. Rutter explained that the donation from the APEGGA Education Foundation will permit the Yoho Burgess Shale Foundation to "ensure that climate change is integrated into the science curriculum for senior high and college students." The funding will be used to hire an educator to develop a program on climate change. The donation also will permit development within the coming year of a guide book on evidence of past climate change in the four National Mountain Parks in Alberta and British Columbia. The guide book is expected to inform visitors about the area’s glacial history and direct readers to locations with glacial sediments and landforms, and to features related to post-glacial climatic phenomena. The APEGGA Education Foundation will be recognized in the guide book. In presenting the cheque, APEGGA Foundation President Harry Moore, P.Eng., said the donation was indicative of the Education Foundation’s desire to support educational endeavours related to all three professions represented within APEGGA. |
