President's Perspective

Professionalism and APGO Professional Practice Workshops

Scott McLean, P.Geo. - APGO President

APGO President Scott McLean P.Geo, together with his son and daughter. A family of successful finishers in the recent 'Run for the Cure' fundraising event held in Sudbury

The APGO Professional Practice workshop I attended in early September in Ottawa was very informative and constructive. The meeting provided me with an opportunity to meet some of my fellow professionals in a part of the province I do not visit regularly. Notably, I found much of the informal discussions that I was able to have with fellow members both before and after the session almost as informative as the formal presentations. Since the Ottawa workshop, I have had time to reflect on some of these discussions and found a somewhat common thread that focussed on the idea of setting the bar high with respect to our disciplines and creating a strong sense of professionalism within the Association.

Professionalism, in my mind is, at best, a concept and something that is not easily defined. A precise definition of “professionalism” has been a pursuit of many individuals and organizations for many years. Roscoe Pound (The Lawyer From Antiquity to Modern Times 5, 1953) offered an early, mid-twentieth century definition: “The term (professionalism) refers to a group pursuing a learned art as a common calling in the spirit of public service.” Today, professionalism clearly embraces a broader concept that goes beyond the hard minimum standard of a code of ethics to a higher scale of excellence and duty. Professionalism involves a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that personify excellence, honesty and technical competence that serves society above ones own interests.

Instilling an uncompromised sense of professionalism within APGO is critical to establishing a strong Association and to gaining the respect of the public. This in turn fosters a proud sense of belonging in our members and gains the recognition of excellence from society and other professionals within the province.

My attendance at the Ottawa workshop was very instrumental in my recognition of the importance of meeting and networking with other geoscience professionals. The continued dialogue surrounding the professions’ duty and obligation to society enhanced by the details of one practitioner’s discipline compared to another’s is not only a worthy discourse but it is also captivating.

APGO will hold its next Professional Practice workshop as a program session during the Ontario Prospectors Association sponsored Ontario Exploration and Geoscience Symposium (OEGS) set for December 13 and 14 in Toronto (click here for details). The special workshop session will be hosted by the Geology Sub-Committee of APGO’s Professional Practice Committee and will include four presentations by members on a range of practice issues important to us all.

I encourage those of you attending OEGS to attend the workshop talks; not only for the quality presentations but also for the opportunity to meet your fellow practitioners and others, and to continue the dialogue on the importance and clear societal benefit of professionalism in geoscience.

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Field Notes is published by APGO and is edited by Wendy Diaz, P.Geo. If you have comments or wish to contribute material to this newsletter, please contact Wendy Diaz, P.Geo., Crystal Spekking, Communication Consultant or Oliver Bonham, P.Geo., Executive Director/Registar.

Copyright 2005, Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO)