President's Perspective: Help Make Geoscience Relevant Locally

By Greg Finn, Ph.D., P.Geo.
APGO President Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Academic Brock University

As the summer of 2008 draws to a close, the university year is just beginning to get underway for me with an influx of new students and the return to campus of upper year students; many of whom, thanks to the 'geoscience' climate, were able to obtain employment in their field this past summer. Thanks to all those members, and their employers, who supervised these students. The practical component of their education obtained through employment 'in the field' truly augments the theoretical side obtained through formal in-class training. These summer students have been mentored by a Professional Geoscientists and hopefully they have taken away a sense of pride in the profession that will serve as a foundation for their own careers.

As a new cohort of students begin their undergraduate careers in earth sciences, my colleagues, both with and outside the discipline, question why earth science departments are not flush with students. A cursory perusal of various on-line newspapers shows the following geoscience issues making the news recently:

• 5.4 magnitude earthquake hits Southern California
• Price of oil increases
• Sea to Sky highway closed due to rock slide
• Price of oil decreases
• Ward Hunt Ice Shelf collapses
• Price of oil increases
• Kilauea volcano continues to erupt
• Price of oil decreases
• Pheonix instruments confirm water discovered on Mars
• Price of oil changes

It has always been a challenge relating geoscience issues, like those listed above, and their relevance to the general public. While all of the above are far removed from Ontario (except for the price of oil), they impact the general public. As these and other issues continue to highlight the 'geosciences' ask yourself what you, as a professional geoscientist, can do to promote the relevance of the geosciences on a global scale in your local community.

Council will hold its sixtieth meeting this September, eight years after the first meeting of the Government appointed Transition Council, following passage of The Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000. Council will continue to address the three foci of the Strategic Plan - Governance, Enforcement & Compliance and Communications. Work has progressed over the summer on the Governance component, as we collect, document and refine procedures by which the association operates. Watch for future announcements regarding Enforcement and Compliance as we move to increase our staff to address this issue. On the Communications front - watch for the launch of the 'new" APGO website coming to a web browser near you.

As mentioned elsewhere in this issue of Field Notes, watch for the online Salary Survey coming to your inbox this fall. I encourage each member to complete the survey as this is the first geoscience only survey to be undertaken. It will provide a benchmark for our profession and serve as a dataset that can be referenced by the membership into the future.

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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., or Andrea Waldie, P.Geo., Executive Director/Registar.

Copyright 2008, Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario (APGO)