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President’s Perspective: Keep In Mind Cyclic Nature of the Economy and Prepare 
By Dr. Gregory C. Finn, P.Geo. APGO President, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Academic-Brock University
The year 2009 presents some challenges that we could not have predicted only four short months ago when my last article drew your attention to the shortage of experienced geoscientists and the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences survey about the “demand for Earth Science Professionals”. How quickly things have changed. Hopefully, spring will arrive with the worst of the economic statistics behind us and a new start to a more prosperous cycle. The slowing economy also impacts student employment, this is valuable experience for our future members. If your resources allow, please consider mentoring student geoscientists in whatever capacity to further their work experience. We all remember the last recession when limited hiring resulted in the shifting age demographic that had no intermediate level expertise when the economy recovered. And remember the early 1980’s downturn -- a lot of graduating geologists had fall job offers rescinded before they graduated in the spring. Many newly educated geologists went back to school for a graduate education or changed their career entirely. In this issue of Field Notes we have relevant articles for the times that address joblessness, volunteering in your community and changes to regulations. Please continue to use your association as a resource and if |
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you find yourself with some extra time you are invited to participate in the association’s affairs on committees that interest you. Please keep in mind the cyclic nature of the economy especially in the resource industry and prepare for the better times ahead. Items Of Note To The APGO Members By Andrea Waldie, P.Geo. Executive Director & Registrar, APGO Items of note at the APGO that will most likely be of interest to both members and non-members are: Registration Regulation O.Reg 59/01 Further revisions, if accepted, to the Limited Licence portion of the Registration Regulation alters the Conditions of Limited Certificate. View complete article |
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Proposed Changes Coming to NI 43-101
NI 43-101 establishes standards for all oral and written disclosure made by a company concerning mineral projects and requires that all disclosure be based on information prepared by or under the supervision of a qualified person. Disclosure of mineral resources and mineral reserves must be made in accordance with industry standard definitions approved by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum unless otherwise provided for in NI 43-101. In addition, certain disclosure must be supported by a written technical report prepared and certified by a qualified person in accordance with NI 43-101. An initial consultation process is currently underway to obtain feed back from interested stakeholders on issues concerning NI 43-101, which may need to be addressed. This consultation process is expected to wrap-up on or about the end of April 2009 and it is expected that the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) will publish the proposed amendments for public comment in early summer 2009. The proposed amendments will be designed to reflect changes in the mining industry; address items of concern raised with regards to existing rule; simplify the drafting process; and make NI 43-101 more user-friendly and practical. |
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Four years after the inaugural edition of Field Notes in October, 2004, we have a new look! I hope you enjoyed the new layout of December’s issue. Apart from the cosmetic alterations to refresh the design, the reader will appreciate the new format changes. If you don’t have a lot of time to peruse the entire issue you will appreciate the new Highlights column by just glancing at that top of the page. The different sections of the newsletter are more distinct, making it easier for the reader to navigate the online document without printing it out. The feedback we’ve been receiving from members has been positive. I sincerely thank you and appreciate your comments. You can be assured that Field Notes Newsletter Sub-committee listens to your suggestions to make improvements to Field Notes. It’s important for us to make Field Notes relevant to the members. In future issues we will cover topics such as suggestions of possible activities for your annual CPD hour requirement; help looking for work in today’s economy; as well as point out in what ways members can help make APGO a vibrant geoscience organization by volunteering on Council. Field Notes will continue to be published and distributed every other month with our regular selection of articles including: the President’s Perspective; notable geoscientists in Headliners; jobs in Need a Geo? Need a Job?; and, interesting geoscience-related items on the world wide web that will take you away for a few minutes in From Far Afield. As always, we will keep you informed about new and revised regulations that affect you and profiling your new Councillors. I like to remind members that the purpose of the newsletter is not only to inform the membership of important issues that affect the practice of geoscience in Ontario and to distribute information but it is to strengthen our association through written communication. In that context, don’t forget this newsletter is the voice of our membership and as such I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to submit your ideas and comments as well as suggestions for stories you would like to see published and you think would be of interest to others. Please type Letters to the Editor in the email subject line. If you are interested in writing an article for publication please contact Andrea Waldie or myself. If your letter is published we ask that you supply a digital photograph of yourself. |
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By Craig Waldie, P.Geo. 
The Halton Children's Water Festival would like to take this opportunity to thank two APGO members who volunteered withthe Halton festival this past fall (2008): Michael Cugino of Worley Parsons and Michelle Zehr of Aqua Terre Solutions Inc. These two enthusiastic APGO members both presented the "Amazing Aquifer" activity at Kelso Conservation Area. They showed high school volunteer presenters how to use a groundwater flow model to demonstrate to Grade 3 students how wells work and how contaminants can enter the subsurface if they are not properly controlled. Armed with a deeper understanding of the hydrologic cycle, the participating students will be more likely to strive to preserve our water resources for future generations -- thanks in part to Michael and Michelle and their generous donation of time, talent, and knowledge. Remember -- our children are our future!
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Compete at the 3rd International Earth Science Olympiad in Taiwan, September 14-22. The most comprehensive information on their website is at: 
2. Dear CGENers: Thank you to everyone who has helped promote the WHERE Challenge for students. And there's still time to get the news out there. The deadline for the contest is FEBRUARY 28. For new CGEN members, full details about the Challenges can be found at: 
3. CCPG has recently entered a sponsorship arrangement with The Geological Association of Canada (GAC) which supports GAC in its already established leadership role as one of the premier agencies in the country offering high quality CPD workshops and short courses on pure geoscience topics. 
4. Members are reminded that nominations for elected positions becoming vacant on the 2009-10 APGO Council are open. Nominations will close at noon on Friday, February 13, 2009. 
1. January 30, 2009; NPR Dig into the world's largest collection of ocean sediments- Peter deMenocal, a marine geologist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Rusty Lotti Bond, curator of the Deep Sea Sample Repository, show off the collection. 
2. January 21, 2009; Russia-Ukraine gas deal on hold- Russia and Ukraine have postponed the signing of a controversial gas deal, planned for Saturday, until next week. 
3. January, 2009; The Real Price of Gold-International gold mining gets some bad press from National Geographic. 
4. February 2, 2009; New virtual mapping software by Google Earth 5.0 and explore the oceans too. 
5. February 4, 2009; Largest snake 'as long as a bus' By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News. The discovery of fossilised remains belonging to the world's largest snake has been reported in Nature journal. Titanoboa was 13m (42ft) long - about the length of a bus - and lived in the rainforest of north-east Colombia 58-60 million years ago. The snake was so wide it would have reached up to a person's hips, say researchers, who have estimated that it weighed more than a tonne. Green anacondas - the world's heaviest snakes - reach a mere 250kg (550lbs). Reticulated pythons - the world's longest snakes - can reach up to 10m (32ft). The team of researchers led by Jason Head, from the University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada, used a known mathematical relationship between the size of vertebrae and the length of the body in living snakes to estimate the size of the ancient animal. Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis by its discoverers, the beast's 13m-long body and 1,140kg (2,500lb) weight make it the largest snake on record.
6. January 15, 2009 NASA; Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet. 
