Departmental news
Please join me in congratulating a team of 6 students from the Geological
Engineering Program who have been awarded first prize for their entry in
the 2011 GROUP UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT REPORT COMPETITION organized by the
Canadian Geotechincal Society.
Group members Brad Copping, Sonia Hachey, Sean Legassie, Brandon Love,
John Nichols and Jennifer Pellerin received this national award for their
Team Design Project report, "Seismic Amplification and Resonance Effects
in Fredericton, New Brunswick: Geological Origin and Geotechnical
Significance". The students were formally recognized at the Awards Dinner
held this past Tuesday, October 4th as part of the 2011 Pan-Am CGS
Geotechnical Conference in Toronto.
February 23, 2011 - Name change approved by Senate
The UNB Department of Geology has been officially renamed to the Department of Earth Sciences. The process is now underway to remap and renew the department's literature and graphics to reflect the new name.
February 11-12th, 2011 - 37th AGS Colloquium and AGM & Friday Workshop
This year's AGS Colloquium, held at the Fredericton Inn, attracted 195 delegates and a full day and a half of technical and special sessions. The Colloquium weekend kicked off with a Friday workshop on Laser Ablation ICP-MS techniques applied to exploration and ore petrogenesis. The 40 workshop attendees were treated to live laser and ICP-MS demos, labs tours, technical talks presented by Paul Bedard (UQAC), Paul Sylvester (MUN), Jacob Hanley (SMU), and Chris McFarlane (UNB).
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Workshop participants were also treated to a lunchtime CIM Distinguished Lecture tour talk by Jim Franklin.
December 3rd, 2010 - Honours thesis talks
Two BSc Honours candidates presented their thesis research to the department:
Mr. Alexander Smith gave a talk entitled: "A Geochemical Baseline Study of the St-Octave-de- l'Avenir Uranium Occurrence, Gaspe, Quebec" (supervised by Nick Susak).
Ms. Sarah Gordon gave a talk entitled: "The Petrogenesis of Shoshonitic Lamprophyres from Southeast Mali, West Africa" (supervised by Chris McFarlane). Congratulations and well done!
November 19th, 2010 - Establishment of the McAllister Field Education Fund
The UNB community mourns the loss of Arnie McAllister, one of Geology's great alumni and benefactors: http://www.unb.ca/news/epublications/view/view.cgi?article=4455*2
The McAllister Field Education Fund was established to help promote field-based education for UNB Geology students..
October 29th, 2010 - 60th Atlantic Universities Geology Conference @ Acadia University
The annual AUGC was hosted by Acadia University (http://ees.acadiau.ca/augc2010.html). This year's Frank Shea Memorial Award (best paper dealing with economic geology or with implications for economic geology) was awarded to Sarah Gordon for her talk on "The Petrogenesis of Calc-Alkaline Lamprophyres from Mali, West Africa" which is being supervised by Chris McFarlane. The award was presented by Dr. Cliff Stanley (Acadia). Good work Sarah!
October 14th, 2010 - Inaugural UNB Earth Science Day!
Over 100 students from 5 area schools participated in a full-day of earth science activities at Fredericton's O'Dell Park. Students chose from a variety of demonstrations (see below) and field trips designed to introduce them to the fundamentals of earth science investigation. Relationships between earth science and societal issues were also highlighted. The day was a great success and the Department of Geology is looking forward to running the event next year.
1. Make (and measure) your own Earthquake |
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October 1st, 2010 - First LA-ICP-MS results generated.
see the laser ablation link under the Department's Facilities page
September 8th, 2010 - Welcome back!
The annual Welcome back to school GAGS barbeque is planned for September 23rd at the Grad House. See you then!
August 30th, 2010 - Laser Ablation and ICP-MS systems signed-off
After and intense two week period of instrument installation and training, the new laser ablation-ICP-MS system is now up and running! Learn more.
May, 2010 -McAllister Trip to New Mexico.
Another successful McAllister field trip was run in New Mexico...photos coming soon!
May, 2010 - Hale Trip to The Eifel Volcanic Field
This year's Hale trip traveled to the Eifel Volcanic Field...photo coming soon!
March, 2010 - UNB @ PDAC
UNB night at the PDAC was a great success with over fifty friends and alumni on hand to celebrate the passed year's achievements. Mac and Rena Watson and Jean Derosier (Xstrata Zinc) were on hand to recieve acknowledgement for their contributions to the new LA-ICP-MS system.
Chris McFarlane (centre) thanks Jean Derosier (left) and Steve McCutcheon (DNR) for their support of the new laser lab.
Jan 31st, 2010 - final touches on the Quatermain Centre exterior
The final piece of the Quartmain Centre exterior renovation being fastened in place. See the Quatermain Centre page for more pictures.
Jan 26th, 2010 - Inaugural 1st year lab and Departmental seminar in new smart classroom
Senior instructor Dr. Adrian Park (background) supervises the inaugural GEOL1017 lab session in the newly renovated room 104.
Geology undergads, grads, faculty, and visitors enjoying a lunch time talk in room 104 by 2010 APICS-AGS distinguished lecturer Dr. John Waldron.