IN THIS ISSUE
FIELD NOTES
TEACHING & LEARNING
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
HARQUAIL BSC SCHOLARSHIPS
CONGRATULATIONS, SPRING GRADUATES!
FALL SEMINAR SERIES
GRADUATE COURSES
CAREER & RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
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September's fresh start: a new adventure begins!
Welcome back to our students, researchers, faculty, and staff -- and the warmest of welcomes to those who just joined the Harquail School of Earth Sciences!
Over the past six months, our faculty, staff, and students have been meeting challenges with work, studies, and life during a global pandemic.
Together, we have made sacrifices and worked to stay safe while completing research and classes. We are proud of everyone's efforts at home, in offices and labs, and in the field as we adjust, innovate, and even find ways to thrive!
In this issue, we'll share ways that we've adapted our teaching, learning, and fieldwork approaches. We'll highlight achievements, and feature upcoming courses and seminars at the Harquail School of Earth Sciences.
We hope this newsletter helps everyone stay connected, get reconnected, or be introduced this fall. 🍁🍃
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The Atikokan Transect Crew. Pictured are (L-R): Mohamed Farhat, MSc student Metal Earth; Gabrielle Fouillard, MSc student Metal Earth; Dr. Bruno Lafrance, Structural Geology professor at Harquail School of Earth Sciences, and Metal Earth Associate Director; and Khadija Kadu, field assistant from the University of Waterloo.
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With pandemic travel restrictions in place, many researchers had to modify or postpone plans this field season. Some essential Metal Earth field research was conducted, following strict guidelines to protect the health and safety of our crews and communities. Dr. Harold Gibson was also able to run his fall field school, which was necessary for students to graduate.
Through this pandemic, researchers and students built upon their health and safety training, following protocols that enabled the work to proceed. With this in place, some researchers were even able to assist others in need.
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These two missing beagles were found exhausted after five days on the run. Research associate (PDF) Gaetan Launay and MSc candidate Mattea McRae were conducting fieldwork in the Rainy River transect, near Nestor Falls when they found the lost dogs and phoned their owner, who was grateful to learn that her dogs were still alive. Both the owner and beagles were relieved to be reunited.
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TEACHING AND LEARNING ADAPTS
Throughout the summer, our faculty and staff have been working hard to make classes and labs traditionally taught in-class both effective and engaging for students online. Using new platforms, methods, and technology, we are teaching and learning in new ways.
While everyone is continuing to adapt, here are some examples of what our faculty and staff have done to advance the online student experience.
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Dr. Pedro J. Jugo is creating short videos to offer his GEOL 3206 students a virtual view of thin sections observed through a microscope, using samples from the Harquail School of Earth Sciences collection. "After more than 20 years doing this work I still find minerals in thin sections beautiful things to watch," Dr. Jugo said.
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Using a new 3D printer purchased by HES, Dr. Andy Macdonald created crystal models for his students. The models will help students learn basic concepts of symmetry, which underpins the rules regarding how atoms are joined to make crystals. He also ordered mineral identification tools for students to use on samples, so they can study while learning remotely.
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Technologist Tobias Roth prepared study kits for every student taking first-year geology labs via Zoom. He also researched how to combat "Zoom fatigue," tackling this issue before it sets in.
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FACULTY IN THE NEWS
This year, our faculty have been making headlines for their research and accolades. Congratulations on these achievements!
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In the academic equivalent of a hat trick, Dr. Andrew McDonald has been awarded this year's Hawley Medal for the third time in his career. Alongside former student Elliot Wehrle, Dr. McDonald co-authored a paper that was selected as the best to be published in The Canadian Mineralogist in 2019.
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Dr. Alessandro Ielpi co-authored a paper published in AGU Advances in June 2020 about the landscape of an area on Mars that NASA plans to explore with a land rover. This comes after another publication in the renowned journal, Nature Geoscience, in January 2020.
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HARQUAIL BSC SCHOLARSHIPS
Ten new scholarships, valued at $5,000 each, were made available for eligible undergraduate students registered in first or second-year studies in either Environmental Geoscience or Earth Sciences (Geology) in the 2020-2021 academic year. Visit https://hes.laurentian.ca/hesbsc for details and to apply.
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CONGRATULATIONS, SPRING GRADUATES!
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The Harquail School of Earth Sciences faculty, staff, and students congratulate 21 new graduates, including 15 new BSc, 5 new MSc, 1 new PhD from our Earth Sciences programs. We wish them every success in their future endeavours!
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Our Fall 2020 Seminar Series will be broadcast live via Zoom, enabling global access to this event. We will be sharing the meeting links and details as they are ready. Special thanks to Dr. Mostafa Naghizadeh for organizing this series.
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Schedule
OCTOBER
2 Dr. Jesse R. Reimink, Pennsylvania State University
9 Dr. Paul Bauman, CSEG Distinguished Lecturer
23 Dr. Nicholas Arndt, Laurentian Adjunct Faculty
30 Dr. George Gao, Laurentian Adjunct Faculty
NOVEMBER
6 Undergraduate Preliminary Thesis Presentations
13 Dr. Mike Lesher, Mineral Exploration Research Chair
20 Dr. Natalie Caciagli, Laurentian Adjunct Faculty
24 Dr. Jacob Hanley, Laurentian Adjunct Faculty
27 Dr. Brendan Murphy, Laurentian Adjunct Faculty
DECEMBER
3-4 Graduate Student Presentations
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UPCOMING GRADUATE/MODULAR COURSE
Registrations are open for Dr. C. Michael Lesher's Exploration Geochemistry course, GEOL 5806. The course runs via webcast from December 8 - 18, 2020. Full details about this course and more are available at: https://hes.laurentian.ca/modular-courses.
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This 10-day course addresses the principles and methods of lithogeochemical and surficial geochemical exploration, including planning, sampling, analysis, QAQC, data handling, plotting (using ioGAS), and interpretation. It includes case histories, applications to magmatic Cr and Ni-Cu-(PGE) sulfide deposits, porphyry Cu deposits, volcanic-associated Cu-Zn-(Pb) deposits, Archean lode gold deposits, sedimentary-exhalative Pb-Zn-Cu deposits, and diamond deposits, and a variety of exploration-elevant laboratory exercises.
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