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Proactive disclosure Print version ![]() ![]() | ![]() | ![]() Successes in Science and Technology Annual Review (2004-2005) Public Outreach
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Many of NRCan's regional offices opened their doors to the public and held a number of events to celebrate NSTW. The GSC office in Vancouver organized a series of "Rock Walk Talks"-one-hour tours of the urban geology around the Robson Street Office. Students, teachers, and clients who visited the office participated in rock-identification contests and scavenger hunts, and the winners received prizes and certificates. The office also held educational sessions such as "Mapmaking 101" and showed students a series of videos relevant to the earth sciences. In collaboration with Parks Canada, GSC employees in Quebec held geological field excursions in Old Quebec City and Montmorency Falls. The Centre for Topographic Information in Sherbrooke opened its doors to the community. Visitors were welcomed to Earth observation demonstrations at the satellite receiving stations in Gatineau, Quebec, and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Several events took place in conjunction with the Corporation of Delta and the Tsawwassen First Nation to highlight NRCan's work on climate change and natural hazards. In the Yukon, several ESS scientists were on hand to answer questions on their research during an event organized by the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Directorate.
A capacity audience in the north heard Dr. Benoit Beauchamp give a talk entitled, 'The Day After Tomorrow' Happened 280 Million Years Ago: Should We Fear Abrupt Climate Change in the Future?, where they were reassured that although climatic shifts have occurred in the past, they are not as rapid as portrayed in popular movies. This 'Charles Camsell Talk' was sponsored by the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and took place during the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum.
Dr. Lionel Jackson of ESS, and Dr. Michael Wilson, an archaeology and earth science scholar at Douglas College, presented a well-attended free public evening lecture at Vancouver's H.R. MacMillan Space Centre Auditorium in December, 2004. Entitled "The Ice-Free Corridor and the Peopling of the Americas-An Open and Shut Case", this event was organized by the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Association of Canada and highlighted the contributions made by GSC scientists over the past 100 years.
In September 2004, the GSC's Map and Publication Sales office in Vancouver participated for the first time in the popular, local, annual 'Word On The Street Festival'. Staff at the ESS booth sold geoscience publications, answered earth science related questions and made hundreds of contacts among teachers, geology enthusiasts and the public.
Two of the latest posters in the highly successful 'Geoscape' series from ESS were launched on Earth Day, April 22, 2004. Geoscape Ottawa-Gatineau: Living with our geological landscape is a large, colourful poster produced by the GSC and its provincial, municipal and academic partners. Geoscape Southern Saskatchewan: Geoscience for Prairie communities was also unveiled on Earth Day by Minister Eric Cline, Department of Industry and Resources, Saskatchewan, at a school in Regina. All of the posters in the series use diagrams, maps, and photographs to illustrate how geological events shaped the landscape, resources, and natural hazards of Canadian regions. More information ... The Groundwater program of ESS published two 'Waterscape' posters and related web sites to promote water stewardship and science-based decision-making. Waterscape Bowen Island: water for our island community and Waterscape Gulf Islands: protecting and conserving our island water can be downloaded through the Waterscape web site. GeoConnections, the Calgary Geomatics Cluster and the University of Calgary developed a highly successful series of six posters to raise the awareness of geomatics among Canadian students. These colourful posters illustrate how geomatics is used to address challenges in such areas as natural resources, the environment, agriculture, health, business, and government. In 2004, almost 5,000 complete sets were mailed to secondary and post-secondary schools across Canada and many more were handed out at National Science and Technology Week events across Canada. To order copies, visit http://www.discovergeomatics.com. Climate change is a popular topic in Canada's classrooms. Consistently high demand prompted reprints of a series of posters that depict the effects of regional climate change in Canada. ESS has distributed some 120,000 of these posters, not only to schools, but also to universities, provincial and municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, and industries throughout the country. Visitors to the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation program's web site can view the posters and order them at http://www.adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/home_e.asp or by calling 1-800 O-Canada.
Two day-long geoscience workshops for Grade 10 science teachers were held in Victoria and Kelowna during late October 2004. As part of a province-wide professional development day, these teachers received various Geoscape posters and the 'Temperatures rising' poster from the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program to take to their students. Funded by EdGEO, a national initiative of the Canadian Geoscience Council, the workshops were delivered with the help of GSC volunteers. This partnership between the GSC and EdGEO to "teach the teachers" has proved to be an efficient way to increase geoscience literacy across the country.
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