President's Report, 2004
President’s Report, 2003-2004.
I. The Canadian Geoscience Council: Towards a new model.
As the current President ends his two year term there are significant changes underway within the Canadian Geoscience Council. At the 110th Council meeting in Vancouver in May 2003 it was stated that CGC must to be relevant to a changing society and should be able to react more effectively to geoscience issues. It was recognized that there was need for better communication and an improved public perception of geoscience. Innovations in Canadian geoscience were not perhaps being showcased adequately. It was obvious that a broader participation in CGC involving all sectors of the geoscience community was essential if these objectives were to be achieved.
During 2003-2004 the Canadian Geoscience Council operated with a substantially reduced Board of Directors. The Board at full complement and according to the By-Laws should include the President, President Elect (or Past President), and 7 Directors (Administration, Committees, Communications, Education, Finance, International, and Issues). During 2002-3 CGC operated with 7 Board members, (minus the Committees and Communications Directors). Prior to the 110th Council meeting the Board decided to operate for the coming year, 2003-2004 with a further reduced membership of 5 members. Unfortunately no nominations were received for a President Elect which resulted in a membership of 4 CGC directors (President, Education, Finance and International). During this two year period the board has relied heavily on the services of its part-time salaried Executive Officer, Bob Mummery.
Given the current reduced structure of the CGC Board and a need to meet the objectives outlined at the 110th Council meeting it was decided to assess CGC’s performance. As part of this process the opinions of former Presidents and Council members as to the future role of CGC were sought. Accordingly a register of former CGC Presidents’ contact details was completed. Prior to the 111th CGC council meeting in Toronto, CGC Past Presidents provided frank and useful comment on the problems and possible solutions as they saw them both with Canadian Geoscience and the Canadian Geoscience Council itself.
A major action item accomplished by the current Board was to convene the first meeting of the Council of Canadian Geoscience Presidents. This was held in Toronto preceding the 111th Council meeting. The council of Presidents Meeting was felt by all those present to be a successful and worthwhile initiative. The meeting was attended by 12 Presidents, Past Presidents and high-level Officers in CGC member Geoscience organizations. Minutes of the meeting can be found at News
A second meeting with an education theme is scheduled for May 29th 2004. As outgoing CGC President I believe that the synergy between the new formed Council of Geoscience Presidents forum and CGC is a very positive and significant development. The Council of Presidents provides a high-level forum at which important issues may be discussed. The results of these discussions are an improved communication and strategy for geoscience. Presidents can feedback to their respective societies and utilize their infrastructure to address common issues. The Council of Presidents also forms an important line of communication with which to ensure that the Canadian Geoscience Council focuses on the priority issues of the day.
The Canadian Geoscience Council has come through a difficult year in which Board members considered all the alternatives including suspending activities. With the support of the Member institutions evident at recent meetings the outgoing President feels that there is a real momentum which can be built upon to the advantage of Canadian Geoscience. The Board is pleased to welcome back the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists as subscribing members of CGC and hope to see the return of other member societies in the near future. Building on a new bottom-up approach CGC is ready to address the priority issues identified by its member organizations.
II. CGC Activities 2003-4
A reduced board membership has forced the Board to concentrate on resolving those issues which were of highest priority.
External relations
lA register of Past CGC President emails was acquired and a polling
of views on the future role of CGC, its problems and potential
solutions was undertaken. The Board would like to thank all those
past Presidents
of CGC who responded with thoughtful and helpful comments. The
constructive criticism and encouragement was welcome. This exercise
was undertaken
in order for the Board to decide on future path for CGC. The
views were circulated to Council Members at the 111th CGC meeting
in Toronto.
lThe first Council of Presidents meeting was organized and held in Toronto
in November 2003. It was attended by 12 Member Presidents/Directors and was
recognized as a potentially very useful forum. Common issues facing Geoscience
organizations were identified and strategies for addressing these issues discussed.
The priority issue recognized by member Presidents was “Communication
- and improved public awareness of the relevance of geoscience”
l The CGC remains committed in its support of the Canadian Geoscience Education Network (CGEN) and the EdGeo program of teachers’ workshops. At both the 111th CGC Council meeting and the 1st Council of President’s meeting in Toronto in November 2003 the importance of Education and public relations initiatives were emphasized. In recognition of this the Board organized a 2nd Council of President’s meeting held on May 29th 2004 in Calgary. This meeting had as its agenda:
1. Overview on Geoscience Education and outreach in Canada (Morgan)
2. Communication of educational and outreach activities underway in member
organizations.
3. Future collaboration.
4. Demographic issues in geoscience
5. Improved focus, dissemination and prioritization of activities
6. What are we doing well?
7. What should we be doing that we are not?
l In
response to the top priority issue of communication and public
awareness recognized at the 1st Council of Presidents a 3rd
Council of Presidents meeting
to be held in Ottawa in the fall of 2004. This meeting will involve presentations
of key and innovative topics in geoscience. Member societies will be asked
to put forward their showcase projects which can then be presented in a public
forum in Ottawa. It is intended that this meeting will address the relevance
of geoscience and also emphasise innovations that have been developed to
address current issues.
l Alan Morgan,
Education Director, represented CGC at a Canadian Geoscience Knowledge Network
(CGKN) meeting on March 4th and 5th in Toronto and reported
back to the Board.
l An oral presentation will be given, by invitation of NRCan, at the Mines Minister’s Conference in July , 2004 by Harvey Thorleifson, CGC International Director in Nunavut.
l The President of CGC provided letters in support of the Burgess Shale
Discovery Centre and for retaining high school instruction and
examinations in Geology in BC High schools. Letters were also
sent to the newly elected
Prime Minister Paul Martin and the Minister of Natural Resources,
John Efford, congratulating them on their appointment and providing
an overview
of the role of Canadian Geoscience Council.
l The President attended the opening of the new BC and Yukon Chamber of Mines
Building in Vancouver.
lThe President continues to be a board member of the Canadian Geological Foundation
and attended the Annual General Meeting in Vancouver in 2003. Although not
attending the May 2004 AGM the President participated in the written review
of annual applications for Canadian Geological Foundation Funding.
l The former CGC Past President, (2003) Jeremy Hall, was a member of the Royal
Society of Canada Expert panel on science issues related to oil and gas activities,
offshore BC. Members can find the April 2004 report at : http://www.rsc.ca/BC_offshore/indexEN.html
Internal relations
lAt the 111th council meeting, November 2003, Toronto, the need to
fill vacant positions on the CGC Board was emphasized. The Nominating
Committee submitted a call for nominations for vacant positions
on the CGC Board. In spite of the recognized success of the 111th
Council meeting
the Board were disappointed not to receive nominations for several
vacant Director positions. A nomination for President was received
from the Geological
Association of Canada and from the CSPG for an Issues Director.
We are actively pursuing a nomination for Communications Director.
l The Executive Officer, after agreement by Council, obtained a subscription
for CGC in the Big Online organization. It was hoped through this to obtain
additional sources of funding – unfortunately it materialized that CGC
would need to obtain charitable status to pursue may of the funding opportunities.
A decision was made not to renew the Big Online subscription.
l Discussions
have been undertaken to explore the possibility of an office in Calgary and
to investigate cost-saving administrative measures. During the
last three years CGC has employed a part-time Executive Officer. Given decreased
funding and a need to balance the budget, we will be forced to consider a reduction
by 50% in the services of the Executive Officer in 2004-5. A long term plan
to develop an alternative administrative and/or funding strategy is essential.
l CGC continues its advisory role to the federal government, and especially
Natural Resources Canada. The President of CGC sits, ex officio, on the Minister’s
National Advisory Board for Earth Sciences (MNABES). Owing to ill health the
President was unfortunately unable to attend the MNABES meeting in the spring
of 2004. The President attended a meeting of the GSC Advisory Committee in
2003 in Victoria and also provided written input to the review of the new GSC
programs from this meeting and a later meeting in Ottawa. A further meeting
of the GSC Advisory committee is scheduled for June 2004 in Calgary which the
President will be attending.
l CGC continues as the adhering body in Canada to the International Union of
Geological Sciences, and has also maintained its responsibility for administering
Canadian participation in projects of the International Geological Correlation
Program. Bryan Schreiner has had a successful year as International Director
and significant improvements in communication of international issues have
been reported. CGC were asked to provide a representative for the upcoming
IUGS conference in Florence in August 2004. Our International Director has
liaised to ensure a good representation from Canada and will Chair a session
at the Conference. Discussions have been initiated to allocate modest funding
toward the Canadian National Chapter of IUGS. Initial action has been undertaken
to revitalize the CNC.
Acknowledgements
The President would like to acknowledge the support received during 2003-4 by the Board Members, Don James, Alan Morgan and Bryan Schreiner and by the Executive Officer (Bob Mummery). It has been a difficult year but I believe the progress made has made it worthwhile. I look forward to working with the new Presdident and Board during 2004-5.
Doug Stead, B.Sc., MSc, PhD.
President of CGC
Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University