This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information.
People & Culture
From painting a new side of the Franklin expedition to documenting shipwrecks along Ontario’s Hudson Bay Coast, see what just a few of the RCGS’s more than 1,000 Fellows are working on in 2018
When Jean-Luc Pilon, curator of central archaeology at the Canadian Museum of History, was carrying out his doctoral research in the Fort Severn, Ont., area in the early 1980s, locals told him about shipwreck sites west of Fort Severn along the shores of Hudson Bay. At the time, he was focused on documenting the region’s ancient history, but this past August, he returned to the area with University of New Brunswick Master’s student Katherine Davidson and then-Fort Severn deputy-chief Chris Koostachin to view these remains, which are located about 60 kilometres east of the Manitoba border. The trio logged 192 kilometres and documented six marine-related sites.
Viewing Ontario’s coastal tundra and the endless expanse of the Hudson Bay shoreline with its myriad flocks of shore birds was, says Pilon, simply amazing. This incredible experience was punctuated by polar bear sightings — not one or two, but 37, including at least two mother and cub groups. On this return to Severn the team followed ancient raised beach ridges and had the season’s biggest and brightest full moon as its guiding beacon. Work continues on the identification of the beached wrecks.
In late October 2017, NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik made a request from the International Space Station that people across the globe participate in an “Around the World In 90 Minutes” event. During one orbit of the ISS, he and other astronauts took a series of images of the world for future use, while hundreds of people shared images from their own locations via twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #1world1orbit. RCGS Fellow Dave MacLean, of the Centre of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, N.S., orchestrated a number of his GIS students to help map those images (using technology that they learn in class). The results are on this online interactive map. To help spread word about the mapping effort, the astronauts gave the project a shout-out from space.
People & Culture
Celebrating iconic collaborations, exciting partnerships, a new RCGS president and many more memorable moments from the 93rd College of Fellows Annual Dinner
People & Culture
Celebrating new partnerships, milestone anniversaries and a bird for Canadians on geography's biggest night
People & Culture
Exploration, education, new Fellows and the launch of RCGS Resolute: here are some of the highlights from the 2017 RCGS Fellows Dinner and AGM
People & Culture
Remembering Louie Kamookak, a new Explorer-in-Residence and other highlights from the 89th Annual College of Fellows Dinner