News Archive
2023
30 Sept 2023Congratulation to Dr. Coulson!
Congratulations to Dr. Coulson who became Associate Head of the Dept. of Geology on 1st July 2023. In September 2023, he was appointed Vice-President of the Volcanology and Igneous Petrology Division of the Geological Association of Canada.
11 Sept 2023
Congratulation to Kaylee Tymo!
Congratulations to Kaylee Tymo (BSc student) for wining the 10k (female) at the recent Queen City Marathon.
4 July 2023
Welcom Dr. Leslie Robbins!
Welcome to Dr. Leslie Robbins as our Department Head moving forward for a three year term (2023-2026). We would also like to express our gratitude to Dr. Ian Coulson who will serve as the Associate Department Head for a one year term (2023-2024).
4 July 2023
Thank you to Dr. Renata Raina-Fulton
The Department of Geology would like to thank Dr. Renata Raina-Fulton for her service as our Department Head over the past year.
30 July 2023
Thank you to Van Tran
The Department of Geology would like to express our collective gratitude to Van Tran for her years of service as our Departmental Administrative Assistant, as she is moving on to a position elsewhere at URegina. Thank you for your hard work and diligence Van, and good luck in your new appointment!
27 May 2023
Congratulations to MSc student Nahanni Young!
Congratulations to MSc student Nahanni Young on winning the Best Poster Award at the Joint Annual Meeting of GAC-MAC-SGA in Sudbury, ON. She placed first among 70 entries. Her research focuses on mineral exploration in northern Saskatchewan using fluid inclusions (drops of ancient liquid trapped in a mineral). Her supervisor is Dr. Guoxiang Chi.
29 March 2023
Congratulations to MSc students Kaitlyn Crawford and Nahanni Young!
Congratulations to Geology MSc students Kaitlyn Crawford and Nahanni Young for their performances at the URegina 3-Minute Thesis finals on Tuesday, March 28 at Darke Hall! Nahanni was the winner of the people's choice awards - well done Nahanni!
photo (L-R): Kaitlyn Crawford and Nahanni Young
3MT Finals
Mark your calendars for the three minute thesis (3MT) finals that will take place on 28 March 2023 at Darke Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Eight students will be presenting their research in three minutes, including URegina Geology MSc students Kaitlyn Crawford and Nahanni Young! The presentations and judging will be followed by a reception.
15 Mar 2023
Seminar postponed
Note that this week's seminar has been postponed to a date TBD in the future.
2022
25 Sept 2022Seminars this week
Join us this week for 3 seminars: on Tuesday, Pam Schwann from the Saskatchewan Mining Association will speak on Advancing Critical Mineral Opportunities in Saskatchewan, on Wednesday, visiting speaker Dr Joshua Davies from UQAM will speak on Climatic and lunar signals recorded in Paleoproterozoic Banded Iron Formations, and URegina MSc student Dan Ferguson will speak on Thursday about The Midwest Uranium Deposit.
12 Sept 2022
Lectures with Dr. Linda Campbell
This week Dr. Linda Campbell, a collaborator of Dr. McBeth in our department, will be presenting three lectures during her visit to Saskatchewan. The first two seminars will be at the University of Saskatchewan and will be livecast for remote attendees, for registration info for these USask events, please visit event pages below.- In Between Worlds: Navigating the globe as a Deaf scientist in a hearing world (Thursday, 15 Sept 2022, 1:30 pm).
- The Environment and History Colliding: the Case of Legacy Gold Mine Tailings in Nova Scotia, Canada (Thursday, 15 Sept 2022, 3:30 pm).
Dr. Campbell's seminar at URegina, entitled Invasive Chain pickerel and species at risk: What is going on in the Maritimes, will be Friday, 16 Sept 2022 in room CL130 at 2:30 pm (sorry, there is no remote attendance option for the URegina lecture).
7 Sept 2022
Information Seminar - Dr K. MacLachlan, APEGS - APEGS Information Session for Geology and Environmental Geoscience Students
Currently majoring in Geology or Environmental Geoscience or thinking about it? Please join us on Monday, Sept 12 from 12-1pm in CW237.1 for an information seminar about how our programs meet APEGS requirements. APEGS is the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, and all our grads should qualify for professional registration. Our programs are designed to achieve this if you take all the courses we require as per the degree plan, but it's still important to familiarize yourself with their requirements to ensure you are on track. Dr K. MacLachlan will give us the scoop!
31 Aug 2022
Welcome back students!!
24 Aug 2022
COVID Announcement
One week until classes begin - we hope you are as excited to return to classes as we are! All classes and labs will be face-to-face this semester. Given the anticipated prevalence of COVID-19 and other viral infections this fall, students are strongly encouraged to wear masks to lectures and labs to minimize collective risk of health-related absences. Please do not attend lecture or lab if you are ill. Contact your instructor as soon as possible in the event of illness that prevents you attending an exam or lab.
15 Aug 2022
Remembering Dr. Bob MacDonald
The Department of Geology is sad to report that Bob MacDonald, who served as a Sessional Instructor and Adjunct Professor for many years, has passed away. Dr. Robert Macdonald passed away on August 9th, 2022 at the age of 91. Bob had a vibrant geological career and was inducted into the SGS Honour Roll in 2013. View his obituary.
1 Jul 2022
Welcome Dr. Renata Raina-Fulton!
The Department of Geology would like to welcome Renata Raina-Fulton (Professor, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry) as our chair in a 5 year appointment. Renata is an environmental chemist; welcome Renata!
11 Jun 2022
Remembering Dr. Donald Kent
The Department of Geology is saddened to share the news that Dr Donald Kent, Professor Emeritus, passed away on June 8th. Don was a great friend, colleague, teacher and mentor who served as a professor of Geology at the University of Regina from 1968 until his retirement in June 1996; during that time he served for some time as the Head of the Geology Department. Don's research on understanding the petroleum geology of Canada has provided much of the foundation upon which petroleum exploration in Saskatchewan was based. He received many awards for his professional work, with the most recent being the 2021 Canadian Professional Geoscientist Award. Although he demanded a lot from his students, he was well liked and admired by them. Upon his retirement, Dr. Kent set up two scholarships (Sedimentary Geology Scholarship and Donald Kent Geology Award) to support our students. These contributions coupled with his recognized dedication to teaching and mentoring of students through his career led to creation of the ‘D.M. Kent Club of Geology’ (the University of Regina undergraduate geology club) in the early 2000s. He will be remembered fondly and missed immensely. View the details of Dr Kent's obituary and memorial service details.
Jun 2022
Earth Ring 2022
Congratulations to our 2022 Graduates and to the Earth Ring Recipients! On Thursday, June 9th the 2022 graduates officially received their Geology or Environmental Geoscience diplomas. In addition, we also congratulate the 22 Earth Ring Recipients from the April 28th, 2022 ceremony (photo below). We wish them the best wherever their career may take them and hope to hear from them with updates on their Earth science adventures soon!
16-19 May 2022
High School Career Fair
Visit to Balgonie, Saskatchewan - we enjoyed introducing our Geology and Environmental Geoscience programs to 3300+ Grade 9 students visiting Balgonie from around southern Saskatchewan during our visit there from May 16-19th, 2022. Many thanks to Nic Montenegro and Kaitlyn Crawford for their help and the Faculty of Science for inviting us to this very successful event.
22 April 2022
Earth Ring Ceremony Update
An update on the Earth Ring Ceremony for our new graduates - the Earth Ring ceremony is happening on Thurday April 28, 1:30pm in the Multipurpose room, Riddel Center, University of Regina. Please review the instructions document well in advance of attending the ceremony - note that masks will be required and if you are ill you should not attend the event. If you plan on attending can you please let Joanne know by the end of the day Monday April 25 because we need a numbers count for catering. Joanne Downing: CW234.1; 306-585-4737; Joanne.Downing@uregina.ca
22 April 2022
GEOL 102 will be offered in the Spring/Summer semesters
Happy Earth Day!! We are pleased to offer a section of Environmental Geology (GEOL 102) in the Spring/Summer semester. This will be offered face-to-face (in person) with a face-to-face lab! The Spring/Summer semester runs from 2 May to June 15, and the classes will be every M/W/T/R from 8-9:15 am. There are two lab sections to choose from; Tuesday or Thursday from 2-4:45 pm.
23 Mar 2022
GEOL 496 field school
Attention URegina Geology and Environmental Geoscience students! Dr. Bethune is preparing for the GEOL 496 field school that will take place at the end of the summer (tentative dates: August 25 - September 3, 2022). Please contact Dr. Bethune (cc Van) by April 11 to express your interest in attending. Note that you must have completed GEOL 313, 315, 353, and 396 prior to attending the field school. There will be a $800 trip fee on top of tuition. There are limited spaces, and priority will to go students graduating in Fall 2022 or Winter 2023.
15 Mar 2022
Order your Earth Rings for the 2022 Ceremony by 15 March!
2022 Graduates, and other URegina graduates who have not previously participated in an Earth Ring event: the Earth Ring Ceremony will be held on 28 April 2022. If you wish to participate this year, each sterling silver ring costs $131.25 including GST (engraving is extra, and other option are available). The deadline to order rings is 15 March 2022, for further information contact Joanne Downing: CW234.1; 306-585-4737; Joanne.Downing@uregina.ca
13 Mar 2022
Earth Ring Ceremony Update
The Earth Ring Ceremony will be held on 28 April 2022, at 1:30 pm in the Multipurpose Room in the Riddle Centre. This event is for 2022 graduates and URegina Geology graduates who have not previously participated in this ceremony to welcome new graduates into the profession. You are welcome to bring guests to the ceremony (note that masks will be required, since this event falls in the time period when masks are required for events held at the university). Each sterling silver ring costs $131.25 including GST (engraving is extra, and other option are available). The deadline to order rings is 15 March 2022, for further information contact Joanne Downing: CW234.1; 306-585-4737; Joanne.Downing@uregina.ca
2021
12 Nov 2021Remembering Dr. Laurence Vigrass
Professor Emeritus Laurence Vigrass passed away on October 19th, 2021 at the age of 92. Dr. Vigrass served the University of Regina Department of Geology from 1968 until his retirement in 1991. Dr. Vigrass taught Geology of Fluids and initiated a research program in organic petrography during his tenure in the Department. He was Director of Energy Research at the University of Regina; under his direction an experimental well was drilled on campus for geothermal research. Prior to his retirement, Professor Vigrass established the "L. W. Vigrass Prize" valued at $500/year for a student majoring in Geology. A Celebration of Life was held for Prof. Vigrass on Friday, November 12th at 11 a.m. at the Library, 41 Elm St., Katepwa Beach SK. View Prof. Vigrass’ obituary.
7 Oct 2021
Novel responses of diatoms in neotropical mountain lakes to Indigenous and post-European occupation
It is well known that human activities have significant impact on present day environment, but relatively little is known about when and how such impact took place in the early human history. A study led by Dr. Maria Velez of the Department of Geology, University of Regina, demonstrates that diatoms in lake sediments can provide important clues in answering such questions. In a recent publication in The Anthropocene, Velez et al. (2021) reported on diatom stratigraphies in sediment cores collected from eight mountain lakes in Guatemala, Panama and Colombia. They found that pre-Columbian indigenous peoples had significant impacts on terrestrial ecosystems in the American tropics ... Read more
10 Sept 2021
Return to field work!
After a one-year hiatus in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our field schools returned to the real field this year! Geol-396, led by Dr. Hairuo Qing, was conducted at Banff and Eastend from August 22 to 28, with six students and one TA. Geol-496, participated by 14 students and led by Dr. Guoxiang Chi, with assistance from Monica Cliveti (lab instructor) and two TAs, was conducted at Flin Flon from September 3 to 10. Students were excited to see the spetacular geological features that they have learned from classroom and books while acquiring new geological knowledge and field techniques in the context of regional and local geology.
25 Feb 2021
Road to higher learning
What lessons have been learned from online education? Geology student Nicole Kerbs shares her experience in the University of Regina, reports Regina Leader-Post.
6 Feb 2021
U of R professors come up with creative workarounds to give students virtual lab experience
Professors and lab instructors in the Department of Geology come up with creative ways to give students virtual lab experience. Instructors create videos and put together at-home lab kits to give students hands-on learning.