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Earth and Environmental Science at Acadia offers programs leading to B.Sc. degrees in Environmental Science, Geology and Environmental Geoscience, and M.Sc. degrees in Geology, Environmental Science and Applied Geomatics.

Departmental News

Acadia MSc student Amanda Smith was selected as one of six finalists for the Prospect Generation Challenge.  The challenge is a “Dragon’s Den” style event that will be held during the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2024 Convention in Toronto, on Saturday, March 2, 2024 where finalists pitch a mineral exploration target. The prize pool will award $90,000 CAD allocated into projects determined by the judges.

Congratulations and good luck Amanda!

The annual Atlantic Geoscience Society Colloquium took place in Moncton NB on February 2 and 3. The Department had excellent representation with 15 students, 6 professors, and a host of former students attending. A special session (“From ocean crust to mountain tops”) was held to celebrate the career of Dr. Sandra Barr and the talks in that session represented the wide range of her research very well. Congratulations to all our student presenters; Jack, Jonathan, Keaton, Jesse, Mitch, and Amanda, and thank you to all the students and professors who supported them. Thank you to the EES Cheslock Fund which helps to support student attendance at events like this one!

Acadia University was well represented in the awards given at the final banquet. Dr. Cliff Stanley received the Laing Ferguson Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his long-term contributions to the geosciences in the Atlantic region. Keaton Markham was awarded the Robert Raeside Award for the best undergraduate student poster for his poster “Using hyperspectral imaging of drill core to classify the mineralogy of the Walton barite deposit, Nova Scotia.” with work from his honours project (with Mo Synder and Masoud Aali). Mitch Maracle was awarded the Graham Williams Award for the best graduate student poster for his poster “The geoscience of wine: the influence of surficial geology on viticulture in the Gaspereau Valley – Grand Pré region, Nova Scotia.” with work from his Master’s project (with Ian Spooner and Denise Brushett).

Despite the snowstorm that stranded everyone in Moncton for a few extra days it was an excellent event and an inspiring show of student and faculty research!

Mitch Maracle (Graham Williams Award for best graduate poster), Dr. Cliff Stanley (Laing Ferguson Distinguished Service Award), and Keaton Markham (Robert Raeside Award for best undergraduate poster) at the AGS Banquet.

Current students and faculty in EES with enthusiastic alumni at the AGS Banquet.

Jonathan Koulouras, a 4th year GEOL student, has been chosen to attend the annual S-IMEW (Student-Industry Mineral Exploration Workshop) trip organized by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) taking place in  May 2024 in Sudbury and surrounding areas. SIMEW is an all expenses paid, two-week workshop involving 26 undergraduate students and over 70 industry volunteers. One student is chosen from each university in Canada with a geoscience program. The workshop includes mine visits, workshops, field mapping, core logging, equipment demonstrations, and networking. It also includes several field trips to important exploration areas and students get to learn from and interact with mining professionals in all areas of exploration and mining.

Congratulations Jonathan!