AUGC 2022 - Acadia
The Fletcher Geology Club hosted the 72nd annual Atlantic Universities Geoscience Conference (AUGC) at Acadia University on October 27-29. The AUGC is hosted each year by one of the six universities in Atlantic Canada with geoscience programs. It is organized and attended by mainly undergraduate students, and provides them with the opportunity to present their current work, learn about local geology, meet members of the broader Atlantic geoscience community, and enjoy the company of like-minded students from across the region. This year over 100 conference registrants gathered in Wolfville for the event. On Thursday evening, registration and a “meet and greet” event was held at the Acadia University Club. On Friday, approximate 75 students participated in one of three field trips: a geological tour of the Wolfville area (led by Sandra Barr and MSc student Amanda Smith), an introduction to the sedimentary, structural, and metamorphic geology in the Mahone Bay area (led by John Waldron and Deanne van Rooyen), and an examination of surficial features and geohazards around the Annapolis Valley area (led by Mo Snyder and Aaron Taylor).
On Friday evening, a fast-paced geo-trivia competition was attended by an enthusiastic crowd of students and faculty at the Wolfville Lion’s Club, sponsored by the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists and organized by Mo Snyder. The Acadia team of Cameron Greaves and Jessica Beckwith came out on top, and they and the second-place team from Saint Mary’s University will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Calgary in May, 2023, for the national Challenge Bowl championship. Congratulations, Cam and Jessica!
On Saturday, the students as well as faculty from all the universities represented at the conference and other members of the Maritime geoscience community gathered in the lower level of the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre on the Acadia campus for 17 oral and 9 poster presentations. They also heard guest speaker Carla Skinner, an Indigenous geoscientist, on the topics of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility in the Earth sciences. The six judges for the presentations congratulated all the students for their excellent presentations. Although none of the 6 presentations by Acadia students were chosen to be winners by the judges, Acadia faculty think that our student presenters were all winners – they did great jobs of conveying the importance of their research projects with exceptional style and enthusiasm. Thanks to Cam, Jesse, Jessica, Parker, Rowan, and Yuzhe for representing our department so well at this event. The list of award winners is provided on the Science Atlantic page.
In the evening, participants gathered in the Fountain Commons for a celebratory banquet and award presentations, as well as an engaging after-dinner presentation by geologist John Waldron and artist Sydney Lancaster exploring relationships between Art and Time.
Huge thanks to the organizing team, led by Cameron Greaves, for all their hard work to make this conference a huge scientific, educational, and social success and a truly memorable event for all of us.
The organizing committee for AUGC 2022 during the banquet in Fountain Commons. From left to right: Cameron Greaves, Yuzhe Gan, Mitch Maracle, Parker Ingham, Jessica Beckwith, Sully Harnum, Sandra Barr, Jesse Demaries-Smith, and Mo Snyder.