WDCAG 2020: Finding our Way in the Twenties, and Why Geography Matters More than Ever
March 13-14, Prince George, BC, Canada. CAG Western Division.
Field trips will take place on Friday, March 13, 2020.
Field Trip 1: Paleogeography, Land Forms and Soils of Glacial Lake Fraser
Field Trip 2: The Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
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Field Trip 3: UNBC Trails Trek
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Field Trip Descriptions
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Field Trip 1: Paleogeography, Land Forms and Soils of Glacial Lake Fraser
Prince George, British Columbia, is located near the centre of what was one of the great late-Pleistocene ice sheets. During the waning phase of glaciation, temporary lakes formed against the wasting and retreating ice, leaving an enduring record of glacial, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial landforms. The largest known glacial lake in the central interior was glacial Lake Fraser. Shorelines of the lake have been mapped across the UNBC campus, making for a lake depth of up to 300 m at Prince George. Come join us and spend a day exploring the unique glacial geography of the Prince George region. This is the first opportunity to explore this ancient landscape since its reinterpretation by our tour guide. The tour will include visits to number of field sites in the vicinity and will stream georeferenced, high resolution, DEM data between stops to provide for a comprehensive perspective of the landscape.
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Guides: Brendan Miller is a Research Soil Scientist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. He has been working, studying, and recreating in northern BC for 25 years. He has a BSc in Physical Geography from UBC, a MSc in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from U.Alberta, and is a PhD candidate in Physical Geography at SFU. He is a Professional Geoscientist (Geotechniques) in BC and a Fellow of Geosciences Canada.
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Marten Geertsema is a Research Geomorphologist at FLNRO and adjunct professor at UNBC and the University of Victoria. He has three decades of experience with the BC Forest Service, focusing on terrain interpretation and geohazards.
Details:
Date: Friday, March 13th, 2020
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm
Departure location: UNBC (by library south entrance)
Maximum participants: 6
Cost: $30 per person (includes transportation, water & light snacks).
For further information, please contact Brendan Miller by e-mail at Brendan.miller@gov.bc.ca.
*Individuals should make their own bag lunch arrangements. We can stop at Tim Hortons on the way out of Prince George if desired. We will provide a flat of water and a variety of granola bars as a supplement. The tour can be structure to accommodate individuals with mobility challenges. Please let me know if you would like the tour structured in a certain manner.
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Field Trip 2: The Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
Come and spend the day snowshoeing in the Ancient Forest – BC’s newest park and the only inland temperate rainforest in the world. There are red cedar trees up to 5 metres in diameter and incredible biodiversity reflected in a range of fungi, mosses, and other plants. This fieldtrip will tell the story about the development of the trails and boardwalk system at the Ancient Forest, and eventually the efforts to establish this as a class A park. It is a story about volunteer and community capacity. Spearheaded by the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club, members worked with the McBride Community Forest, several other organizations, volunteers, and Katimivik youth from Quebec and New Brunswick (a total of 193 volunteers) to construct a universal boardwalk in order to make this unique area accessible to visitors with disabilities. We will be joined by Nowell Senior, who made over 400 trips and spent more than 5,000 hours over nine years on this initiative.
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Details:
Date: Friday, March 13th, 2020
Time: 10 am
Departure location: TBD
Maximum: 10 participants.
Cost: $60 per person (includes snowshoe rental, lunch, and transportation).
Please note: this will be a snowshoe trip, but weather conditions can vary at this time of year. Participants should come prepared with appropriate layers of warm clothing, footwear, gloves / mittens, rain gear, etc.
For further information, please contact: Laura Ryser by e-mail: laura.ryser@unbc.ca.
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Field Trip 3: UNBC Trails Trek
Guide: Roger Wheate has been a professor at UNBC since it opened in 1994 and teaches Cartography, GIS and remote sensing. He is fortunate in being able to hike/run/bike/ski the trails from home to UNBC, and to help get them mapped.
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UNBC is blessed with an extensive trail system due to its location on Cranbrook Hill, including the 22km long Greenway, the grandly named Forests for the World, and more recently trails built and groomed by the fat biking community. It’s likely that by mid-March, the trail surfaces will be best suited to runners/hikers, but fresh snow might enable XC skiing or snowshoeing, which can be rented, if requested ahead. Attractions we may visit include a Dakelh pit house, the highest point in Prince George, viewing platforms, beaver dam, the safely frozen Shane Lake, and other water bodies. Moose viewing is possible, but not guaranteed!
Details:
Date: Friday, March 13th, 2020
Time: 2.30-5:00 pm
Departure location: TBD
Maximum participants: no limit
Cost: $0 – bring yourself, and footwear with good tread - hikers or runners
Note: Registration not required. Please email Roger so he can get an idea of numbers. Attendees who arrive earlier and/or wish for a longer excursion can contact him for maps and tips for a self-guided trip. Full day trips are feasible for the energetic, with the possibility of snowshoes or skis.
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For further information and if interested in joining, please contact: Roger.Wheate@unbc.ca
Contact Us
Canadian Association of Geographers
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Email
info@cag-acg.ca
Address​​​​​​
PO Box 25039
Welland, ON L3B 5V0