More than 200 geography undergraduates, graduate geography students and faculty from B.C. and Alberta have converged on UNBC’s Prince George campus this weekend for the annual conference of the Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (WDCAG) on Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12.

Organized by UNBC’s Geography Program, the theme of the 58th annual meeting is The West in the 21st Century ¬– Legacies and Trajectories.

Topics that will be presented include those on monitoring environmental change, critical geographies of rural and northern health, housing and labour issues in B.C.’s Lower Mainland, neighbourhood and community development, biogeography, water quality and energy futures.

“Conferences are very important events for faculty and graduate student researchers. They are a great way to share research results, test new ideas, broaden professional networks, and learn about interesting research underway at other institutions. A really unique aspect of this conference is the large number of undergraduate students who are present. This is a great way for these students to see a side of the discipline they are not typically exposed to in their studies,” said UNBC geography professor Dr. Neil Hanlon and WDCAG conference chair.

“For many student presenters, this will be their first formal presentation outside a classroom setting. These are often the presentations to watch for – students usually bring their A game!”
Dr. Hanlon is also former president of the WDCAG.

Besides B.C. and Alberta, a group of faculty and students from Western Washington University in Bellingham are attending the conference, as well as those from other parts of Canada including Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The keynote speaker on Friday, March 11 is Dr. Charles Helm, a family doctor from Tumbler Ridge, who will speak on The Tumbler Ridge Global GeoPark – A First for Western North America, in the Canfor Theatre. The GeoPark has been designated a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Global Geoparks site and Dr. Helm spearheaded the campaign toward that designation.

UNBC geographer and poet Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, who is also an associate professor with the Northern Medical Program, will wrap up the event Saturday with a lecture, entitled Orgasmic Poetic Spaces in Northern British Columbia: Eco-Erotic Poetry and Geographers in the Anthropocene.

During the two-day event, there are also field trips to various points of interest in Prince George, including Cranbrook Hill, Eskers Provincial Park, UNBC’s Bioenergy Plant and downtown Prince George.

UNBC’s Geography program (faculty and undergraduate and graduate students) is a long-time participant at the previous WDCAG conferences.
UNBC last hosted the conference in 2003.

Pictured are: UNBC geography lecturer Sinead Earley, and student volunteers Theresa Westhaver, Megan Wall and Richan Greenlees.