News for the CaNadiaN Chapter This snake ingested two things? Any guesses? See page 18. Vol. 4 No. 1 Summer 2012 The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 1 www.explorersclub.ca Message from the Chapter Chair John Pollack FI’06 With the factional war on the NY Board now settled, a lot of Chapter Chairs and members are breathing sighs of relief. For better or worse we have a reconfigured International Board of Directors and a new President - Alan Nichols - and we wish them well. Their first job will be to re-establish professional and democratic governance that supports the goals of the Club while respecting the many different views of the membership. All of us need to give them a bit of time in that regard, and recognize the large demands of TEC, including the organization of two major annual events and the ongoing maintenance and repair of the Headquarters Building. In Canada we are fortunate to have a strong Chapter with a number of outstanding upcoming events. An annual field trip is being held at Crowsnest Pass this June, and the West Coast Symposium is scheduled for the Gulf Islands in September. Details of both are contained in this issue of Far Afield, and the Toronto monthly lectures / dinners, and Victoria student events, continue on a regular basis. All of these sessions are possible because of the work of a dedicated group of volunteers, many of whom are Directors of the Canadian Chapter. And in the background, our membership still ventures out onto the oceans and into the mountains , and we do what we love - explore. I am continually astounded at the emails that dribble in from Mongolia, the Antarctic, SE Asia and the far corners of the world. Be assured our members are “out there” right now, doing field science. Let us ensure our Chapter continues to serve as a clearing house of exploration and field science in Canada, and we remain a friendly and learned group of explorers who gather periodically to share our experiences and knowledge. Finally, we need to congratulate Drs. Phil Currie FI’02 and Phil Nuytten FI’85 on their world-class accomplishments as scientists and explorers. Their receipt of two of the top TEC medals at the March 2012 ECAD, was well deserved. Carpe diem, my friends! John Pollack The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 2 www.explorersclub.ca Communications Director Jason Schoonover FE’86 What happened to books donated for Banffanalia? After our tenth year, I rolled up the banner for the final time on our promotion booth at the Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival because of sharply declining traffic at the fair portion of the event. What happened to the books many of you donated? They’re much too heavy and expensive and too many to mail back to donators who were frequently publishers in any case. The large formatters – Bob Bateman’s and Lorie Karnath’s – will go the next Autism Gala silent auction here in Toontown where the Dragon Lady is in charge of gathering prizes (among much else). Half are going to my right hand man of the last half dozen years at Banff, PNW Chair Capt. Lynn “Snorkel Master” Danaher, who will use them for display and raffles at her Compass Symposiums and other chapter events (and who I’m seeing on the Red Deer River Flag expedition with Phil and Eva this summer for a no cost transfer). William Pruitt, your two Japanese language books go to my friend Kumiko “Good Yoko” Yokoyama who is always hungry for books in her native language. The rest will find a home in my home town high school library in Carrot River, and all will be marked, “A gift of The Explorers Club, Canadian Chapter.” At John Pollack’s suggestion, I’m keeping what I want – and that’s all on dinosaurs from Phil & Eva, Sue Hendrickson and Michael Brookfield for my own library. Banffanalia, as we fondly called it, was a lot of fun. On some we had up to 11 members flying in from as far as Western Europe. I’ll miss it. The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 3 www.explorersclub.ca Regional Director: BC/Yukon Mary Morris FI’10 Most of the recent organized activities in the BC/Yukon chapter have been thanks to the student group and friends. See Maeva Gauthier SM’08 and Denise Gabriel SM’09 reports in this issue. Steve McGehee FI’07, Annie Bourbonnais SM’09 and Maeva Gauthier have organized three great events recently. Two were in Victoria: in February, a screening of Mark Terry’s MI’08 film The Polar Explorer, and in April, an informal gathering organized around John Pollack’s visit in Victoria afloat at Fisherman’s Wharf.John Pollack FI’06 presented all the steps to a shipwreck discovery, which fascinated many people. In May, Adam Gordon SM’11 hosted a Student Symposium in Vancouver. Wonderful reports came from that event about the positive combination of youthful energy and enthusiasm with mentor Explorers worldly experiences and wisdom. The west coast group is getting details worked out for a fall event, September 6 - 9th at Montague Harbour on Galiano Island in the Gulf Islands. This will be hands-on workshop activities and talks, about “A Sense of Place”. The workshop focus will be human habitation of this coastal region over the past several thousand years with particular emphasis on the benthic characteristics of Montague Harbour. This site, now underwater, was very likely home to a thriving native community when just a few thousand years ago sea water levels were 20 – 30 meters lower. See further details elsewhere in this Far Afield and if you want to get on the mailing list for further announcements, register with Maeva at [email protected] Regional Director: Atlantic/Quebec The Atlantic/Quebec members of the Explorers Club are currently in the field around the world, and will report on their adventures and discoveries in the Winter issue. The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 4 www.explorersclub.ca Regional Director: Prairie/NWT Murray Larson FI’05 A geoscientist in the Antarctica By Susan R. Eaton Susan R. Eaton MI’11, a Calgary-based geologist, geophysicist, science journalist and extreme snorkeler, has recently returned from Antarctica where she participated in the 2012 International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) led by Robert Swan, the first person in history to walk to both the North and South poles. On May 19, 2012, Susan was the keynote speaker at the HGS Annual Guest Night. She delivered a multi-media presentation, entitled “A Geoscientist in Antarctica: Following in Shackleton’s Footsteps One Hundred Years Later,” at the IMAX Theatre of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. On May 21, 2012, Susan delivered her Antarctic presentation to the Clear Lake Gem and Mineral Society, an active member of the greater Houston Community which supports local libraries, colleges and other educational institutions. The International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012 was comprised of 72 people from 22 nations, and included teachers, students, journalists, engineers and industry representatives from Royal Dutch Shell, BP Wind Energy, National Instruments India, Lloyds Register, Coca-Cola, NPower and KPMG. The IAE 2012 involved the Leadership on the Edge Program, an Outward Bound- like leadership course set amidst the harsh backdrop of Antarctica. Participants studied climate change, renewable energy and global sustainability issues. You can view Susan’s 2012 dispatches, photos and videos from Antarctica on her website: http:// susanreaton.com. Her blogs from Antarctica are being carried by the Calgary Herald, in its Environment section: http://blogs. calgaryherald.com/category/ calgary/environment. Susan has also been quoted on climate change on Fox News. The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 5 www.explorersclub.ca Regional Director: Ontario/Nunavut Elaine Wyatt MI’05 “One comes out changed after an intense event like that!” Story and photos by Peter Rowe FI’08 One of the best Explorers Club Film Festivals to date climaxed last Saturday night in Toronto with a keynote speech by environmental filmmaker Mark Terry FI’08. The festival opened on Friday evening with premieres of Les Stroud’s latest Survivorman and Brett Rogers’ Old Man River Project. Saturday saw a marathon of eight excellent films with sustenance from the kitchens of the Arts & Letters Club. Following the screenings a panel of filmmakers and a large audience convened in the old studio of the Group of Seven to tell Road Stories, including Stephen Ellis FI’04 (Polar Bears:Life of the Field of Bones), Cory Trepanier MI’09 (Into the Arctic II), and Wayne Abbott (Drain the Great Lakes). Moderated by Peter Rowe, the panel also included keynote speaker Mark Terry, George Kourounis FI’09, who had just returned from a 17,000 km cross-Canada road trip filming winter for The Weather Channel, and George Cattapan, a composer with the remarkable distinction of having scored the music for three of the films in the festival. Cory Trepanier MI’09. In the words of Candace Wilson MI’96: “The whole thing went off perfectly and the films were fantastic! On top of all that you managed to get that small cut of Billy’s show. What a bonus! There is no doubt that one comes out changed after an intense event like that!” Rob Tymstra FI’94 said it was, “A very enjoyable day! The selection of films showed the richness of our world. I’m inspired to get out there and do some filming.” The Arts and Letters Club Great Hall was filled to capacity with 81 registrations with most people attending the films and dinner. The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 6 www.explorersclub.ca Youth Climate Report a Hit at Rio+20 RIO DE JANEIRO – The United Nations Environment Programme premiered the Youth Climate Report, the YCR, at Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, on Friday, June 15 to substantial applause.