May 2, 2000 For Immediate Release

The University of Northern British Columbia is offering a weeklong course on Environmental Impact Assessment in Fort St John this week. The course is a requirement for UNBC's bachelor's degree specialization in Energy. 22 students are registered and the class is being taught at UNBC's regional campus in Fort St John.

The course deals with the history, legislation, and applied methods of environmental assessment. Students will be exposed to applied case studies and a field component dealing specifically with environmental impacts associated with the energy industry. UNBC Environmental Studies professors Doug Baker and Orland Wilkerson are teaching the course. Dr Baker grew up in Dawson Creek and graduated from South Peace Secondary. His experience in the region has been key to the development of UNBC's Energy specialization, which focuses on the environmental planning issues of the local oil and gas industry. Dr Wilkerson is based in Fort St John and teaches in the Environmental Planning program.

The Environmental Impact Assessment course is one of a variety of courses UNBC is offering this spring to take advantage of different educational opportunities in communities throughout northern BC. Other offerings include an archaeological field school north of Williams Lake, courses on First Nations languages, and a series of classes at the North Pacific Cannery Museum near Prince Rupert.