Two students from the University of Northern British Columbia earnedtop student awards at the recent Canadian Association of Geographers’western division conference in Washington State. The conference broughttogether approximately 200 students and faculty members from BC,Alberta, and the northwest USA to present some 70 papers and posters.

Mark Stephens won the award for best presentation by a studentcompleting an undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree. Mark developed acomputer mapping application for the 11,500 square-kilometre QuesnelRiver watershed northeast of Williams Lake. The application works likeGoogle Earth and allows UNBC researchers to select research sites basedon vegetation, soil types, topography, and even stream/river flow. Markis planning to graduate with a UNBC degree in Geography in 2009.

Matt Beedle received the top research presentation award among studentscompleting a doctoral degree. Matt has been researching a glacier nearMcBride - known locally as Roberts Glacier – that provides a raregeological record of glacial retreat in the form of a series of annualmoraines, similar to reading tree rings. By analyzing these rock andearth formations, unique outside of Iceland, Beedle has determined thatthe glacier has retreated roughly 750 metres since 1959 and melting hasaccelerated in recent years largely due to rising summer temperatures.The research is ongoing and includes the installation of equipment nearthe glacier to measure climatic conditions, annual monitoring of theglacier's health, and measurement of past glacier changes from aerialphotos. Beedle's research is part of a major western Canadian researchprogram based at UNBC that is exploring the fate of BC's glaciers.

“UNBC had the second-largest contingent of students and faculty at thewestern division conference, despite the fact we had the greatestdistance to travel,” says Gail Fondahl, Chair of Geography at UNBC.“We’re very proud of Matt and Mark for their achievement. The successof our students is the greatest mark of our achievement as auniversity.”

Contact:
Gail Fondahl, Program Chair of Geography, UNBC – 250.960.5856
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622

 

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From left: Mark Stephens and Matt Beedle