News

Our former colleague, Peter Winterburn, was killed on Friday, June 21, 11:45 am local time, in Valparaiso Chile, the victim of an attempted robbery. He was 56 years old.

Peter Winterburn was appointed in EOAS in 2014 as the NSERC/Bureau Veritas Minerals Executive Industrial Research Chair in Exploration Geochemistry. Before coming to EOAS, he had worked over 17 years in industry, first for Anglo American and then for Vale.  In his 5 years in EOAS, he implemented a widely recognized and successful research program, made significant contributions to industry and student training, supervising 9 M.Sc. students.  His research has had impact within the department through pioneering genomic collaborations with Sean Crowe, through foundational copper-isotope work with Dominique Weis and PCIGR, and through the evaluation of the geochemistry of surficial materials with MDRU.  His research has changed the methods of geochemical exploration and interpretation used by the minerals industry. 

Peter left EOAS at the end of January 2019 to return to industry to work at Vale, based in Santiago, Chile. We send our deepest condolences to Peter’s family and loved ones.

On Friday June 13, PCIGR had the pleasure to host the Honourable Dr. Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, Sports and Persons with Disabilities, accompanied by Dr. Gail Murphy, UBC VP Research. Each team member introduced themselves and described their research. The Minister asked many questions and was very excited about the diverse and wide-ranging research carried out at PCIGR. Prs. Juli Carillo (LFS) and Camilla Speller (Anthro) joined us to discuss their work and collaboration with PCIGR through UBC Research Excellence Clusters. It was a very stimulating experience!

(Left to right: Front row: Kathy Gordon, Kirsty Duncan, Dominique Weis, Gail Murphy, Evelyn Frères, Juli Carillo, Miling Li, Dave Daquioag; Back row: Rhy McMillan, Nicole Williamson, Kate Smith, Vivian Lai, Camilla Speller, Marg Amini).

Photo credit: James Scoates.

Congratulations to Sean Crowe and Matthijs Smit for being reappointed as Canada Research Chairs, Tier 2, each for a second 5-year term. 

See the UBC and the Government of Canada announcements for further details.

The inaugural glider missions, in collaboration with the Hakai Institute, have started. Click here to find out where the gliders are. 

UBC geology and geological engineering students successfully completed their 3-week field course (EOSC328) in the southern Okanagan region in May 2019.  The weather was stellar as usual with only two hot days about 30°C this year and light rain overnight and into the morning on one of the long hike days (the cooler weather was much appreciated).  The group learned to map with confidence and competence and they remained remarkably engaged and positive right to the very end.  The diversity of the group was impressive with a total of 12 different countries represented by the students this year.

MDRU Short Course: (SC106) Information Management Solutions For The Modern Exploration World – 1.0 Dealing With Data

 

MDRU is partnering with the team at Rogue Geoscience to offer a full-day course on mineral exploration information management on Tuesday, May 7, 2019 at UBC Robson Square in Downtown Vancouver, Canada.
The course will identify and provide solutions for the challenges that are unique to today's data-rich mineral exploration industry, through a review of:

• Data management theory and best practices;
• Principles of designing a modern exploration data model;
• Methods to collect diverse datasets in the field, from grassroots exploration to early-stage resource calculations;
• Practical applications for an integrated data management system, including data compilation, surficial programs, drill programs and field portable analyzers.

Discounted rate is offered to all EOAS Faculty and Students.  Click here for more information.