Thu

26 Apr

Awards to DES Faculty: Geologists collect constellation of awards

from Sudbury Star April 26, 2012

Senior faculty members at Laurentian University’s Department of Earth Sciences and the Mineral Exploration Research Centre have been honoured with prestigious awards in their respective geological fields.

MERC Director and Professor of Volcanology and Economic Geology, Dr. Harold Gibson has been named winner of the 2011 Duncan R. Derry Medal, awarded by the Geological Association of Canada. In a letter from the Association’s Mineral Deposits Division, Dr. Gibson is hailed for his “outstanding contributions to research, teaching and administration in economic geology, including ground-breaking contributions to the understanding of VMS deposits and ores in volcanic environments.” The Division Chair, Kirsten Rasmussen calls Dr. Gibson “an outstanding candidate for the award.”

VMS, or volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, are important sources of copper, zinc, gold and silver that are formed by hydrothermal springs on the sea floor. Many of Canada’s significant mineral deposits, like those found at Kidd Creek in Timmins, were formed billions of years ago on an ancient seafloor.

“I study rocks in volcanic ore environments that are 3 billion years old, and rocks that are just forming now on the sea floor,” said Dr. Gibson, who has also studied gold and silver deposits at young volcanoes in Mexico. “These deposits are a good monitor of the changes in the earth’s crust and oceanic environments, so they’re also important from an environmental standpoint,” he said.

Dr. Gibson said the Medal is “very much an honour,” adding “When you receive an award like this, you really owe it to the people you work with. My mentors and my students, are still teaching me today.”

M.Sc. Program Coordinator at the Department of Earth Sciences and Professor of Sedimentology, Dr. Darrel Long has also been named the recipient of a prestigious award. He will be honoured with the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists’ R.J.W. Douglas Medal for 2011. The medal is awarded annually for “outstanding contributions to the understanding of sedimentary geology in Canada,” according to the Society. The award also commends “major contributions to regional tectonics, petroleum, and structural geology.”

Dr. Long’s various fields of research include the study of fluvial sandstones—deposits created by rivers and streams—and of the prehistoric function of river systems before the onset of rooted vegetation. This study includes the relationship between ancient waterways and mineral potential. The award will be presented at the CSPG Annual Meeting in Calgary in May.

As well, there have been honours for the Chair of the Department of Earth Sciences, and Professor of Economic Geology Dr. Daniel Kontak. He was named winner of the 2011 Peacock Medal by the Mineralogical Association of Canada. It is awarded each year to a scientist “who has made outstanding contributions to the mineral sciences in Canada,” according to the Association, and is open to nominees from every country in the world. Dr. Kontak was also awarded the 2011 Distinguished Scientist Award, known as the Gesner Medal, by the Atlantic Geoscience Society for the advancement and promotion of geoscience.

Laurentian University President and Vice-Chancellor Dominic Giroux congratulated each of the professors, adding that “their collective recognition adds lustre to the reputation of our Earth Sciences and Geology studies here at Laurentian. We are very proud of the achievements of all the “rock stars” among our faculty!