I'm a Geological Engineer

I’m a

GEOLOGICAL ENGINEER

Aboriginal Access to Engineering at Queen’s University is committed to increasing the number of Aboriginal engineers in Canada. By promoting math and science to elementary and high school students, supporting the efforts of their teachers, enabling access to post-secondary study, and ensuring young people have what it takes to succeed, we are encouraging more Aboriginal youth like Robert to become qualified engineers.

You can find out more about both our program and engineering at www.AboriginalAccess.ca.

Special thank you to Paul J. A. Chaput M.A., PhD Candidate (Métis, Manitoba Red River Settlement) and Victoria Remenda, PhD, PEng, for their review of text and suggestions for this publication.

Special thanks as well go to Robert St-Onge for his active participation in the development of the storyline for this book and sharing his story with Aboriginal youth!

The development and production of I’m a Geological Engineer was generously supported by the Canadian Geological Foundation.

Produced by Aboriginal Access to Engineering Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Queen’s University First printing 2014 Text ©2014 Melanie Howard Illustration ©2014 Peggy Collins Typeset in Grit Primer, Diffie and Tekton Pro

Hi, my name is Rob, and I’m a geological engineer.

My father works as a geologist.

My grandfather was also a geologist.

They brought me out on the land a lot with them when I was a kid.

I really liked math and physics in high school, so becoming an engineer was a good choice for me.

Come with me on a journey, I want to show you what geological engineering is all about!

Geology is the study of the Earth. Engineering is the human creation of structures and technologies.

Geological engineering happens when the two come together.

My grandfather, who we call Grand-papa, told me story about when he was young. He was visiting his own grandfather near the Red River in Manitoba, when he saw some rocks in the river. They weren’t rocks that looked like anything from around the area where he lived. This got Grand-papa thinking....what was the story behind those rocks? How did they get there and where had they started?

Grand-papa decided he wanted to find out more, about how Mother Earth was able to move rocks around. This is how he ended up being a geologist. Those moving rocks reminded him of the way people move around, like our ancestors the MĂŠtis.

He passed that love of the land on to my father and also to me. When I was young, I got to join Grand-papa on some of his trips across Canada.

Grand-papa learned as a geologist that the Earth is capable of moving and changing over time. But people also move and change the Earth.

This has been true for a very long time. We can see reflections of our ancestors in the way they moved the Earth. Throughout North America, there are sites where large mounds of dirt and rock have been moved and mark the place of the people who used to live there.

While some of these mounds look like the Earth might have created them over time, they were in fact created by people, thousands of years ago.

My early years travelling with Grand-papa stay with me. I still like to travel. I guess it’s in my blood! Geological engineers do a lot of work out on the land and in remote areas. Because we work with both geology and engineering, our work takes us all over the world.

Wherever humans build big things, a geological engineer is needed to figure out both how the project will be affected by the Earth and how the Earth will be affected by the project.

Geological engineers also are behind the technology in things like GPS and online maps.

Hi Rob. Hey, I thought civil engineers were the Oh hi Wesaks! You know, ones who designed structures? That’s what Haven and Oke are right! my friends Haven and Oke told me.

But I bet they also know how important it is for engineers to work together on projects.

Civil engineers do a lot of cool stuff, but geological engineers have to do some work before the work of other engineers gets started.

What do you mean?

Well, think of a building. Before it goes up, it needs a foundation. Geological engineers help to design that foundation, by studying the Earth where a big building or other structure will be going up.

Hey, I know about foundations! I’m Haudennosaunnee, we used to do a stomp dance to make a foundation for our longhouse!

You did? That’s a good idea, preparing the Earth so a long house could go up by stomping it down! That’s sort of what Geological engineers do. We take a look at the Earth conditions underneath a project to find the best way to build it. We prepare a plan for the other engineers to follow, so that the project can be successful.

So geological engineers help design buildings?

Buildings, dams, roads, tunnels, mines, break walls...

Whoa that’s a lot of stuff!

It sure is. Come with me Wesaks, I’ll show you!

You’re in Newfoundland. Hi Rob! Hey, where are we?

Hi Nick! This is Wesaks, I’m showing her around Canada to take a look at some of the work we Geos do! Wesaks, my friend Nick is a Civil Engineer. I met him at university. People come to universities from all over the country to study engineering.

Nice to see you Wesaks! So Rob, why did you bring her all the way out here to The Rock?

Well, it is called THE ROCK, right? Actually, geological engineering projects would be all over a place like Newfoundland. The rocky shores of the coast, meet the pounding waves of the ocean.

That is Mother Earth at her finest.

That’s right Rob. Newfoundlanders pride themselves on the hardship that they have been through to build their lives here on the Rock.

lped make Geological engineers have he oundland by building easier here in Newf . Projec ts studying the unique geology and even such as break-walls, bridges ble through off-shore oil wells are possi gineers do the work that geological en d that the to better understand the lan projec t is being built on.

Things are really different here compared to where I live.

Did you know Newfoundland is an island?

Yes, and so my Mi’kmaw ancestors travelled here by boat. We have another island province in eastern Canada where the Mi’kmaw live. It’s called Prince Edward Island, or PEI.

Really?

It used to be that to reach PEI, you had to take a ferry. That changed when the Confederation Bridge was built. It’s the longest bridge in the world! While it was designed by civil engineers, a lot of work was done in the planning stages by geological engineers, to figure out how best to get a bridge to cross over almost 13km of ocean water!

Laying a foundation under water to support a bridge is tricky. We civil engineers are glad there are geological engineers to help with that.

So geological engineers help civil engineers a lot?

They sure do. Engineers work in teams quite often. Each type of engineer brings different skills to the project, and together they work to solve the challenges that the project faces.

That’s great!

Geological engineers will often work with hydrogeologists.

Did you notice something about our job titles?

works on a team Cool. Hey, I think my auntie ist now. like that. She’s a hydrogeolog

Yeah....”geo” is in there. What does that mean?

It means “earth”! And hydro means “water”. So your auntie, as a hydrogeologist, would work with projects that involve both earth and water. This happens a lot, when you think about it. Anytime anything digs into the ground....water tends to be there eventually.

So what else do geological engineers do?

Glad you asked....really to travel again?

Let’s drop in on my brother Patrick!

He’s in Ontario right now.

Hi Patrick, this is Wesaks.

I’m showing her a bit about what Geos do.

Cool! Hi Wesaks! I’m at field school right now; I guess that’s why Rob brought you here. I’ve just finished my first year of engineering at university, and I am learning some of the basics that both civil and geological engineers need to know - like surveying.

Wow, what’s that thing? What does it do?

This is a theodolite, sitting on a tripod. It basically helps us measure the land. Surveying is a way for us to begin to make maps, or take what we see on the land and draw it on paper.

Well, that could get pretty expensive. We also get a lot more detail to our map when we’re here on the ground!

Couldn’t you just look out of an airplane for that?

But geological engineers are also involved with making maps from the sky using advanced technology. Have you ever used an online map or a GPS?

Yeah my Tota has a GPS in her car. It tells her where to drive. She’s not that good Exactly! Navigation tools like the GPS and online maps are designed with at directions, ha ha! The GPS the help of geomatics engineers. They combine physical geography tells here where to go. the actual land - with informatics.

Informatics uses computers to store, analyze and use information about the land.

So cool! Geomatics engineers help my Tota get around!

Speaking of getting around, let’s go visit another student I know. Hang on!

Hey Stephanie! This is Wesaks. What are you up to?

Hi Rob! Hey Wesaks! So you heard about my summer job, isn’t it great?

What are you doing? Where are we?

You’re in Banff National Park. It’s in Alberta.

I’m helping build tunnels at the highway through the park, to make sure animals stay safe.

Are you studying to become a veterinarian?

Speaking of hitting the road.... bye Stephanie!

Not quite! I’m studying geological engineering and biology. Geological engineers design tunnels. We know what to look for in Mother Earth that tells us how it is safest to design a tunnel. So the tunnels we’re building here are made for animals to walk through, so they don’t have to walk on the highway.

And so they don’t get hit by cars, right?

Exactly! Tunnels can be used for lots of different things....to make roads and railway passages through hills and mountains, to allow water from one place to another. They’re very useful -even to save the lives of our animal brothers and people by keeping animals off the roads.

This is Northern Ontario. It’s where my friend Danielle lives.

Hi Danielle, ça va? This is Wesaks.

Whoa, where are we now?

Rob is showing me around Canada, and all of the different places a geological engineer might work.

Salut Rob and Wesaks!

What brings you here?

Ah bien! I’m not a geological engineer, but they do work in the same places that I do.

I am studying to be a mine mechanical engineer.

This summer, I’m working at a gold mine.

Let’s check it out.

Safety first though!

Whoa...this is really kind of ....neat.

Geological engineers must work here because there’s a lot of rock to go through, right Rob?

ill have a aks. Ever y mine w es W t gh ri ’s ey have at Th gineer on site. Th en al ic og ol ge or aterials geologist of the natural m e dg le ow kn ed water. liz specia , soils, and ground ck ro e lik h, rt Ea ing these found in the oving and remov m es lv vo in g be in in Since m t that an engineer an rt po im ry ve that will materials, it is are done in a way gs in th re su en there to the mine. We also in ng ki or w ne yo to the be safe for ever ount of damage am t as le e th e us want to ca ent as possible. natural environm

Back here on the surface too, we find the work of geological engineers. After a mine has run its course, the mine site has to be reclaimed. That means it has to be put back as close to how it was before the mine project began.

Mining can leave big scars Mother Earth. In the past, people just moved on and left those scars.

Now though, we have a duty to return the site to its natural state. It is the law.

Geological engineers will work to design the restoration of the habitat around a mine. That’s so important, for all of the species of plants and animals that live in the area.

As a MĂŠtis who grew up hunting and fishing, I enjoy my time out on the land. I for one am glad these restoration projects are the law.

I’ve met a lot of Métis on my travels with Rob. Why are the Métis all over? Do you all speak French?

Good questions Wesaks. Our Métis ancestors were not European or First Nations but a mix of both. That is why the Métis are sometimes called the first Canadians.

Some of our ancestors were French, and so French had a lot of impact on Métis language and culture. Danielle and I are both French-speaking Métis, but we also speak English. The Métis are very adaptable!

Over the last 500 years, our strong Métis culture grew from the roots of two cultures to become the Otipemisiwak. That is the Cree word for the people who take care of themselves

Well here we are back where my family’s story with began, at the Red River. Not only our family story as Métis, but as geologists and geological engineers.

Thanks for taking me on that journey Rob. I learned a lot about what geological engineers do for Mother Earth!

And maybe about the Métis too?

Bien sur!

Meet

Robert St-Onge Robert St-Onge is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, who grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. His Métis heritage traces back to the Assiniboine Valley in Manitoba. When he was young, Robert was lucky to be able to join his grandfather, a geologist, on many expeditions to Canada’s arctic regions. This lead to his interest in the land, and coupled with his success in high school physics, an eventual choice to study geological engineering in university.

“My advice to youth would be to test the waters – find out what you’re really interested in. Queen’s University was a good choice for me, because it offered geological engineering, but also because the first year is a common year where you don’t have to choose your discipline right out of high school. Another thing I really liked about Queen’s was the sense of community on campus. When you are away from home, it’s nice to have that support.”

While he was a student he was highly involved with Engineers Without Borders, leading youth outreach activities and making sure the group secured funding to support its’ overseas volunteers.

Robert completed his engineering degree in 2014.

Nicholas Fleming, Sci ‘14

Patrick St-Onge, Sci ‘17

Stephanie Campbell, Sci ‘16

Danielle Ouellet, Sci ‘16

Read more about Robert’s engineering student colleagues at www.aboriginalaccess.ca/role-models

aboriginalaccess.ca