Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan

Colin in the Nipekamew Sand Cliffs south of La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Growing up in rural Manitoba, I always enjoyed being outside. As I grew older, I became interested in learning more about the natural world and the way it worked. I knew that when I went off to university, I wanted to study science, but I didn’t want to become the stereotypical scientist working in a lab all day every day.

This initially led me to the biology department at Brandon University. During my first year, I found myself with a gap in my schedule and thought I would try a first-year geology class. I didn’t know much about the science and thought it would make an interesting elective.

The following year, I signed on as a geology major and haven’t looked back since. As part of my program, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant during my summers at BU with Drs. Rong-Yu Li and David Greenwood. It was the one-on-one mentorship that I received at BU that made me realize I wanted to pursue graduate work and, eventually, a career in research.

I decided to pursue an MSc and later PhD at Western University in London, Ontario after finishing my BSc in Brandon. After defending my PhD, I took up a postdoctoral fellowship in Nanjing, China before starting my career at the University of Saskatchewan. Today, I am an Assistant Professor in the department of Geological Sciences teaching paleontology and paleobiology supervising students of my own. I never could have imagined doing any of this sitting in my first-year geology class on the second floor of the Brodie Building, but it was my time at Brandon that made all these opportunities possible.

After working in these larger institutions, I came to appreciate the small class sizes and one-on-one relationships with the faculty that I developed during my undergraduate program at BU. This is something unique that students won’t necessarily find at larger universities. Even today I still enjoy going back to visit to catch up with my former professors when I am passing through. I truly felt like I was part of the department at BU rather than just being another student number on a spreadsheet.

I think what I enjoy most about working in geology is the broad and interdisciplinary nature of the science. You can truly tailor your program and your career in a way that allows you to pursue whatever you enjoy learning about the most. My own interests lie at the crossroads of geology and biology but whether it is the evolution of ancient shellfish, the formation of river deltas and how they often create petroleum reservoirs, how diamonds form deep within the Earth, understanding the underlying mechanisms behind earthquakes and volcanoes, or the chemistry of ore deposits that interests you, there is a place for you in geoscience.