Events Calendar
Annual General Meeting
Date: March 01, 2011
Location: Smithers
Venue:
On March 1, 2011, the Bulkley Valley Research Centre hosted almost 50 members and guests at its annual general meeting, held at the Aspen Inn’s Riverside Grill in Smithers. The AGM and awards ceremony recognized individuals and research that have contributed to sustainability in northwestern B.C.
This year’s recipients of the Jim Pojar Award were Natalie Ban, Hussein Alidina and Jeff Ardon for their paper Cumulative Impact Mapping: Advances, relevance and limitations to marine management and conservation, using Canada’s Pacific waters as a case study. The trio was nominated by Mike Ambach, the North Coast Program manager with WWF-Canada, who called the term cumulative impacts “the title of a chapter that hasn’t been written” in northern B.C.
“The work of Ban, Alidina and Ardron provides an important first step forward by applying a framework for mapping and assessing cumulative effects that recognizes the spatially dynamic nature of human impacts in the marine environment, and also integrates impacts from multiple types of human activities, both terrestrial-based and marine-based,” Ambach said in his nomination letter.
Also nominated for the Jim Pojar Award were Matt Sakals, David Wilford, Debbie Wellwood and Sandra MacDougall, three Smithers-based researchers who collaborated on a paper about grizzly bears and geomorphic fans. The paper was published in the peer-reviewed international journal Geomorphology.
“This was an interesting and challenging project as the team worked through multi-disciplinary terminology, concepts, and finally an approach to recommend to hikers,” the nomination letter stated.
Local chartered accountant Brian Edmison was awarded the Irving Fox Award. Brian was described in the nomination letter as a community-minded philanthropist and passionate outdoor recreationalist. Noted achievements included working for a sustainable local wood supply, campaigning against the Kemano Completion Project, developing locally-based RSF Energy, championing the sustainability of small northern communities and supporting projects such as Smithers’ airport runway extension, the Valley Vision website and Northwest Community College’s School of Mining and Exploration.
“Brian has contributed significantly to the achievement of sustainability of Smithers in all of its ecological, social and economic dimensions while also raising the profile of his hometown both nationally and internationally,” the letter continued.
Last but not least, the BVRC recognized tireless volunteer Steve Osborn with its Volunteer Distinction Award. This is the second time Osborn has been awarded for his volunteerism. When he received the honour in 2009, he was unable to accept the award as he was busy volunteering. This year, the BVRC was pleased to grant him the award in person.
