2018 CLRA National Conference & AGM/Atlantic Reclamation Conference (ARC2018) Conference Proceedings
2018 Award Recipient
Bios
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(Left to right) Andrea McEachern, Linwood Dunham, Frank Potter
Dr. Edward M. Watkin Award
Linwood Dunham
Linwood Dunham is an environmental instructor at the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC), Miramichi Campus and is a firm believer of the value of applied learning. Environmental practitioners in the Maritimes have routinely hosted Linwood and his students on their project sites for many years. Linwood is a Board member of the Atlantic Chapter of CLRA and was the Co-chair of the 43rd National CLRA and AGM in connection with the ARC2018 conference and NBCC. Linwood’s approach to integrating his students’ studies into their project practicums was front and center during the recent National Conference. His students played a pivotal role in making the conference the success it was, while at the same time maximizing their learning experience.
(Left to right) Andrea McEachern, Michele Coleman, Frank Potter
Noranda Land Reclamation Award
Michele Coleman
Michele Coleman is an environmental engineer at NB Power and has been working for 25 years on environmental reclamation, surface coal mining operations and mine closure projects in New Brunswick. Michele is a regular presenter at reclamation conferences across Canada and the U.S. She is a founding member of the Atlantic Chapter of CLRA, a past President of the Atlantic Chapter, an executive member of the National CLRA Board and a previous winner of the Watkin Award. Michele is passionate about educating our youth and ensuring that training is affordable for everyone working in the reclamation field.
(Left to right) Frank Potter, Zachary McDougall, Andrea McEachern
Linda Jones Memorial Award
Zachary McDougall
Zach has completed a Bachelors of Science in Geological Engineering at UNB. Throughout his engineering degree he has used GIS and geological modelling software to visualize and resolve problems. A focus in the mineral and water resource sector during his program have given him the necessary insight to forecast and mitigate drainage and earth material related hazards. Being an avid hiker, bushcraftsman, and angler he values the importance of clean water and sustainable resource development.
2018 Conference Committee
Abstracts
Rhett Thompson (Dexter Construction)
Catering and Venue
Linwood Dunham and New Brunswick Community College, Miramichi
Conference Program
Michele Coleman (NB Power)
Technical Program
Bob Pett (NS Internal Services)
Registration
Elissa Ferguson (CIRNAC), Janis Avellana (ManageWise, Inc.)
Speaker Gifts
Vicki Nash (Hammond River Angling Association), Chris Thomson (Maritime Hydroseed)
Sponsorships
Abby van der Jagt (AGAT), Frank Potter (NS Lands)
Award Nominations
Vicki Nash (Hammond River Angling Association), Chris Thomson (Maritime Hydroseed)
Student Awards
Michele Coleman (NB Power), Sara Lloyd (NBCC)
Student Volunteers
Linwood Dunham, NBCC Environmental Technology Program Second Year Class
Website
Frank Potter, Christel LeBlanc (Forest Friend Designs)
Moderators
Marc Skinner (Stantec)
Banquet Speaker
Rod Currie (R.A. Currie Ltd.)
2018 Conference
Photo Gallery
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Planning for the
Annual 100 Year Event
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Miramichi, New Brunswick
October 15-18, 2018
Organized by the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA), Atlantic Chapter, and the New Brunswick Community College, Miramichi Campus
Dear Sponsors, Delegates, and Volunteers,
On behalf the Atlantic Chapter of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association, the co-chairs of the conference, Michele Coleman and Linwood Dunham, would like to thank the delegates, sponsors, moderators and presenters for their contributions and participation at the recent 2018 National Canadian Land Reclamation Association National Conference and Annual General Meeting, held in conjunction with the 2018 Atlantic Reclamation Conference (ARC2018). The Miramichi, New Brunswick based conference included an Opening Reception, two field trips, an Awards Banquet, two full days of presentations in two concurrent sessions and a Poster Session.
Welcoming Remarks were made by Frank Potter, President, Atlantic CLRA Chapter and Marylin Luscombe, President and CEO of the New Brunswick Community College system. First Nations Elder Tulley Paul from Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation (Red Bank) gave a moving and very relevant Opening Prayer and Song to the environment and to the work we do to restore and protect our natural surroundings. In the true national spirit of this event, participants represented five Provinces, one Territory and the United States.
The New Brunswick Community College Miramichi Campus was the generous host and conference venue for 45 presentations in fifteen areas of reclamation. More than 100 delegates were present for technical presentations in the following session titles:
Opening Plenary on Climate Change Impacts on Reclamation, Environmental Monitoring, Mine Reclamation, Aquatic Habitat Restoration, Greening Mine Sites, Mining Student Presentations, Big Data and Policy, Climate Change, Mining Perspectives, Interventions, Mine Wastes, Wetland Restoration, Successful Partnerships, Advances in Analytical Techniques and Initiatives and Innovations on October 15-18, 2018. Many of these presentations will be posted on the conference website (www.atlanticclra.ca).
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, whose generosity allowed more than 30 students to participate in the event at a significantly reduced registration rate and allowed the five student presenters to receive a financial scholarship for their presentations. Sponsorships also allowed for the inclusion of two field trips at no additional charge to registrants and for very reasonable conference registration fees. NBCC sponsored our venue, provided technical assistance and the Environmental Technology students were enthusiastic volunteers. The logos of all the sponsors are in the surrounding margins and will remain posted on our website until the next major Atlantic Chapter event. Thank you for your support!
On our first field tour, thirty-five delegates explored the Glencore Brunswick Mine Closure operation in an at capacity field tour. The tour was generously sponsored by Glencore and hosted by James Cormier; P. Eng., Mine Closure Manager. This mine had been one of the largest lead zinc mines in the world between 1960 and 1990.
Our second field tour was of the Sungro Bog Restoration tour, lead by Marie-Claire LeBlanc (Laval University), generously sponsored by Sungro, with host Ernie Basque, and documented in the Field Trip Tour Guide prepared by Jacques Thibault; P. Geo., Director of the NB Peat Producers Association. The tour was attended by almost 60 participants. This field trip was stimulating in many ways; from the squishiness of walking on the buildup of sphagnum moss on the restored bog, to the cold wetness from the ground water emanating from the moss as you walked on what looked like high and dry moss, to the visual observations of the varying leaf shapes, sizes and textures of the more than a dozen common bog plants and to the wonderful and vivid fall foliage of the trees, shrubs, herbaceous species, mosses and lichens.
The Poster Session had five poster presentations from conference presenter plus three posters from recent NBCC graduates.
Student award scholarships from the CLRA Atlantic Chapter were presented to Molly LeBlanc (St. Mary’s University), Meaghan Quanz (Dalhousie University), Meenakshi Chaudhary (Dalhousie University), Shauna Stack (University of Alberta) and Zach McDougall (University of New Brunswick). They were all excellent presentations and the students represented their schools admirably. Since this was also a National Conference, the Linda Jones Memorial Award and Scholarship for best student presentation was awarded in a very close competition to Zach McDougall. Details on the Linda Jones scholarship are available on www.clra.ca/linda-jones-memorial- award.
The CLRA National Awards Banquet was hosted at the Rodd Inn, Miramichi. Banquet entertainment was provided by the humorous local historian and retired teacher, Mr. Manford Wasson. Both Linwood and I were honoured to be awarded the two National Awards. Linwood was granted the Dr. Edward M. Watkin Award in recognition of major contributions to land reclamation through the development of students. Linwood, an Instructor in Environmental Technology at NBCC, has been bringing his students to CLRA events since 2011, is now on the CLRA Atlantic Chapter Board of Directors and was co - chair of this conference. I am humbled to have been awarded the Noranda Land Reclamation Award, “the most prestigious award of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association / Association Canadienne de Réhabilitation des Sites Dégradés (CLRA/ACRSD). The award is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions the areas of professional practice, teaching, research and/or regulatory development as they relate to the profession of land reclamation in Canada… and must span a significant portion of their career”. It is a privilege to be recognized by your peers and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the nominators. Additional information about these awards and how to nominate a deserving potential recipient can be found at www.clra.ca/awards.
As co-chairs, Linwood and I would also like to congratulate the conference organizing team for a successful conference and for all their time and emotional commitment to this event.
A huge thank you to NBCC Miramichi, Linwood Dunham and his Environmental Technology Program students. These students were the glue that held the conference participants together, from directing us to the conference registration area from the parking lots, to the refreshment and lunch areas, to washrooms, to running the registration desk, handling the IT, loading presentations, hanging posters, banners, speaker gift tags, coat checks to whatever else we asked them to do. They gave the organizers the time to breathe and enjoy many of the presentations.
As part of the registration for new members, as well as for participants that paid the non-member rate, your registration has been completed as members of CLRA for 2019, and you can look forward to receiving the 2019 publications of Canadian Reclamation plus all the other member benefits during the upcoming year.
We hope that all participants enjoyed and benefited from the presentations, the networking, the discussions, the field trips and even the after hour social gatherings. We would appreciate any comments or input you may have that would increase the success of future conferences and events.
The next Atlantic Chapter event will be an Ecological Restoration Workshop in 2019 with presenter David Polster from British Columbia. There will be a reduced rate for CLRA members. Please contact us if you are interested in assisting in organizing any upcoming event or if you have a great site for a field trip.
Thank you once again for your continued support of the activities of the Atlantic Chapter of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association.
Michele Coleman
Co-Chair 2018 National CLRA Conference
Past-President, Atlantic Chapter
National Secretary, Canadian Land Reclamation Association
Linwood Dunham
Co-Chair 2018 National CLRA Conference
Board of Directors, Atlantic Chapter