Geology Field School, University of British Columbia

Vacation is just about over, back in Kelowna for a couple of days, decided to take a drive down to Osoyoos..... and on the way.... just before Okanagan Falls, turned Right.... and kept on going.... and going .... past the drop zone for the hang gliders, past the     Mahoney Lake       Ecological Reserve, kept on going.... to this.

A little bit closer.... to the Signage.....

Geology Field School

With the amount of names containing the word OIL, or a derivative of OIL.... could it be that there might have been a spill here, a spill there?

This camp was built with the generous help of the following companies and individuals

 1 Banff Oil Ltd. 
 2 The British American Oil Co. Ltd.
 3 The California Oil Co. Ltd.
 4 Consolidated Mining and Smelting
 5 Dome Petroleum Ltd.
 6 Fargo Oils Ltd.
 7 French Petroleum Co. of Canada Ltd.
 8 John G. Grey
 9 Great Plains Development Co. of Canada Ltd.
10 Gulf States Oil Co. of Canada
11 Honolulu Oil Corporation
12 Hudson's Bay Oil & Gas Co. Ltd.
13 Imperial Oil Ltd.
14 S. Aubrey Kerr   Petroleum Industry Oral History Project (PIOHP) 1980
15 George A. Lundy
16 Mobil Oil of Canada Ltd.
17 Phillips Petroleum Co.
18 Shell Canada Ltd.
19 Union Oil Co. of Canada Ltd.
20 William H. White


# 15 

Oliver Field School (Link Updated 2019-03-12)- Kitchen and Sleeping Accommodations 

Page 7 of 28  very interesting....

From the 1920s on a variety of arrangements were made for instruction of geology students in field techniques. In 1949, field school was run from old mine cabins near Twin Lakes, 15 miles NW of Oliver by W.H. White and R.M. Thompson. The area was considered too high and too wet. From 1950 on, the field school was on land leased from George Lundy on Victoria Creek near Oliver. Geology and Geological Engineering students spent three weeks in camp at the end of third year. Land (90 acres) was eventually purchased by UBC on this site, on the west side of the north-south Fairview-White Lake Road, a few hundred metres north of the entrance to the Suzy Susie Mine, at that time an operating mine. The field school was later directed by R.V. Best until his retirement in 1981 and then by a variety of faculty members.    snip 

Google Map link

# 20  

Geological Engineering students to benefit from UBC’s South Okanagan award-winning field school

An ecologically friendly, small-footprint design for rebuilding UBC's 60-year-old geological field school near Oliver, BC has received a 2012 Award of Excellence from Canadian Architect magazine.

The award winning designs by Battersby Howat Architects will help create a permanent ‘camp campus’ and geological training resource for institutes of higher education in Western Canada, and potentially, internationally.

The new field school will be a complete rebuild of the facilities. Old buildings will be replaced by new wood frame and plywood/sheet metal cladding construction that expands the capacity of the school to 90 people while minimizing the impact of the site, which is adjacent to a provincial park???????. Buildings will be consolidated and a novel canted wall design staggers sleeping bunks and maximizes use of the building volumes.

Since the 1950s, UBC has based its primary geological field school on a site near Oliver. Thanks to the generosity of alumni and industry partners (including companies such as Mobil and Shell) the University was able to formally purchase the property in 1961. Facilities on the site range in age from 35 to 60 years, and are in urgent need of replacement.

Making the project possible is a planned $3 million UBC Geological Field School redevelopment and teaching and learning fund, which will not only revitalize the current site, but also ensure that students have increased access to the training opportunities prized by the minerals industry.

Link to FULL STORY

An artist’s concept of the award-winning design of the South Okanagan field school
A high-resolution version of this photo is available for download here.

An artist’s concept of faculty offices at the South Okanagan field school
A high-resolution version of this photo is available for download here.

An artist’s concept of a dormitory at the South Okanagan field school
A high-resolution version of this photo is available for download here.

An artist’s concept of the dining hall at the South Okanagan field school
A high-resolution version of this photo is available for download here.

Award winning design worth $3 Million: in 2012 Dollars hasn't changed .... it's more like....

TWISTED Dinosaur fossils are often found with sharply curved necks, but that doesn't mean that they died in agony. Credit Mike Beauregard New York Times