1999 Geography Alumni Panel |
TRENT CONTENTS Proposed Change, Change ... and Debate Association President's Message Topping the Competitive Recruitment Environment The Interactive Learning Centre Profile of a Volunteer: Roy O'Brien '75 "How To" series Toronto realtor Mary Crawford '82 Collections and Obsessions : Jim Doran's Various Vinyl |
by Professor Al Brunger '72
(Left to right) Mark Majchrowski '94, Jenny McGillis '87, Larissa Mathewson '93, Miles Ecclestone '72 and Joel Sloggett '83. The 1999 Geography Alumni Panel was made up of graduates covering twenty-three years of Trent's existence. Miles Ecclestone '72, Mark Majchrowski '94, Larissa Mathewson '97, Jenny McGillis (nee Theobald) '87 and Joel Sloggett '83. Miles Ecclestone described his career as basically "one job" -- multi-faceted and constantly evolving - Chief Technician of Trent's Geography Department. Having completed Honours in 1974, Miles finished his M.Sc. in Physical Geography at Guelph before landing the position he still holds in 1976. His duties are numerous and have become inevitably more administrative in nature although he teaches surveying and researches snow and ice in the High Arctic with Professors Peter Adams and Graham Cogley. Miles offered these suggestions to the graduating class: 1. Maintain contact with the Department of Geography, perhaps through annual homecoming or individual contacts - a most valuable networking strategy for jobs, and 2. Keep in touch with specific faculty members with shared interest in the subject, because opportunities for research or work in that area may arise. Mark Majchrowski graduated with Honours in 1998 and completed the one-year certificate in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) at Sir Sandford Fleming College (SSFC) in Lindsay. He obtained full-time work with Kawartha Conservation Authority as a biologist (!) and GIS Manager, responsible for monitoring environmental indicators; undertaking testing of streams and soils, and setting up the GIS. Larissa Mathewson completed her Honours degree in 1997, having completed the one- year GIS certificate at SSFC Lindsay, as part of her third-year of study. She began work on contract at the Ministry of Natural Resources Headquarters in Peterborough and has been involved in various projects including "Lands for Life", and a study with the International Joint Commission on the Great Lakes in which she was on secondment to N.O.A.A. in Washington, DC for three months. She is now one of three Project Managers in the recently-formed Geomatics Section of MNR. Jenny McGillis graduated with Honours in 1993 in Human Geography and proceeded to complete her Concurrent Education year at Queen's University with Geography and History "teachables" at the Intermediate Senior level. Despite heavy competition at the time, Jenny was able to land a post with the Peterborough Region Catholic School Board and then taught for three years in Lindsay. She has been at St. Patrick's School in Peterborough since 1997 although enjoying maternity leave at present in the company of her five-month old son Mitchell. Jenny has taught at the Elementary as well as Intermediate level; commenced a M.A. in Education; acquired a Specialist Certificate in Geography and is qualifying as Principal. She advised graduates to "see the world now" if so inclined - echoing words heard the previous week from Professor Emeritus Fred Helleiner - a self-confessed "dromomaniac". Joel Sloggett graduated with Honours in 1988 and has had a varied career ranging from lucrative but unfulfilling construction work for 18 months; to contract work with the United Way Agency, then an enjoyable and worthwhile five-year position as Municipal Planner at a local township - for which his university degree was the crucial credential, to his present post, since 1996, as Manager of Planning and Transportation with the Peterborough Region Catholic School Board. He noted that he continually added skills "on-the-job" during his career but found that this was "normal" and merely complemented the formal foundation acquired during the Trent degree. Questions from the audience evoked a variety of responses - ranging from the serious to the hilarious -as the panellists drew from the deep well of their collective memory. The main points may be summarized as:
All graduates were encouraged to keep in touch with the Geography Department for professional and social reasons. The panel was warmly thanked by Professor Brunger with the support of the whole class. |
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