APEGA Teacher Professional Development Program

Allow Dale Leckie to guide you to Alberta’s most scenic sites. Leckie tells the intriguing story of Alberta’s landscape evolution from Waterton Lakes National Park, to Dinosaur Provincial Park, into the Prairies, and across the North. With trips to Edmonton, Calgary, Crowsnest Pass, and Elk Island National Park, he takes you to explore volcanoes and glaciations long past.

Nose Hill Park is one of the best places to appreciate the geology of Calgary. This talk includes stops along well-travelled and not-so-well-travelled routes that the curious would be wise to see. Using eye-catching illustrations and photographs, Leckie blends storytelling with science, incorporating natural landscape beauty with art and history.

Lunch will not be provided. Please plan to bring your own packed lunch.

RegistrATION CLOSED

You will be directed to the 2022 APEGA Rock & Fossil Clinic registration form.

Please use this form to register for the guided walk in Nose Hill Park. This walk is being offered as a pre-event session as part of the Rock & Fossil Clinic.

About Dale Leckie, PhD

Dale Leckie, PhD, is a geologist who worked at the Geological Survey of Canada and as chief geologist in a large Canadian energy company. He has edited numerous books and published widely on the geology of western Canada. He is adjunct professor in the Geoscience Department at University of Calgary. Dale is recognized for his long-term contributions to geology and is an honorary member of Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) and Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG). His most recent book, The Scenic Geology of Alberta: A Roadside Touring and Hiking Guide topped the best seller lists across the province all summer long. Dale’s first book Rocks, Ridges, and Rivers: Geological Wonders of Banff, Yoho, and Jasper National Parks was highly successful best seller as well.

This walk will be led by Drake Meili, Geoscience Interpreter at the MH Interpretive Program, and will feature the fantastic sights and stories of Medicine Hat's prehistoric past. Along the way, Drake will stop at important sites to show attendees how geoscientists interpret their surroundings to tell the story of past environments, and answer any questions attendees may have. The goal of the walk is to ensure every guest leaves with the knowledge and passion to explore their local landscapes.  

The cliffs along these walking and biking trails feature the late cretaceous Foremost formation which is special to the Medicine Hat and Redcliff Area as it is rarely exposed at the surface in other locations in the province. The rocks of this formation were deposited around 75 million years ago and represent a transitional environment where streams carried sediments from the mountains in the west into the swamps, deltas, and shallow marine environments along the coast of the Western Interior Seaway. This formation is host to many fossils, including clam and oyster beds, dinosaurs such as pachycephalosaurids, petrified wood, and amber. 

Cancelled

You will be directed to the 2022 APEGA Rock & Fossil Clinic registration form.

Please use this form to register for the guided walk in the South Saskatchewan River Valley. This walk is being offered as a pre-event session as part of the Rock & Fossil Clinic.

About Drake Meili

Drake Meili is an expert geological interpreter in the Medicine Hat community. He completed his B.Sc. Hons. in geology in 2019 and is now working on his M.Sc. thesis in environmental geochemistry. During his time at the University of Saskatchewan, Drake helped create a geology outreach program, spoke about rocks and fossils at science events, and taught first-year geology labs. He currently works as an interpreter with the Medicine Hat Interpretive Program at Police Point Park where he continues his passion for sharing his love of earth science with the community. 

Enjoy hiking inside Alberta’s capital city and within Edmonton’s world famous river valley. You will learn about the unique geological features exposed in the river valley and walk in the footsteps of the Indigenous Peoples who continue to visit this sacred place on Turtle Island for the last 10,000 years.  

Your geo-adventure begins under the Walterdale Bridge near the North Saskatchewan River, which was was a previous glacial spillway, then to the historic site of Fort Edmonton IV, and then to the nearby sacred burial ground and holy Christian cemeteries near the Rossdale Power Plant. To show good intent and respect on our walk together, we will conduct a tobacco offering off of the Walterdale Bridge and conduct a smudging ceremony inside the sacred burial ground, and our travel path together will be in the shape of the Métis infinity symbol. Furthermore, we will explore and experience the Indigenous Art Park with its unique art installations that are all located on a traditional Métis river lot where the McDonald family lived for 34 years. Lastly, we will participate in an Indigenous sharing circle with an elder as they share stories of the land, culture, and wisdom. Our last task in our journey is to have lunch together on the land, amongst the Indigenous art, and surrounded with the grandfather spirit within the trees. 

NOTE: There is some elevation gain on this tour, however, the majority of the trails are paved and make for an easy hike that is also attainable for anyone with reduced mobility.

Lunch will not be provided. Please plan to bring your own packed lunch.

RegistrATION CLOSED

About Keith Diakiw, P.Geo., CD 

Keith Diakiw is a professional Métis geologist and owner/operator of Talking Rock Tours. Keith attended both the University of Lethbridge and the University of Alberta, where he successfully earned three bachelor degrees: a B.Sc. co-op in physical geography, a BA in anthropology/archaeology, and a B.Sc. specialization in geology. Overall, he possesses exploration and mining experience in metallurgical coal, thermal coal, conventional oil and gas, offshore oil and gas, and oil sands to date. Keith also joined the Royal Canadian Navy while attending the University of Alberta and became a qualified Naval Warfare Officer in 2005 and still enjoys serving as a reservist with H.M.C.S. Nonsuch.

Keith is a member of several professional organizations, including the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum, the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, and the Alberta Palaeontological Society.

Elder Fernie Marty