Spotlight on Natural Resources Canada, (Part 2)
Institutional Feature, October 2010 (Page 4 of 4)
The team installed three seismographs in Haiti—in Port-au-Prince, in Jacmel, and in Leogane—which are linked to the GSC's offices, and to the global network, via satellite, so there is now 24-hour seismological data (on both quakes and aftershocks) coming in from Haiti.
But the scientific element was only part of the mission. Lamontagne's main mandate in Haiti was to talk to the people—to explain what had happened, what tectonics could do to the area, what might happen in the future, and perhaps most importantly, to dispel false rumors. Lamontagne found this aspect of his work very rewarding.
"We cannot be useful to everybody but if we can, say, calm down 60% of the people we talked to it's already a big plus because these people can resume their normal activities, and they can also talk with their children to calm them," he says.
"I gave six presentations, as well as some interviews for local radio. They were very well received, and people there were very attentive about what I was saying. Sometimes you can you can tell they have one question that they really want to ask, so our presence was useful for some people.
"Just to give you an example, there were people who had their buildings inspected by engineers who told them everything was safe and they could go back inside but most of them still preferred to sleep outside because of the fear of aftershocks," he continues, "After I gave my talks there were people coming to me to tell me that now they felt confident enough to go back inside to sleep again.
"I also distributed brochures on earthquake preparedness, because in a place like Haiti if you can get people to do simple actions like buying a flashlight in case something happens during the night, then, instead of being passive, they become active, taking control over events, even in small ways, and it's a psychological help. It was only a droplet in the ocean in terms of everything that was going on in Haiti, but that was my little part to play," Lamontagne concludes.
"It is in the best interest of mining companies to be proactive, for themselves as well as for the benefit of future generations..." -Louise Laverdure
Comparisons between the January earthquake in Haiti and the June earthquake in Quebec are inevitable for Lamontagne, who was involved in both events. What bothered him most about the June earthquake was the lack of knowledge among Canadian citizens.
"It appears that most people didn't know what to do when the earthquake hit," he observes. "As you know, when there is an earthquake, you should get under a sturdy desk or table and hang on to one of the legs. In June, many people had the reflex of running outside into the streets. In Western Canada, where earthquakes are more common, people know how to react, but in the east, people don't."
"Also, when people saw what happened in Haiti, they had the impression that everything would collapse here like it did there," he adds. "So we need to tell them that what they need to worry about is not the buildings because we've never had a building collapse during an earthquake in Eastern Canada—it's the objects that can fall and cause injury. When we have an earthquake like this, it's a teachable moment, and we should use it to get information distributed to the citizens."
The citizens of Canada are the bottom line for the researchers at NRCan. Just as the mission statement says, NRCan's goal is to provide a better quality of life for Canadian citizens. Chief Scientist Geoff Munro would like for the citizens of his country and the world to know that NRCan is there for them.
"I'm a huge fan of outreach," Munro says, "We need to ensure that Canadian citizens know about NRCan and consider us as a source of reliable natural resource related knowledge and information. I'm not sure we'd always be top of mind when Canadians are asked where they go to get their natural resources information—you're probably going to get as many people who will respond with provincial organizations and environmental not-for-profit groups, etc. as those that would name NRCan.
"Not that I want to compete with other organizations, because I don't, but what I do want to do is make sure that Canadians have a place to turn when they want information about natural resources and are aware of NRCan and what we offer. Natural Resources is an integrated sector in Canada and everyone involved has a role to play. Working closely with our colleagues across the whole spectrum of natural resource management in the country, we are much stronger and better able to keep Canadians informed than any one organization trying to go it alone."
Natural Resources Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA'S MOST CURRENT MOST-CITED PAPER IN ESSENTIAL SCIENCE INDICATORS:
Schimel DS, et al., "Recent patterns and mechanisms of carbon exchange by terrestrial ecosystems," Nature 414(6860): 169-72, 8 November 2001 with 388 cites. Source: Essential Science Indicators from Clarivate.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- From September 2010: Spotlight on Natural Resources Canada, (Part 1)
- Natural Resources Canada was named a New Entrant in the field of Geoscience for October 2009.
KEYWORDS: NATURAL RESOURCES, CANADA, GOVERNMENT, SUSTAINABLE RESOURCES, COLLABORATION, DISCIPLINES, INNOVATIONS, GREEN MINING INITIATIVE, TAILING SITES, BIOFUELS, METAL EXTRACTION, WASTE MANAGEMENT, MINE CLOSURE AND REHABILITATION, ECOSYSTEM RISK MANAGEMENT, ADVISORY COMMITTEES, REGULATIONS, RECYCLING, ABANDONED MINES, PROACTIVE, FOREST FIRES, FIRE DANGER RATING SYSTEM, EARLY-WARNING SYSTEM, CARBON EMISSIONS, CLIMATE CHANGE, PEATLANDS, FIRE MANAGEMENT, COST, FUTURE AREA BURNED, TEMPERATURE, FIRE SEASON, LIGHTNING, ARSON, EVAPOTRANSPIRATION, FUEL TYPE, IGNITION AGENTS, WEATHER, SOCIAL FACTOR, EARTHQUAKES, INTRAPLATE, CHARLEVOIX, WESTERN QUEBEC SEISMIC ZONE, 23 JUNE 2010 EARTHQUAKE, VANCOUVER WINTER GAMES, GROUND MOTION DETECTORS, BUILDING CODES, 2010 HAITI EARTHQUAKE, SEISMOGRAPHS, EDUCATION.