Travel Blog: Howard Street Robinson Lecture Tour, Ontario Leg and Tour Summary and Statistics!

This is the third travel blog post for the Howard Street Robinson Lecture Tour sponsored by the Geological Association of Canada. In late February, I undertook the Ontario-Quebec leg of the tour. I gave two lectures in Sudbury and Ottawa before heading back ahead of a storm, unfortunately canceling two lectures in Montreal and Kingston. At both Ottawa and Sudbury, I gave the lecture on the semi-permeable interface model for subseafloor replacement-style volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits.

Stop 1. Sudbury. It was great to be back at Laurentian University and Sudbury where I spent 6+ years of my career from 2001-2007. Being in Sudbury brought back a flood of fantastic memories. I will always be indebted to my colleagues at Laurentian who gave a young researcher a chance back in 2001 and continue to collaborate with me! Thanks! I gave the talk on February 22nd and had a great discussion afterwards about sulfur and metal budgets in VMS, replacement processes, and exploration. I appreciate the hospitality of my colleagues there especially Elizabeth Turner, my host, as well as Dan Kontak, Phil Thurston, Harold Gibson, Andy McDonald, and Mike Lesher for spending time with me while there.

Stop 2. Ottawa. I gave the replacement talk at the Logan Club of the Geological Survey of Canada on February 23rd. I have had a long history of collaborative research with the GSC, and it was great to give a talk to a fabulous audience and it was followed by a fantastic question session that dug into the details of replacement processes in VMS systems. I was given a lot of great info and suggestions and appreciate the material to think about. I would like to thank Chris Lawley for being my host and arranging things in Ottawa. I also appreciate those that spent time with me while there, including Jan Peter, Beth McClenaghan, Wayne Goodfellow, Roger Paulen, Jessey Rice, and Tom Skulski. I also thank Tom for the ride to the airport and the chat about Baie Verte! A special shout out to the Ashbury House Bed and Breakfast for their fantastic hospitality; a place worth checking out if you need a neat place to stay in Ottawa.

I had to cancel two of the final stops on the Ontario-Quebec leg in Kingston and Montreal due to weather. I appreciate the organizers in Kingston and Montreal for their patience with me on this and being so understanding. I’ll try and get back at a later date.

This also clues up the tour except for a talk or two in St. John’s on home turf.

Some final statistics for the tour are (St. John’s not included in the statistics below):

1. Total cities visited: 11.
2. Total talks given: 18.
   • Replacement talk: 8.
   • Zn-rich VMS talk: 8.
   • Seafloor vents talk: 2.
3. Total mileage: 22700 km.
4. Lost fleece sweaters: 1 (Winnipeg?).
5. Lost water bottles: 1 (Pearson International Airport).

This tour has been fun and I really thank all the people that took the time out to come see my talks and provide feedback and ask great questions; all of the local hosts that were so hospitable; and finally the people at GAC that made this possible, including Alwynne Beaudoin, GAC Lecture Tour Coordinator, James Conliffe, GAC Secretary/Treasurer, and Karen Johnston-Fowler at GAC headquarters.

Thanks again for this opportunity.

Steve.

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