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Next week, the annual Geoscience Forum will be held in Yellowknife. Rumour has it that this is where scientists take a group of Geos, put them into a forum, subject them to various stimuli and then study them. A more mundane description would be that people involved in mining, mineral exploration, geology, prospecting and the various service industries and businesses, all get together for talks, updates, a trade show and for a bit of socializing. A lot of government people also attend.

It is billed as the largest annual conference and trade show in the Northwest Territories. This is its 36th year and it is a way for those involved to stay current with what is going on. It supposedly answers the questions of who is doing what, where, when and why.

Conferences for professionals are important but considering the importance of geology, mineral exploration and mining to the North, it is also imperative to get information disseminated out to the population as a whole.

Unfortunately, due to recent GNWT budget cuts two programs, which helped in that regard, have been axed. Like most jurisdictions in Canada, the GNWT use to run a grubstake program where some of the expenses of local prospectors were offset. This encouraged local people to get out and spend some time prospecting, to learn more about the business and to get involved.

There was also a program, which offered one-week prospecting and general geology courses in the communities. These helped to raise general knowledge. Cutting these programs is a step backwards and hopefully they will be reinstated at some point.

When most people hear the word geology they think of rocks and minerals and while these are certainly a part of the subject, geology covers a whole lot more. It in fact covers the entire history of the planet.

It deals with how the planet came into being, how it's rocky crust developed, how it got oceans and lakes, mountains and plains. It deals with an ever-changing climate, soils, plants, animals and one way or another, just about everything you can think of. Almost everything has a geological angle or base to it.

Personally, I like to think of geology as the mother of all the sciences. It even has an affect on economics, politics and of course the environment.

People often don't give geology its due but the more you learn about it, the more important it becomes. In the North we need more basic science knowledge and education. Science can also be a lot of fun and geared to local situations.

A lot of people don't realize that snow is a mineral and ice is a rock type, so why not learn more about them. Imagine if an experiment were set up that could be viewed on a web site. A couple of local lakes could be set up with sensors to see how ice forms. People could see how the ice thickens and students could then compare the ice with outdoor temperature, wind and snow cover, to see which affects ice thickness the most. They could also do experiments to see when the ice is safe for various modes of transportation. This would give them and the public a much better understanding of how lake ice forms and how it melts. Everyone would get a much better understand of ice.

They could also do no end of experiments on the insulating properties of snow. How this affects the core temperature of the dump and how it reacts to the seasons. They could learn how to make workable composters and methane collectors for the North.

I find that the more science and knowledge a person is exposed to, the more interesting the world becomes. The Geoscience Forum is important but we also have to come up with ways to promote more science of all types in the North, like a scientific study to see who makes the best-tasting pizza in town. Science can indeed be fun.

- Walt Humphries is a well-known Yellowknife artist and prospector