Things to watch out for:

• 2019 Pools & Pipelines Map release
• Geodays
• A new and improved catalogue of OGSR Library resources
• Open file reports – for all your mapping needs!
• 3D and Virtual reality simulations

Follow us at these events!

• Black Gold Fest - July 14, 2019
• Industry BBQ - July 25, 2019

    In the short amount of time that I’ve been here at the library, I’ve already learned so much. Coming from a background in geography, I had a very limited knowledge of geology at the start of the summer. I knew some basic material I’d picked up in some intro geomorphology courses and earth science electives, but not much. However, I find that as the weeks go by I am learning more and more. In my undergrad, my studies focused mainly on environment, sustainability, climate, and health. I didn’t know much about southern Ontario’s paleozoic geology nor the natural resource industry. Working at the OGSRL and being surrounded by such intelligent people and so many library resources, I’ve been able to understand more about the topic and realize how interconnected these fields are— especially how the fields of geography and GIS play an important role.

    Although my degree was not specifically in the GIS stream at Western, I was introduced to the software in my third year with the introductory course and I decided that it was definitely something I wanted to pursue in the coming academic years and beyond—my honours thesis was all about mapping! Here at the library, I have the privilege to use the technical skills I gained during my undergraduate studies and apply them to various projects that the library allows me to take on. As the GIS and database assistant, my responsibilities include the maintenance of the expansive collection of data at the library, specifically the spatial assets. In addition to organizing and maintaining the physical catalogue alongside Ben, I’ve worked on editing and updating shapefiles as well as creating various maps for different projects. Over the years, I have come to learn that GIS is such a powerful tool across a variety of different disciplines and that the ability to manage and analyze geospatial data on GIS software is a very useful skill to have, especially for myself as a geographer.

    During my time at the library, I’ve also been lucky enough to experience a number of different field excursions including a visit to Fairbank Oil Properties and the Oil Museum of Canada. This visit helped me understand the history of where oil production began in North America, and the importance of southern Ontario in Canada’s oil industry. In the next few weeks, we have a few more visits planned and I will continue working on the various projects I’ve been assigned. I am excited to see more and learn more about the field of geology and this industry. In another few weeks, my position at the OGSR library will come to a bittersweet end, but I am thankful for the people I will have met and all the knowledge I will have gained!

    My name is Alex, and I recently graduated from Western University with a BSc Specialization in Geology. When I was in grade 6, my Geography teacher asked the class what we want to be when we grow up. We didn’t have an answer at the time, so he told us to think about it over the weekend and get back to him on Monday with a decision. I went home and looked up possible career choices for the future, but I didn’t find anything that interested me.

    The following day, I found myself watching a documentary about volcanoes on National Geographic Channel; this immediately caught my attention. I turned the volume up and I heard the narrator calling someone a “geologist.” I didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded really interesting. I looked it up online and there it was, a perfect description of something that I could see myself doing for my career. I went back to school on Monday and told my teacher that I wanted to become a geologist. Ever since then, I have always worked towards achieving that goal.

    Shortly after completing my undergraduate degree at Western University, I am now employed by the OGSR Library as a Geological Assistant. My job involves picking formation tops using geophysical well logs, drill cuttings, and core logging in order to support Shuo’s project in identifying the controls on the porosity and permeability patterns of the Lockport Group. The aim is to build a new 3-D hydrostratigraphic model for the Lockport group. This project is in collaboration with the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) and the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC).

    Working at the OGSR Library gives me the perfect opportunity to gain valuable experience in my field and to learn more about the geology and resources of southwestern Ontario. I enjoy working with the OGSR Library team. It is, by far, the best work environment that I have been in.

    During my time here, we visited the site of the first commercial oil well in North America on Charlie Fairbank’s properties. Charlie, the property owner, gave us a tour of his oil fields and explained in detail the exploration methods he uses for his operations. This was a great learning experience as it was my first time visiting an oil field; I got an up-close view on the oil and gas operations in Ontario. 

      We also visited the Oil Museum of Canada where we learned about the history of oil and gas development in south western Ontario and its importance to the economy. I also learned that the first commercial oil well in North America was drilled in 1858 in Oil Springs (Ontario) by James Miller Williams; I didn’t know any of this until I started worked for the OGSR Library. I have learned a great deal about the geology and petroleum history of southwestern Ontario in my short time here at the library and I look forward to the upcoming field trips and to keep working with the enthusiastic and hardworking Library team.

        My name is Ben Somers, I am enrolled at Fanshawe college in the Cyber Security program, and this is my second summer working at the library. In early 2018 during my last semester at A.B. Lucas Secondary School, I began working here as a part time co-op student. The main things I did at the library were, data entry, music producing, and other small jobs around the office like refiling well files, pulling core, and photocopying.

        At the end of June last year, when I graduated, I began working at the library full time for the summer. Most of that time I spent working on the Union Gas record digitizing project. This project involved looking through stacks of well cards that were donated by Union Gas and using the information on them to find the corresponding license number in our database. During the times I wasn’t working on this project, I was working alongside Evan and Bayden, our previous two summer students at the time. Our task was to try to locate, identify, catalogue, and label unidentified core in our back warehouse. While it was difficult work, I enjoyed this project because it was a great opportunity to get to know and become friends with my fellow summer students. The third and final project that I worked on last year was updating the permeability database. This project had a very short deadline and faced some difficult challenges but with the help of Craig, Bayden, and Evan, we managed to complete the project on time. While some of the projects could be quite mundane at times, I still took pleasure in working on then knowing that they were very important to improving the data that we have to offer here at the Library.

        Now that my school year is over, I have been back at the library since the beginning of June for another summer of fun! I have been put on a team that will be cataloguing all books within the library and scanning maps so that they can be viewed digitally by our members. The first step is to fix our book catalogue in a way that ensures that the books we have on our shelves are relevant to what information we offer here, and useful to clients/customers. Before this could be done there was yet another task that needed to be completed beforehand. Over the last year and a half or so, we have had donations of books and files that needs sorting since this information is a potentially valuable to our selection of books. The first couple weeks here, I spent sorting and cataloguing 14 boxes of books. Luckily, around the time that I completed this task, Juan, our GIS summer student began working here. With the help of Jordan and Juan, we sorted all the books, removed the duplicates, and made sure everything on our shelves relates to the kind of information we offer here. Now that that task has been completed, Juan and I have been recording the books, the accompanying maps, and their locations in our master book catalogue spreadsheet and labelling them so that their location can be found from a digital query. Once this is complete, we will finally be able to start scanning the maps so that they can be accessed digitally. 

    I have also had a lot of fun this summer on field trips and events as well. First, we attended the annual OPI Golf Tournament which I was skeptical of as I had never played golf before, but it ended up being a very fun and relaxing day. It was also nice because I was on the team that won the “Most Honest Golfers Award” (which is code for team with the highest score) and won a gift card. I also had a lot of fun on our field trip to Charles Fairbank Oil Properties and the Oil Museum of Canada. It was very interesting to see the history behind the industry. It has been a great summer so far, and I’m excited to see what’s in store for the rest of it!