Part of a display which appeared at the Ontario Legislature from July 15 to October 15, 1995
Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences
Dr. Legault has enjoyed success in two career fields not widely pursued in the past by women academics: (1) in the field of geology or "earth sciences," and (2) as an academic administrator. Both fields have until recent years been heavily predominated by males.
As an earth scientist, Dr. Legault's research has had considerable focus on acritarchs -- microscopic fossils of life forms that lived in the oceans as far back as 600 million years ago, and that somewhat resembled the "red tide" organisms that on occasion color our oceans today. The presence of these fossils in rock formations may indicate the existence of petroleum deposits, and thus fossil specialists are sometimes used by oil companies in the search for new fields.
Studying such fossils is difficult. They are found by examining the residue, after dissolving rock chips in acid. The rocks dissolve but the fossils are acid-resistant and remain visible under a microscope. The study is fascinating in its own right and Dr. Legault has made a career of it. In addition, she has managed to add academic administration to her teaching and research activities. Her background includes a period served as acting chair of her department. Currently she is Advisor on Interdisciplinary Programs to the University of Waterloo's Vice-President, Academic.
Interdisciplinary programs are tailored to the individual needs of certain students who might, for instance, take a degree in Environmental Studies with an additional focus on Peace and Conflict Studies, or in Economics with a focus on Society, Technology and Values.
Such programs can span two or three traditional disciplines and because of this, the students involved cannot be administered within a single department, perhaps not even within a single faculty. Dr. Legault serves somewhat after the fashion of a dean, with respect to interdisciplinary students. She says she enjoys the experience partly because: "I get to work with and meet other types of scholars . . . not solely earth scientists."
Senior Hydrogeologist, Golder Associates Ltd.
Tammy Middleton says her career as a hydro-geologist had its roots in a childhood experience . . . watching an archeologist at work. She entered university intending to become an archeologist but gradually became more interested in the science-related (geological) aspects of the field and transferred to the University of Waterloo's Department of Earth Sciences.
She recalls interesting experiences, prior to completing her master's degree in hydrogeology, while working as a researcher at McMaster University, part of her activities involved studying lunar rocks from NASA. After completing her master's degree, in 1990, she joined CH2M HILL Engineering Ltd., Waterloo, and three years ago moved to Golder Associates, an eminent Canadian-based firm of environment and engineering consultants with about 1,200 employees in 50 offices in the United States, Australia and in several countries in Asia and Europe, including about 15 offices in Canada. Middleton works out of the Waterloo offices.
Her work focuses on protecting and cleaning up groundwater resources, including the artesian wells that millions of Canadians rely on for their daily drinking water. Much of the work is multi-disciplinary, involving her at times with large teams of scientists including biologists, planners, engineers, and others. It can include such activities as assessing proposed land developments to determine their potential impact on the ecosystem, or developing and managing water cleanup programs.
Often it involves developing and using computer models-for instance to estimate the movement of groundwater, or the movement of contaminants in the soil, or to develop cleanup plans.
Associate Professor, Department of Earth Sciences; Member, Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research
Dr. Schiff has converted a love of canoe trips in northern Canadian rivers and lakes into a career as a water quality researcher. Her studies have to do with understanding how the chemistry of water changes as it passes through the cycle . . . from rainfall to the earth' s surface, to underground aquifers, to rivers and streams. She looks, in particular, into developing new techniques to trace water flowpaths in lakes or rivers, or underground.
As well, she is keenly interested in the impact of acid rain on lakes and rivers, and water quality concerns related to such phenomena as the potential impact of the greenhouse effect (global warming).
As for acid rain, Dr. Schiff feels the problem is far from solved; indeed, while there has been some public concern, and progress, in dealing with sulphur oxides entering the atmosphere from industrial plants, etc., almost nothing has yet been done about nitrogen oxides. "The public seems to think the acid rain problem has been solved; it hasn't," she warns.
Dr. Schiff squeezes as much time as possible into field work. She has graduate students working at field locations from Lake Superior country to the High Arctic islands. She notes that global warming may have profound effects on polar regions, possibly thawing permafrost and melting polar ice caps.
Though Dr. Schiff enjoys an extremely busy career as a scientist and teacher, she manages to combine her vocation with parenthood, with four children ranging in age from one to seven. She feels more needs to be done within the academic community to make it possible for scientists, both men and women, to combine these two very heavy demands on their time (family and career) . . . the community needs to be, in her words, "more family friendly."