Technical Training

Technical Training − Technical training events focus on structured exchanges and activities with partners, including the GEOMAR-CREATE Summer Mapping School and CAPSTONE Mapping Project, participation on research cruises, and training in the field. Technical training is offered by experts in diverse fields, from the oldest greenstone belts on Earth to active plate boundaries in the oceans. Training in resource geology is provided by specialists in land-based and ocean resources. And partnerships with Canada’s major marine institutes are ensuring access to state-of-the-art infrastructure to support the students’ programs, including the National Facility for Seismic Imaging (NSFI), the Canadian Transportable Seismic Array (CCArray), Canada’s world-leading scientific submersibles (CSSF), and the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) cabled observatory. Time spent at sea is also a key part of the training plan of iMAGE. Our partners at GEOMAR, FAU and BGR spend more than 500 days at sea every year, representing significant opportunities for training of CREATE students, in addition to co-supervision of projects. A ship-time registry for training has been initiated to identify partner opportunities (e.g., with the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research, SCOR, and InterRidge), supporting participation of early career geoscientists on international cruises.

iMAGE-CREATE trainees are being exposed to diverse research approaches and experts including geologists, geophysicists, oceanographers, biologists, atmospheric scientists, and marine technologists. At GEOMAR, Canadian trainees interact with more than 500 scientific staff working on the oceans and climate, marine ecology and dynamics of the ocean floor. They participate in extensive programs within the Helmholtz Association, including those carried out by the world-renowned Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ in Potsdam, Germany’s national research hub for the Solid Earth Sciences, the German aerospace institute DLR, and the MARUM Marine Research Center at the University of Bremen. Through Helmholtz, the Canadian trainees have the opportunity to learn about the full spectrum of research in Space, Health, Energy, and the Environment.

Professional Training − The iMAGE CREATE is developing skills needed for employment throughout the geoscience sector, emphasizing training that is directly relevant to the job market and transferrable to a variety of occupations. Professional training includes workshops and mentoring by both institutional and industry experts, courses “on demand” that are tailored to the iMAGE cluster, professional seminars and career training. Members and affiliates interact with both NSE and non-NSE researchers on highly interdisciplinary topics such as natural resources management and the sustainability of resource supply. The PIs regularly engage with national and international agencies on issues of resource management and safety and security, including policy centers such as OECD, AAAS, the National Academy of Sciences and the EU Parliament, creating additional opportunities for trainees to be involved at the highest levels in public consultations and with the media. This training emphasizes Canada’s unique leadership role in solid earth geoscience and natural resources. Students with this experience will have significant advantages in entry to the academic and professional workforce in the field.

 

[see PROFESSIONAL SKILLS TRAINING for details]

Our aim is a self-funded program that will be able to offer continuing professional and technical training for the geoscience service sector, including sea-going and land-based field experiences to new HQP beyond the CREATE.