Kamloops and the mineral exploration community lost a great friend when Ronald C. Wells passed away from cancer on February 10th, 2007. Ron was the principal of Kamloops Geological Services and was well known in the industry and the broader community for his passion and volunteer work in geological education. At the time of his passing, Ron was President of the Kamloops Exploration Group (KEG) Society, a post he held for 12 years.
During Ron’s tenure, KEG’s annual conference grew to be the largest and best exploration conference in interior BC. Through his leadership and drive, KEG provided support for many educational initiatives including prospecting courses, scholarships at area universities, financial support for school programs and field trips, mineral displays and competitions at the Kamloops museum, and a very well attended public lecture series on general topics in geology.
To date, nearly $30,000 has been donated to the Ronald C. Wells Geological Education Fund. The fund is set up as a permanent endowment with the Kamloops Foundation, a public charitable foundation. Investments will be managed by the foundation and income from the endowment will support annual scholarships or other educational awards. The awards will be chosen by a three-person committee consisting of two KEG members and one person appointed by Ron’s family.
The primary purpose of the fund will be to provide one or more scholarships for Canadian students attending 3rd or 4th year university geology classes in Canada. In the event there are no suitable candidates, the awards committee could also choose to provide funds to a university or college geology department(s) to support field trips or purchase of equipment or teaching materials.
Past Recipients
2009 Chelsea Knight University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Hannah K. Mills University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Isabelle Therriault Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario
2008 Jennifer McPherson, University of BC Kelowna, BC Steven Siemieniuk, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON Benjamin Stanley, Memorial University, St. John's, NF
The Ken Daughtry Geoscience Award was established at the Okanagan University College by KEG. This annual scholarship is awarded to a student enrolled in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Degree Program, entering either 3rd or 4th year. The scholarship was created in memory of geologist Ken Daughtry who passed away suddenly during the summer of 2003.
The sudden passing of geologist Ken Daughtry was a great loss to all his friends and colleagues at KEG. He was a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of the organization and always had something valuable to contribute. Ken, during his retirement, was still highly active in the geological community, research and a firm believer in passing on knowledge to the new generation of geologists. It was always an easy task to get Ken to volunteer a talk or presentation, harder to get him to stop.
The KEG organization (like Ken) is a very strong promoter of geological education at all levels. In fond memory of Ken, an annual $1500 scholarship, the “Ken Daughtry Geoscience Award” was established at the Okanagan University College (OUC) by KEG. This annual scholarship is to be awarded to a student enrolled in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Degree Program, entering either 3rd or 4th year. The candidate is selected on an achievement/need basis by the department in consultation with the KEG executive (consensus decision).
Friends, associates and others that wish to donate to the scholarship fund are more than welcome to do so. The fund will be administered by Linda Way at the OUC Foundation, University House, 3333 College Way, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7. Telephone: (250) 470-6091, Fax: (250) 470-6092. Please state it is for the “KEN DAUGHTRY GEOSCIENCE AWARD”. Please also email a copy to Karin Gerke, KEG secretary (email: karin.gerke@gmail.com) of any donations sent to OUC.
2009 John Ryan, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna, BC 2008 Amanda Rakow & Amber Brown 2007 Mitchell Hewer 2004 Skye Thomson
The David Miller Scholarship is a bursary of $1000 per year set up at the Thompson Rivers University. The scholarship is in memory of David Miller who died accidentally while on a drilling project in the Yukon in 1990.
David Miller was one of the founding members of KEG in 1973. He died accidentally while on a drilling project in the Yukon on July 27th, 1990. A bursary of $1000 per year was set up at the University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University). It is funded by KEG in his name.
David Miller was born in Coquitlam, B.C. in 1935 and graduated from UBC in Geological Engineering in 1959. After graduation he worked in the Beaverlodge uranium camp for Eldorado and subsequently for various mines in B.C. including Britannia, Bluebell, Coast Copper and Bethlehem Copper.
In 1977 he joined St. Joseph Exploration, subsequently Sulpetro, conducting exploration programs throughout the Cordillera, and was involved in the discovery of the Mel deposit in the Yukon. He established a successful consulting practice in Kamloops in 1984, and was consulting on the Mel prospect at the time of his death. David Miller was a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of B.C., the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the Geological Association of Canada.
Past Recipients 2009 Pearce Saunders, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC 2008 Douglas McArthur 2007 Natasha Pitt 2006 Jason Stadey 2005 Laura May 2004 Jessica Bukkos 2003 Greg Kaufman 2002 Laura Purves 2001 Lisa Pittman 2000 Melissa Wennerstrom 1999 Philip Gordon 1997 Andrea Cade
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