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Haida Gwaii semester in natural resource studies

Submitted article--The inaugural Haida Gwaii Semester in Natural Resource Studies is off to a great start. Observer readers will hear from the class over the next several weeks as each student takes a turn writing about his or her experiences in and outside the classroom.The students came here from seven universities in Canada, and their programs of study range from Forestry and Environmental Science to Anthropology and even Civil Engineering. We also have two local students in the group who have both worked in the forest industry. The class has already met with several guest speakers including Diane Brown, Len Munt, John Broadhead, Keith Moore, and Linda Tollas, and students have been learning about the proposed Land Use Objectives for the Strategic Land Use Plan through public meetings and open houses. The semester is made up of five courses. Case Studies in Haida Gwaii is a seminar course that runs once a week throughout the 12-week semester. The other four modular courses run for three weeks each. The first of these, Politics of Forest Management, finishes Friday. We will be sad to say goodbye to the course instructor Jocelyn Thorpe, but are looking forward to welcoming Pamela Perreault to the islands. Pamela is the instructor of the second modular course, First Nations and Forests.Over the next few weeks, the class will hear guest lectures from Guujaaw, Sean Muise, Ernie Gladstone and Colin Richardson, and will be visiting the CHN office in Masset to talk to Tyler Bellis, Sean Brennan and others about their work on the SLUA Joint Technical Team. The students will also be attending the All-Native Basketball Tournament in Rupert. Look forward to reading about their adventures here in the coming weeks.