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Resource and Environmental Management
REM student gathering sets sail with a story linking an octopus carving and the value of local knowledge
When Connor Reid began his studies in the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM), he never envisioned that four years later he would be sharing stories of his youth with a room full of his peers.
The School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) launched its new Student Gathering as a casual event for students to get together and share stories about their life, work, or travels.
Elissa Cyr, REM manager, organized and attended the event. 鈥淲e wanted to create a laid-back venue for students to build community by sharing a story that shaped their learning. It鈥檚 an opportunity for students to discover interesting things about what their colleagues have done,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t gives students the chance to exchange ideas on how they鈥檙e applying their studies to a job or to exchange ideas on how they鈥檙e applying what they鈥檝e learned in their life to their studies.鈥�
Connor Reid, a fourth-year REM student, was asked to share a story at the inaugural gathering. 鈥淚 knew exactly the story I wanted to share,鈥� he recalls.
Throughout his program, Reid has been learning how to use social and natural sciences to improve decision-making in environmental management, a field he鈥檚 always been passionate about. He also has life experiences that have taught him to value the local knowledge of the people living in a place.
Reid grew up on Gabriola Island and spent his childhood helping his grandfather build a sailboat 鈥� as much as a four-year-old can. He spent most of his teens sailing and fishing with his grandfather as they explored the aquatic and terrestrial magic of B.C.鈥檚 north coast.
鈥淲e visited many small communities and single houses tucked into protected bays and inlets,鈥� shares Reid. 鈥淥ne secret bay was home to an interesting couple that lived in a salt-log house that they built from driftwood. They were clever in all the ways needed for the rigours of west-coast living but they were also talented in ways that you might not expect 鈥� like creating an incredible chainsaw carving of a ten-foot-long octopus,鈥� he says.
The couple were always willing to share their knowledge of the local tides, currents, shoals and fishing spots.
鈥淭hey knew every trail in the surrounding forest, which bear used which trail, and when,鈥� Reid remembers. 鈥淲hat really stuck with me is the value of their local knowledge because there isn鈥檛 a book in any library that contains the information that they have in their heads.鈥�
This is the story that Reid shared with the room full of his peers at the REM Student Gathering.
鈥淚 always encourage people to get out there, see amazing places, meet amazing people鈥�, Reid continued. 鈥淏uilding relationships with local people and incorporating that local knowledge with our academic training is essential when helping people to make decisions about how they want to manage an area.鈥�
Cyr notes that the event was a great success. 鈥淚 had hoped that 20 or so students would attend, and then, once word spread, the room filled to capacity with 55 current 天美mv天美 students, REM alumni and graduate students. Anyone interested in attending future events can email the REM office at rem_info@sfu.ca.鈥� She jokes, 鈥淲e can always get a bigger room.鈥�