Yellowknife Geoscience Forum begins on Tuesday

Hundreds of delegates are arriving for the annual Yellowknife Geoscience Forum, which features three days of presentations at the city’s Capitol Theatre alongside a trade show at the Ed Jeske Arena.

The 2019 edition of the forum is the 47th to be held in Yellowknife. A provisional list on the forum’s website suggested around 500 delegates had so far registered to attend. In 2018, final attendance was put at 736 people.

Government of Yukon paleontologist Dr Grant Zazula will deliver this year’s Charles Camsell Talk at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on Wednesday evening.

This year’s talk – named for Fort Liard-born Canadian geologist Camsell, a former Commissioner of the Northwest Territories who died in 1958 – will explore the Yukon’s “fossil rush” uncovering ice-age mammals. The talk is free to attend and will be webcast live.

Dozens of shorter presentations will take place at the theatre from Tuesday to Thursday, on subjects ranging from energy and diamonds to regulation and community engagement.

In full: See what’s being presented at the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum

However, there is bad news if this is the first you’re hearing of it and you’d like to go.

Entry to the presentations and trade show – which are targeted at industry professionals – requires registration. The late registration fee is listed on the forum’s website at $800, while Elders and students will each be charged a little under $300. (Reporters, mercifully, are admitted for free. Cabin Radio will report on a selection of events.)

On Thursday, the industry’s NWT Max Awards – in their third year, having been introduced in 2017 – will be handed out at a gala dinner.

The awards recognize people or companies for Indigenous achievement, distinguished service, environmental and social responsibility, economic leadership, and special achievement.