- Programs
- Students
- Research
- Giving
- About
- Events
- News
- REDIRECT ONLY
- Sea, Land and Sky Initiative
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. “We wanted to create a laid-back venue for students to build community by sharing a story that shaped their learning. It’s an opportunity for students to discover interesting things about what their colleagues have done,” she says. “It gives students the chance to exchange ideas on how they’re applying their studies to a job or to exchange ideas on how they’re applying what they’ve learned in their life to their studies.”
Connor Reid, a fourth-year REM student, was asked to share a story at the inaugural gathering. “I knew exactly the story I wanted to share,” 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’s 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 — 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.’s north coast.
“We visited many small communities and single houses tucked into protected bays and inlets,” shares Reid. “One 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 — like creating an incredible chainsaw carving of a ten-foot-long octopus,” he says.
The couple were always willing to share their knowledge of the local tides, currents, shoals and fishing spots.
“They knew every trail in the surrounding forest, which bear used which trail, and when,” Reid remembers. “What really stuck with me is the value of their local knowledge because there isn’t a book in any library that contains the information that they have in their heads.”
This is the story that Reid shared with the room full of his peers at the REM Student Gathering.
“I always encourage people to get out there, see amazing places, meet amazing people”, Reid continued. “Building 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.”
Cyr notes that the event was a great success. “I had hoped that 20 or so students would attend, and then, once word spread, the room filled to capacity with 55 current SFU students, REM alumni and graduate students. Anyone interested in attending future events can email the REM office at rem_info@sfu.ca.” She jokes, “We can always get a bigger room.”