18
Geotechnical News • December 2018
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
provided welcoming words from the
CGS. The guest of honour was Deputy
Minister of Highways and Infrastruc-
ture,
Fred Antunes
, who shared his
words of thanks.
Ultimately, the big draw to the event
was the keynote presentation by
Lynden Penner.
Lynden’s presen-
tation, “Leadership and Legacy of
Dr. Jack Mollard” provided some
wonderful insight on a geotechnical
legend, his life and accomplishments,
and just how many lives and projects
Jack influenced. Many of the surviv-
ing members or Dr. Mollard’s family
were able to grace the event with their
presence.
The evening ended with smiles on
people’s faces, and many laughs from
a local comedian,
Kelly Taylor
. It was
deemed a wonderful night by many.
GeoCelebration 2019 will be hosted
in March, 2019 in Regina, SK. Please
join the RGG at its second annual
celebration of the greatest profession
on earth. Be sure to check the website
for details on
both this past and upcoming events.
Submitted by Jasyn Henbry
Members in the News
Incoming Geotechnical News
Editor - 2019-2021
Nicholas Beier - PhD, P.Eng. -
University of Alberta
It is my pleasure to take over as
Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS)
News Editor from
Don Lewycky
. I
met Don while serving as the Student
Representative (2009 and 2010) on the
Executive Committee for the Geo-
technical Society of Edmonton (GSE).
I have been an active member of the
GSE since 2003, the CGS since 2007,
and a member of the CGS Geotechni-
cal Research Board since 2016. I was
introduced to the CGS in 2005 when I
presented my Master’s research at the
58
th
National CGS Conference held in
Saskatoon. Since then, I have travelled
coast-to-coast regularly attending
and presenting at the National CGS
Conferences.
Prior to entering graduate studies, I
worked as an engineering consultant
on environmental site remediation
projects for the oil and gas industry. I
completed an MSc Degree at the Uni-
versity of Alberta (UAlberta, 2006)
on the
“Freeze Separation of Saline
Mine Waste Water”
, which resulted
in a cost-effective method for salinity
separation in the mine industry and
contributed toward an Environmen-
tal Excellence Award from APEGA
in 2006. My PhD (UAlberta, 2015)
research involved developing a tail-
ings management simulation model to
evaluate alternative tailings manage-
ment technologies and understanding
the geotechnical behavior of amended
fine tailings. I have since been actively
researching in the area of mine waste
management and cold regions engi-
neering as an Assistant Professor of
Geoenvironmental Engineering at
UAlberta.
As a graduate student, I was selected
to represent UAlberta at the 2
nd
Cana-
dian Young Geotechnical Engineers
Conference (YGEC, 2007) and to
represent the CGS at the 5
th
Interna-
tional YGEC as a Youth Representa-
tive (2013). In 2008, I also received
the N.R. Morgenstern Award from the
GSE for my PhD seminar presenta-
tion, which was open to the local
geotechnical community. During my
graduate studies, I assisted with the
preparation, setup and operation of
several of our annual UAlberta/GSE
Retaining Wall Building Contests.
Based on my experience in organizing
RGG Executive, left to right: Harpreet Panesar, Corey Gorrill, Kyle Mason,
Jasyn Henbry, Krystin Lemmerick, Heather Duncan, Bret Dundas,
Anna Gagnon.
Nicholas Beier.
