It was a matter of confidence surfacing at the right moment.
Sienna Johnson, a fourth-year geology student at the University of Regina won the Best Undergraduate Technical Talk award among her peers at the 2016 Western Inter-University Geosciences Conference in Saskatoon on Jan. 8.
“I was very surprised and relieved when the presentation was over,” Johnson told Costa Maragos, director of external relations for the U of R, shortly after the award was made.
“I didn’t know if I would stand out,”
“Well, she did stand out,” said Maragos.
The conference is an annual student-run event that provides an opportunity for students across Canada to share their ideas and research findings and to network with industry professionals.
The judges, said Maragos, “were accomplished geologists. It was a tough audience.”
Johnson said she was intimidated at first. “I was only given 10 minutes to talk about a research project I had been working on for months. I had to cut out a lot of fluff dealing with preparation and scientific method; and focused on results of my research.”
Johnson’s presentation was titled Bitumen-filled Natural Fractures of the Souris Valley Marker Bed B in Southern Saskatchewan.
“In plain terms, I’m looking for rocks’ potential to produce hydrocarbons,” said Johnson. “The Souris Valley is generally under-researched in this area.”
The former Estevan Comprehensive School graduate has also presented her research finding at the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists in Calgary and the Williston Basin Conference in Regina.
Johnson, the daughter of Brian and Gloria Johnson, acknowledges that growing up in Estevan where the oil industry is most prominent, influenced her decision to study geology at the U of R.
“Taking geology at the U of R has been fabulous. There’s been a lot of support from the professors,” she said.
Maragos noted Johnson’s undergraduate thesis supervisor was Dr. Stepehen Bend who has transitioned from professor to mentor over the course of the last year. “I wouldn’t be able to achieve success without his guidance,” Johnson said.
Johnson will convocate this spring and will enter the workforce, since she’s landed a contract with Areva Resources Canada, a multi-national nuclear energy company. She will be based in Saskatoon.
In a recent email exchange with the Mercury, Johnson said “actually I’ve had more summer job experience in uranium exploration than the oil industry. I decided to take on an honours thesis project that would round out my resume. Plus, I thought it was super interesting.”
She went on to suggest she is most interested in petroleum geochemistry.
Johnson, who was also a well-known bagpiper with the Estevan Elks PPCLI Army Cadet Pipe and Drum Corps during her high school years, said she still plays the pipes with the City of Regina Pipe Band, when she has time. “I had to push that aside the last few summers because I’ve been up north working in exploration camps. I spent all last summer with Areva in Kiggavik, Nunavut, and who could pass that up!”
