Estevan may be under the microscope as an anthropologist who has previously researched the affects of oil drilling in communities is eyeing the Energy City for his next project, observing the impact of the oilpatch.
Rylan Higgins, an assistant professor of anthropology at Saint Mary's University in Nova Scotia, is preparing to study how Estevan has been shaped by the rich oil reserves throughout southeast Saskatchewan.
Higgins was born in Estevan and grew up in Brooks, Alta. Higgins has been at Saint Mary's for three years and prior to that conducted a lot of research in Vietnam. He spent about eight years in Louisiana investigating the affects of off-shore drilling, both economic and social, to the local landscape.
Looking for his next project, he thought a similar study, this time looking at the impact of oil, gas and the energy sector has had both socially and economically on Estevan, the Energy City.
As has been documented, Estevan has experienced great economic prosperity, while at the same growing disparity within the community, with the costs of living making the city increasingly unaffordable for lower income families not benefitting from the boom.
"For me in Estevan, I am really starting somewhat anew. As an anthropologist, the key to our approach is to come with purposeful ignorance. We don't know. We don't profess to know anything. I do know the oil and gas industry really well, but do I know Estevan really well? Other than having been born there, no, I don't," he said.
He said given a summer in the community, he would develop a "robust" idea of the community itself and how oil and gas has impacted the city.
"Some of the challenges, whether they are problems or positive impacts, are glaringly available to the casual observer," he said. Given some time to immerse himself in the community, he expects some deeper observations may be gleaned.
He said he was watching The National two years ago when a story about Estevan reeling from the impacts of the booming Bakken oil play appeared on the screen.
"That's what I used to do," he thought, recalling his time researching off-shore drilling in Louisiana, and decided Estevan might provide a good opportunity for further research.
He was in Estevan last summer speaking with some local residents.
"It went really well," he said, as he focused his attention on people in media, education and other professions like child and family services and labour standards.
"It was a very broad survey of what's going on. What's of interest to a social scientist. Of course, there is tons of stuff going on. In some ways, it parallels what we were seeing in Louisiana with the off-shore. In other ways, it's quite different. There's immigration stuff going on in Estevan, for one example. There was none of that in the community that we were in, in Louisiana."
After the exploratory trip he determined there were definitely issues and stories that required further probing. He is now looking for a research grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, a government body that funds research in the humanities.
Higgins didn't receive funding this year, but he is expecting, given the topic and the issues, the project will be greenlit in the future.
"There's a lot of stuff going on. There's a reasonable chance I will get the funding," he said, hoping next year he will be able to return for a few months in the summer with some grad students to conduct research.
He said during that time, they would speak with hundreds of individuals and families to hear stories and learn more about how the energy boom has affected the lives of long-time residents and newcomers alike.
"The kind of research that I do requires a long-term stay. The stuff I was doing in Louisiana, I lived in the community for a year, in an attempt to understand what was happening."
His team produced hundreds of pages of documentation during their time in Louisiana.
Higgins said the off-shore drilling environment magnifies the drilling scale compared to the work in the Bakken, with the fabrication, transportation and diving contributing to a very complex industry.
"In terms of impacts in communities, however, there are more variables (than in Estevan) as well. The boom and bust cycles are different," he said, noting if a company invests $3 billion into construction for a project, they won't be affected by swings in oil and gas prices.
"Sometimes when a project is completed, and it's completed at a certain point, you can see massive layoffs, literally overnight from these fabrication yards," he said.
He said there will be differences, and though he hasn't done research in Estevan he expects some similarities.
"It's very likely the case where there would be far more similarities than differences between off-shore and on-shore."
Higgins may be back in Estevan this summer. He had planned on visiting last week, but due to some personal circumstances, was unable to attend the city. He is hoping to return and speak with more community members in late July for about 10 days.
Those in Estevan who are interested in speaking with him may contact him via e-mail at [email protected] if they have stories or information to share.
