Greetings from Prince George! I am the newly elected PIBC student representative for UNBC. In this article, I will introduce myself and tell you a bit about what is happening at the School of Environmental Planning.

I am originally born and raised in Surrey, BC and have been attending UNBC for the last few years. I am 3.33333 years into my Environmental Planning degree with a specialization in Natural Resources Planning. This past year, I was the Vice-president for the Student Planners’ Association. I love the outdoors and have a passion for parks and recreation planning.

There has been a lot going on this last while at UNBC. In January, the Student Planners’ Association held a fundraising dinner and silent auction for the Ancient Inland Rainforest just east of Prince George. This is a globally unique ecosystem that is largely unprotected. The funds raised went to the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club, and will be used for interpretive trail maintenance and other advocacy projects.

This March has been very busy, as is traditional with the School. In conjunction with the School of Environmental Planning, PIBC, and the Student Planners’ Association, we put on our annual career development day. This consisted of mock interviews, and stories from professional planners about getting their first planning positions. We also had a great presentation from Chris Marshall of Gibsons, BC on his experience at the 2009 Livcom competition, winning the award of “World’s Most Livable Community.”

The Student Planners’ Association also had our annual year-end social event. This year we went cross-country skiing, where we got to hang out in an awesome setting with dinner in the lodge, a fire pit outside, and exciting ski races for delicious frosty beverages! Elections were held for the Student Planners’ Association, and the new executive for the upcoming year was voted in:

• President: Roy Neilson
• Vice-President: Daniel Sturgeon
• Treasurer: Franz Factor
• Communications Director: Marie Jensen
• Social Events Coordinator: Derek De Candole
• PIBC Representative: Nigel Whitehead

And in latest news, the School of Environmental Planning is in the final stages of its search for a new Program Chair. The final candidates will be coming up to UNBC for interviews and to meet faculty and students. Everyone is excited about the opportunity to get to know these new potential leaders of the School!

BACK TO TOP