Degree took grad across Canada’s three oceans

Ian Wrohan’s university experience strayed from the classroom environment and extended to the northern extremes of the Canadian Arctic. This September, Wrohan completed his master’s in Earth and ocean sciences and will convocate this month.

While completing an environmental technology program at Camosun College, Wrohan participated in two co-op placements, the latter of which sparked his scientific interest in algae and inspired him to come to UVic to continue his education.

At UVic, Wrohan pursued his interests in ocean chemistry after his professor and master’s supervisor, Dr. Diana Varela, got involved in Canada’s Three Oceans (C3O) program as part of the International Polar Year Initiative. At the time, Wrohan was working as a lab technician for Varela and seized the opportunity to pursue his master’s by participating in Fisheries and Oceans Canada 3CO field studies.

“I can’t give enough credit to my supervisor. She’s a fantastic person to work for and work with,” says Wrohan.

For two two-month periods during the summers of 2007 and 2008, Wrohan, Varela and a team of scientists ventured into the three oceans of Canada: the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic.
During his first summer, he took an icebreaker from Dartmouth, NS, up to the mid-point on the Arctic Coast and into the Canada Basin above Alaska. Then in 2008, he departed from Victoria doing the same trip from the West Coast.

“The idea was to produce a snapshot of Canada’s ocean conditions during those summers. It’s so hard to get up there that there isn’t a lot of data. It was an excellent opportunity to provide an oceanographic baseline of that data,” he explains.

His and Varela’s focus was on phytoplankton in those waters. The used the data to publish multiple papers and collaborate with other groups.

Around the time of his master’s defense date, Wrohan received a call from an environmental firm in Vancouver notifying him of a job. He packed everything up and within in a couple days of completing school was working for Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. where he is pursuing his interest in oceanography.

“It’s funny, because a lot of the work they [Rescan Environmental Services Ltd.] do involves environmental assessment equipment that I learned a lot about during my master’s work. I can’t stress enough the importance of doing field work. Those are the things employers really look for.”

What stands out for Wrohan among his experiences up north are the natural landscape and the bonds formed with his colleagues. “It’s not a wasteland at all; there’s glaciers and around August everything blooms. It was beautiful in a way I never thought it could be.”

Networking and teambuilding was accelerated by working with a small group of people in a close environment for up to 16 hours a day. “There’s nowhere else you can go; you’re on a ship,” he laughs.

He also adds that he learned to collaborate with other people in a professional setting, even if not everyone always agreed.

“I think more people, especially Canadians, should take a trip up there because it’s a part of where we live and not a lot of people appreciate that—not a lot of people get to see it. Everyone knows it’s an environment which is changing really quickly, so see it while you can.”

Wrohan sends this message to current UVic students: “Enjoy it while you’re doing it, because, believe it or not, you’ll miss it when you’re done. You’ve made a wise choice going to UVic, so cherish the professional and the personal relationships you forge there.”