Elizabeth Oliphant

As a Multidisciplinary Hydrographer (MDH) with the Canadian Hydrographic Service, Elizabeth helps survey, process and display the data used to create navigation charts, tide tables and sailing directions. The organization’s mandate is to ensure the safety of Canadian navigable waterways through measuring and describing the physical features of the marine environment, including water depth, rocks, wrecks, and hazards to navigation, to support commercial shipping, recreational boaters, fishermen, Canadian defence and sovereignty, oil and gas exploration, climate research, habitat mapping, marine environmental protection, and search and rescue.

The social sciences program at UVic exposed me to diverse courses which taught me the surveying, cartography, and GIS skills that I use every day. My co-op work terms provided me with the work experience responsible for securing my current position. I love my career. I love surveying and mapping the ocean with the Canadian Hydrographic Service.