Geology. Who would have thought it would allow you to travel the world?

Stewart Hamilton never thought so, but has done just that tracking down mineral deposits throughout North and South America.

"You go to places that literally not one per cent of the population would ever get to," says Stewart, an aqueous geochemist with the Ontario Geological Survey (OGS) in Sudbury.

"If you like the outdoors, there is no better career. You go wherever deposits are and they're all over the world."

Stewart has a BSc in Geology from Laurentian University and a Masters in Hydrogeology from the University of Ottawa. He's now in the process of acquiring a PhD in Geochemistry.

Buried treasure
"Your job as a geoscientist is to look for ore deposits so it's like looking for buried treasure," he says.

A provincial government agency, the OGS collects, interprets and publishes geological, geochemical and geophysical data to help exploration and mining companies discover mineral deposits.

In university, Stewart was able to work as an assistant during the summer months.
"It was an awful lot of fun. We spent a lot of time in boats and planes and helicopters and hiking through the woods," he recalls.

He credits high school technical courses such as electronics and auto repair for getting him out of more than a few jams.

"Every single one of these courses saved my bacon once or twice," he says.
While working in the Canadian Arctic, Stewart turned to skills learned in small-engine repair when his generator died, leaving his electric fences powerless to protect him from polar bears.

Major hazards such as bears can make working in wilderness areas a dangerous experience.

Stewart's job is very cyclical. He spends his summers in the bush and the winters analyzing the data he gathers, publishing his findings in the spring just in time for the next expedition.

Excellent pay
The job's benefits include excellent pay and more vacation time than he says he could ever use.

Because of the current mining boom, it's also a very easy field to break into. According to reports from professional associations, there are currently 14 jobs for every geoscience graduate in North America.

The OGS offers students summer jobs that give them valuable experience. Years ago, says Stewart, there used to be 10 applicants for every job. Today, however, enrollment in Geology programs is way down and applicants for summer jobs in the field are few and far between.

Ideal candidates should enjoy camping, fishing and hiking.

"We've had people arrive from downtown Toronto and some dragonfly lands on them and they go wacko and want to go home," he complains.

Stewart, 42, joined the OGS in 1994 after working for several years for an environmental consulting company.

Beginning in 1997, he began researching forest rings, perfect circles visible from the air over parts of Northern Ontario. His theory tracing them to electro-chemical cells underground has excited the geoscience community and provided an explanation for the mystery surrounding crop circles.

The Association of Applied Geoscientists has named him a Distinguished Lecturer and that has led to speaking engagements in Europe, Australia and the U.S.

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