- Date
- Friday, August 11, 2017
- Tagged under
Colin Johnston is recognized for 11 years of service
Colin Johnston, Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary, retired last year from the Avalanche Canada Foundation board of directors. At the Board’s spring meeting, we honoured Colin’s contributions to avalanche safety. Colin’s involvement in avalanche safety began when he agreed to teach avalanche courses through the Canadian Ski Patrol in the late 1960s with Brad Giesler and Peter Spear. Brad Giesler, who moved to Calgary in the 1950s, had been a member of the famed U.S. Tenth Mountain Division and he partnered with Peter to create a public avalanche safety course curriculum .
As fate would have it years later, Colin, who was a professor in the Civil Engineering department at U of C, was approached by a young grad student looking to do a PhD in avalanche risk management. His name was Bruce Jamieson! Colin jumped at the opportunity and supervised Bruce Jamieson’s career in avalanche research. Colin has retired from avalanche safety after spending 11 years on the board of the Avalanche Canada Foundation.
Thank you Colin for your contributions!