Bobby’s back! Let the adventures begin!
May 29, 2015 9:55 am Leave your thoughts
Hi there, my name is Robert Bellamy and I have just completed the first year of my Forestry degree at the University of Alberta.
Now that school’s out, I look forward to my summer employment in Slave Lake, Alberta at the Tolko Industries’ Athabasca division. I worked there last summer and fortunately I was invited back, as I had such an awesome time and I expect this summer will be just as good if not better. Please note: In Forestry, my coworkers and classmates know me as Bobby. This alter ego “Bobby” was established in my first year at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology specifically it’s five week field school prerequisite each student must complete prior to beginning their Forest Technology classes. Anyway, in the Kidney Lake field school, Robert quickly evolved to Bobby when my classmates realized Robert did not suit my wild and fun seeking ways of attacking field work. Don’t be fooled by this “easy going” character I describe because I pride myself on hard work and at the end of the day the task always gets completed.
Now that I’ve shared some background information about myself, I can continue by discussing the first couple weeks at the Athabasca division. These first weeks were primarily orientation and safety training; which included covering standard operating procedures for all the activities I will engage in over the summer, familiarizing myself with the ArcGIS practices unique to the Athabasca division and participating in some more involved activities such as completing vehicle and ATV inspections, touring the FMA and mill. The highlight of week one was travelling to Whitecourt for ATV training which unexpectedly took two days to complete as northern Alberta was surprised with a freak snowfall in May which forced my partner and I to turn back and try again the following day when the road conditions were more desirable. The ATV training itself went really well, and It also gave me the chance to meet up with some NAIT and U of A friends living in Whitecourt while they work for Blue Ridge Lumber and Millar Western.
Week two’s highlight was having the opportunity to spend the night in High Level and participate in a very fun and informative wildlife training course. That was my first time up in High Level, so it was cool seeing some new scenery and meeting some of the woodlands staff from the High Level division. I’m really excited for work and getting another summer with Tolko under my belt, and the Green Dream Scholarship sounds like a great way to keep track of and record any new experiencesI may have. I did something similar to the blog last summer capturing most of my field days with my GoPro camera, which I mounted on my quad helmet or attached to my cruise vest so I was able to get some really great footage depicting work in the forest products industry. Also I love sharing with friends and family, my forestry adventures on Instagram and Facebook so I’m stoked to get #LIFESBETTERHERE trending.
Bobby