Date/Time
Date(s) - Mon May 12 2025
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Notes:
If you want to view wildlife in spectacular landscapes, it helps to know a bit about the local geology. From rugged mountains to the rain shadow of the prairies, to deeply entrenched rivers, and glaciated terrain, geology strongly impacts where wildlife lives.
To observe mountain goats, look for salt licks in the rock flour of drained glacial lakes to which the animals travel far every summer.
Sixty million years of erosion of the Rocky Mountains has created the rugged habitat on which mountain goats and bighorn sheep have adapted to survive. Talus slopes and rock falls, the debris of that erosion, goes on to create protective habitat on which American pikas and hoary marmots depend.
Every spring and fall thousands of golden eagles migrate the length of the Rocky Mountains. Their route is controlled by southwest dipping mountain slopes onto which strong prevailing westerly winds blow, creating loft which these giant birds take full advantage of.
Harlequin ducks and northern dippers breed and feed in rapids and waterfalls of fast mountain streams where turbulent water flows over erosion resistant rocks that geologists call knickpoints.
Join Dale for an informative and engaging event to investigate the close relationship between wildlife and landscape.
About Dr. Dale Leckie:
Dr. Dale Leckie is a geologist, speaker, and best-selling author who worked at the Geological Survey of Canada and as chief geologist at Nexen, a large Canadian energy company. He has edited numerous books and published widely on the geology of western Canada. He is adjunct professor in the Earth, Environment and Energy Department at University of Calgary. Dale has been recognized for his long-term contributions to geology and is an honorary member of Society for Sedimentary Geology and Canadian Energy Geoscience Association. Dale is 2024 recipient of the Geosciences in the Media Award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists for his first two books. Wildlife, Landscapes, and Geology: An Alberta and Saskatchewan Touring Guide is the third of his best-selling trilogy of books encouraging people to get out and explore. Dale’s previous books The Scenic Geology of Alberta, and Rocks, Ridges, and Rivers were both best sellers and were short listed at the High Plains Book Awards.
