She lived the learning
By: Breanna Sinclair
Lakeland College’s Live the Learning slogan is a perfect description of Breanna Sinclair’s experience in environmental sciences programs at the college.
“The hands-on learning opportunities at Lakeland College are great,” says Breanna, an environmental protection technology graduate and student in the bachelor of applied science: environmental management (BAppSc:EM) program.
Between lab activities, field trips and conferences, she and her classmates were often outside of a traditional classroom setting.
“Real-life training is a large part of the environmental sciences programs. Through lab activities, I learned different sampling and analysis techniques and on a few field trips sampled various media such as soil, vegetation and water,” she says.
Touring facilities such as pulp mills, water/waste treatment plants, landfills, coal mines, and refineries not only allowed her to make industry connections, she also learned about different career opportunities. “These trips were very useful. They provided a much more visual representation of the work and equipment involved in the industry,” says Breanna.
Attending the Air and Waste Management and Canadian Land Reclamation conferences were also valuable experiences. “Current issues related to the environment and the oil and gas industry were discussed and we were able to network with people in different areas of the sector,” says Breanna.
Currently on an eight-month practicum at High Level with the Energy Resources Conservation Board, Breanna will return to the Vermilion campus in 2010 to present her findings and experiences from the work she completes with the organization.
“I’d definitely recommend Lakeland College to others. I always felt challenged, but never intimidated. It was a great learning environment,” she says.
