Scientist on clean water mission
Subsurface imaging of a Roman bath house in Nazareth; geophysical mapping of the ancient Phoenician harbour of Tel Akko (perhaps the first constructed in the world); identifying early Christian burial sites, including the possible one of Jesus.
That’s a taste of Calgary geophysicist Paul Bauman’s 2013.
The technical director of the Geophysical Group at WorleyParsons is passionate about using geophysical technology to archeologically explore history and to discover better ways of finding clean, potable water in developing countries.
His global perspective came from spending five years in the jungle areas of Borneo, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, following his Princeton undergraduate degree.
“I was in remote places before the Internet, and without telephones. It placed the world in a context larger than we see from Calgary.”
What the 55-year-old geophysicist — who speaks fluent Indonesian and Malay and added Near Eastern Studies to his scientific credentials — learned while exercising his technical skills is the importance of personal and language skills.
“Getting to know the local experience and local people made it more fun … I carry that with me wherever I go.”
For a scientist who worked with UNICEF after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, and on new techniques of water exploration in Malawi and Yemen, 2014 will be another exciting year — albeit one, for the most part, spent closer to home.
The ancient harbour and a Second World War extermination camp in Poland will see continued geophysical mapping. But key will be the Canadian pipeline industry’s race to the coast.
WorleyParsons will work on making pipelines safer, mapping geology and tracing permafrost in the tough terrain of rivers, lakes and mountains.
And while water supply work has taken him all over the world, in 2014 Bauman will help small Alberta communities whose growth is hindered by groundwater shortages.
But it won’t be all business. He hopes to bring both his teenage kids to projects next summer, and he and his 16-year-old daughter will be trekking the mountains of Nepal for three weeks.
“It is important they get an appreciation of the world through their own eyes. Things are changing so quickly.”