Cochrane Idea’s next instalment came when organizer Andy Marshall overheard his son and friend Dr. Michael Moloney talking about a project. Marshall immediately approached Moloney and asked if he could present at a future Cochrane Ideas event.
Cochrane Ideas is in their 20th year of organizing presentations and discussions on a wide array of topics. The event takes place every second Friday of the month.
“Learning new things is a significant motivation for organizing Ideas and why people have been coming to Ideas for over 19 years,” said Marshall.
“We usually try and find topics that are current and relevant, or that pique people's curiosity.”
Their first meeting of the new decade takes place on Friday, Jan. 10 at the King Solomon Lodge on Centre Avenue. Moloney and Dr. Matthew Ayre, both Calgary-based researchers of a sunken whaling ship from 118 years ago, will be leading a presentation.
Their presentation will cover the challenges and implications of their recent exploration of the Nova Zembla, a Scottish whaling vessel, that wrecked off the coast of Baffin Island in 1902. Moloney and Ayre are both members of the Arctic Institute of North America at the University of Calgary.
“The story behind discovering a wrecked boat and learning all about how it came about seem like natural ingredients for a good yarn,” Marshall said.
“Also, stories about Canada's northern frontiers have a particular appeal. People generally like to be taken out of their familiar territory."
An adjunct assistant professor at the University of Calgary, Moloney has worked in remote locations around the world and conducting archeological excavations on land and under water. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in 2018 for his explorations of Canadian Arctic history.
For his doctoral studies in archeology at the U of C, Moloney investigated the application of innovative, computer-based spatial modelling to the examination of shipwrecks and shipboard societies.
Ayre is a historical climatologist at the Arctic Institute. After earning his undergraduate degree in geography at the University of Sunderland, England, he went on to complete his PhD there. Ayre specialized in the extant log books from 19th century British Arctic whaling trade, and the climate of Baffin Bay.
Ayre continues to work with these rare documents at the Institute as they not only provide new insights into the changing Arctic climate, but are also identifying much of the undocumented whaling heritage in the Canadian Arctic.
“The speakers will also touch on the indications of climate change relevant to the discovery of this boat. The more we learn about past peoples through scientific activity such as archeology, the more we can understand ourselves.”
Any interested people are welcome to attend free of charge, although small donations are welcome.
For more information on Ideas, see the group’s website at www.cochraneideasgroup.ca, or contact Andy at [email protected] or 403-932-6580.
