We are proud to continue the longstanding tradition of Rockfest for another year! Again we expect a high caliber round of very interesting and inspiring talks from members of our department. In the spirit of collegiality & interdisciplinary research, attempts are being made to schedule speakers from other university departments such as Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, etc who have geologically-inspired research interests.

About Rockfest:

Rockfest is the “departmental colloquium” held once a week during the regular academic year (September - April). All Graduate Students are especially asked to speak about their research, or, any subject/topic of interest to them (talks need not be primarily academic in nature).

Basic Guidelines:

Talks can be as formal/technical or informal/relaxed as wanted by the speaker. Although we prefer that a geological flavour is maintained, this is by no means "written in stone": showing cool vacation/trip/fieldwork photos is fine! Rockfest is meant to be a relaxing, colloquium seminar style get-together for the Department. Each talk is ~20min + 5min for questions with 2-talks occurring per Rockfest session.

Location:

We meet in the 2nd-floor Seminar Room #ES2093 at the Dept. of Geology, Earth Sciences Centre, St. George Campus @ Fridays 4-5pm. Refreshments are served (beer, wine, pop) at minimal cost; bread, cheese, and munchies are complimentary.

Expectations:

1) M.Sc. Students are required to give 1 talk per their residency at the Department.

2) Ph.D. Students are required to give 1 talk/year.

3) Postdocs are expected to give 1 talk/year.

4) Research Scientists/Assistants are welcomed to give 1 talk/year.

5) Professors are welcomed/asked/expected/required to give 1 talk/year (at least).

6) Senior B.Sc./Hon.B.Sc. students are required to give 1 talk for completion of your research course (ask your supervisor).

7 ) Visitors are welcomed to give talks, space permitting.

Prizes

The final Rockfest session for 2007-2008 will be held near the end of term in April and is called "Rockfest-Fest". This casual get together (i.e. party) is where prizes are awarded for the best photos & talks of the year. All members of the department and all speakers are highly encouraged to submit their 3-best photos to the organizer by this date. There are 3 categories where one photo for each category should be submitted: (1) Scientific, (2) Artistic, (3) Fun. The prize breakdown follows:

•  Best Scientific Photo

•  bottle of wine

•  Best Artistic Photo

•  bottle of wine

•  Best Fun Photo

•  bottle of wine

The scientific photo winner will get their photo printed, framed & hung in the seminar room for all to marvel. Prizes for talks are:

•  Best Student Rockfest

•  name engraved & placed on seminar-room plaque

•  $100 cash prize

•  Best Prof Rockfest

•  name engraved & placed on seminar-room plaque

•  bottle of wine

All in attendance at Rockfest-Fest vote on prize allocations.

The Committee:

Questions, concerns, etc? Here are the folks running Rockfest 2006-2007 :

Organizer/Scheduler:
Chris White ( ES2113; 416-978-0658; Email)

Bartender/Hired-Goon:
TBA

Food-Prep/Hired-Goon:
TBA

Temp-Goons:
TBA

All scheduling inquiries/problems should be directed to Chris.