VIU Geography Department

GEOG 467: Field Studies, Day 8 📚🗺️

We wrapped up this year’s field studies course with a new assignment at the Nanaimo Archives. Students explored historical maps, photographs, reports, and other archival records to discover how historical documents can provide valuable data and context for geographic research projects.

A great reminder that fieldwork doesn’t just happen outdoors — sometimes the most important clues about landscapes and communities are found in the archives.

Special thanks go to Danica at the archives for letting us explore their treasures!

Day 7 of GEOG 467 brought us back to the Nanaimo River to measure channel characteristics and calculate stream discharge. Working in groups, students applied field methods to better understand Nanaimo river hydrology.

“What did you get for bank full discharge?” 💦📏

Day 7 of GEOG 467 brought us back to the Nanaimo River to measure channel characteristics and calculate stream discharge. Working in groups, students applied field methods to better understand Nanaimo river hydrology.

GEOG 467: Field Studies in Geography — Day 6 📸

This year’s field trip took us to downtown Duncan, BC, where students explored the relationships between urban space, infrastructure, power, and colonialism through a photo essay assignment.

As we moved through the area, we examined how historical and ongoing colonial processes are reflected in the built environment, transportation networks, and patterns of development across unceded Quw'utsun territory.

Through photography and field observations, students documented how landscapes can reveal stories of displacement, resistance, and Indigenous resurgence — while reflecting on the role geography can play in understanding processes of decolonization.

GEOG 467: Field Studies — Day 5, 2026 🌊🦀

We spent day 5 of the course at Piper’s Lagoon Park, exploring the fascinating ecology of intertidal tide pools. Students applied concepts from island biogeography while documenting patterns in tide pool biodiversity and species distribution along the shoreline.

GEOG 467: Field Studies — Day 5, 2026 🌊🦀

We spent day 5 of the course at Piper’s Lagoon Park, exploring the fascinating ecology of intertidal tide pools. Students applied concepts from island biogeography while documenting patterns in tide pool biodiversity and species distribution along the shoreline. This year there was an incredible abundance of kelp crabs! 🦀😄

Memories of GEOG 467: Field Studies in Geography, day 4, 2026. 🌿

We returned for a second year to our new spot along the Nanaimo River. This site has a great diversity of plant species and terrain, multiple land uses, and a history of flooding and flood mitigation; making it the perfect place to bring together everything our students have learned throughout the course.

Today’s focus: traversing and mapping the landscape. 🗺️