Alice Wilson

Alice Evelyn Wilson MBE FRSC (August 26, 1881 – April 15, 1964) was a Canadian geologist and paleontologist. She was the first female Canadian geologist.^[1] Despite facing many setbacks due to her gender, she conducted field studies on rocks and fossils in the Ottawa region between 1913 and 1963.^[2] Her life growing up in Cobourg was filled with many canoeing and camping trips with her father and brothers; this sparked her interest in the fossils located in the limestone in the surrounding wilderness. Her family also encouraged scholarly thought, and the pursuit of scientific knowledge. All the factors of her childhood combined gave Wilson a strong foundation to help grow and nurture her desires to become a geologist.^[3]

Wilson's academic career began in 1901 at the Victoria University in Cobourg, studying a topic she was not passionate about: modern language and history, expecting to enter one of the few professions open to women at the time such as teaching. She did not finish her last year of studies due to her ill health, though once well, she worked in the Mineralogy Division of the University of Toronto Museum, thus beginning her career in the field of geology.^[3] She later returned and completed her degree at the encouragement of her colleague Percy Raymond, whom she helped in his trilobite research, in 1910. With her degree in hand, Wilson was awarded a raise and a permanent position as a recognized skilled technician at the Victoria Memorial Museum, though the raise was only marginally better than what she was making before. ^[4]

In 1915 Wilson persisted through seven years of denied admission in her pursuit of geology, and in 1919 she became an Assistant Paleontologist. The Canadian Federation of University Women awarded her a scholarship so that she could continue graduate studies.^[5] Her endurance finally paid off, and she was accepted to the University of Chicago and graduated in 1929 with a doctorate in geology, studying first under Stuart Weller and later Carey Croneis.^[4] While working at the Geological Survey of Canada, Wilson faced great challenges in her career advancement and was denied promotions despite her academic pedigree because of her gender. Being a women, she was not allowed to participate in fieldwork freely; fieldwork meant that she had to spend time living in camps with a group of men on some remote campsites. A woman in the wilderness working alongside men was considered unthinkable and frowned upon for this time period. This fact alone would have been harmful for a woman's reputation so Wilson had to work on local sites in the Ottawa–St. Lawrence Lowlands. For the next fifty years she studied this area on foot, by bicycle and then eventually by car which she had saved up for by her fieldwork job.^[1] Up until 1945, Wilson was not addressed as ''Dr.'' until two years before she retired. She retired at the age of 65 which was required by law, however she kept her office at the Survey and continued her work up until her death.^[6] From 1948 until 1958 Wilson was a much-appreciated Lecturer in Paleontology at Carleton College (Later Carleton University), enthusiastically leading her students into the field. Carleton University recognized Wilson both as a geologist and as an inspiring teacher conferring an honorary degree in 1960.^[3]

As well as contributing a female presence into the male dominated field of geology, in her book "The Earth Beneath our Feet" Wilson engages children to take an interest in geology.^[7] Wilson was a recognized authority on the Palaeozoic formations of eastern Canada. She excelled in her knowledge of the Ordovician age and wrote many papers, gave many lectures and had a series of publications, through field trips and museum exhibits which helped bring geology to the general public, especially children.^[5] She also lead field trips for students in her eighties for young students who wanted to learn about geology.^[8]

Awards and professional recognition

In 1935, when the government of R.B. Bennett was looking for a woman in the federal civil service to honour, Wilson was chosen to become a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Shortly thereafter, the Geological Survey of Canada published her work for the first time in ten years and gave her a promotion.^[8] In 1936 Wilson became a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and in 1938 she became the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.^[2]

The Royal Society of Canada established the Alice Wilson awards for emerging women scholars in 1991,^[9] and she was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 2005.^[6]

Selected publications

• Wilson, Alice E. (1946). Geology of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence lowland, Ontario and Quebec. Ottawa: E. Cloutier.
• Wilson, Alice E. (1948). Miscellaneous classes of fossils: Ottawa formation, Ottawa-St. Lawrence Valley. Ottawa: E. Cloutier.
• Wilson, Alice E. (1951). Gastropoda and Conularida of the Ottawa formation of the Ottawa-St. Lawrence lowland. Ottawa: E. Cloutier.

References

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Alice Wilson

• Alice Wilson at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Royal Society of Canada's biography
• "Trailblazer". Natural Resources Canada. Archived from the original on 12 December 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2016. 
• Works by or about Alice Wilson at Internet Archive