Charles Richard Stelck OC, FRSC, PhD (born 1927) is an award-winning Canadian petroleum geologist, paleontologist, stratigrapher and emeritus professor. His research has yielded many large oil and gas finds in western Canada. Seal of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means (those) desiring a better country. ... The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Société royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ... Aquatint of a Doctor in Divinity at the University of Oxford, in the scarlet and black academic robes corresponding to his position. ... Paleontology or palaeontology (see Spelling differences) is the study of the history and development of life on Earth, including that of ancient plants and animals, based on the fossil record (evidence of their prehistoric existence as typically preserved in sedimentary rocks). ... Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, is basically the study of rock layers and layering (stratification). ... Emeritus (IPA pronunciation: or ) is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop or other professional. ... A professor giving a lecture The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ...

Stelck was born in Edmonton, Alberta. As a teenager he worked on summer geological field parties. Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ...

With the help of a Tegler Scholarship, Stelck attended the University of Alberta. He switched into the geology program when his friend, Robert Folinsbee, convinced him that it was an exciting field. He obtained a BSc (1937) and a MSc (1941). He moved to California and obtained his PhD at Stanford University. The University of Alberta (U of A) is a public coeducational research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. ... A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. ... Aquatint of a Doctor in Divinity at the University of Oxford, in the scarlet and black academic robes corresponding to his position. ... The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County. ...

Career

In the early 1940s, he took a position at the University of Alberta. While there he hypothesized that coral reefs had once lived in what is now the Arctic. He further hypothesized that this would mean there would be oil there now. He discovered reef material while conducting geological research in a mountainous region near Norman Wells, Northwest Territories with a dog team. Most geologists were shocked by his findings as the theory of continental drift had yet to be proposed. Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the area around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctican area around the South Pole. ... Norman Wells is a community in the Mackenzie Valley area of the Northwest Territories of Canada. ... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift, proposed as a theory by Alfred Wegener in 1912, is the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ...

The next leap of discovery was to apply his knowledge to find if a reef had existed in Alberta. He worked with his students to develop an understanding of western Canada’s sedimentary basin and the Leduc oilfields. Many of his former students discovered oil, including; Doug Layer (Leduc No. 1), and Arne Rudolph Nielsen and Tony Mason (Pembina oil field-the largest pool of oil in Canada). Motto: Fortis et liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English (see below) Flower   Wild rose Tree Lodgepole Pine Bird Great Horned Owl Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ed Stelmach (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  - Land  - Water  (% of total... The Canadian petroleum industry arose in parallel with that of the United States, but developed in quite a different way. ... Tony Mason served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona from 1977 to 1979. ...

Accolades

• 1960, elected to the Royal Society of Canada
• 1972, awarded the Logan Medal by the Geological Association of Canada
• 1994, awarded the R. J. W. Douglas Medal by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
• 1997, appointed Officer of the Order of Canada
• 2003, awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree by the University of Alberta
• 2005, inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hame of Fame

The Royal Society of Canada, (French: La Société royale du Canada) The Canadian Academy of the Sciences and Humanities, is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars. ... The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada. ... The Geological Association of Canada promotes and develops the geological sciences in Canada. ... The R.J.W. Douglas Medal is presented annually by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists in recognition of outstanding contributions to the understanding of sedimentary geology in Canada, commending major contributions to regional tectonics, petroleum and structural geology. ... Seal of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means (those) desiring a better country. ...

Cited publications

• Stelck, C. R., 1950. Cenomanian-Albaian Forminifera of western Canada. Ph.D. School of Mineral Sciences (Geology), Stanford University, 207 pp.

References

• Biographies & Histories of Palynology
• University of Alberta Tribute
• University of Alberta Honorary degree
• Geology profs helped shape province's fortunes
• Canadian Petroleum Hame of Fame
• Oil Industry Honours Pioneering Geologist
• ‘’The Roughneck’’- Inductees to Hall of Fame

External links

• University of Alberta Staff
• University of Alberta Convocation Address