Charles Richard Stelck, O.C.,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

F.R.S.C. The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

, P.Geol. (May 20, 1917 – May 14, 2016) was a Canadian

petroleum geologist A petroleum geologist is an earth scientist who works in the field of petroleum geology, which involves all aspects of oil discovery and production. Petroleum geologists are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification of po ...

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

stratigrapher Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrat ...

, and university

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He is known for his pioneering work on unraveling the

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock (geology), rock layers (Stratum, strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary rock, sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigrap ...

of the

Western Canada Sedimentary Basin The Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) underlies of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. This vast sedimentary ...

, and his inspired use of

biostratigraphy Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock Stratum, strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictiona ...

as an exploration tool for finding

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

and

natural gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

s.Pemberton, G.S., MacEachern. J.A., Gingras, M.K., 2016. An iconic professor: the life of Charles Richard Stelck, O.C., Ph.D., F.R.S.C., P.Geol. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 64, no. 4, p. 495-515.

Career

Charlie Stelck was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta, where he grew up hunting and fishing with his father and learning wilderness survival skills. As a teenager, he spent summers working on

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

field parties, and after winning a Tegler Scholarship, he enrolled at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. He intended to pursue a degree in chemistry and education but entered the geology program at the urging of his friend,

Robert Folinsbee Robert Edward Folinsbee (April 16, 1917 – May 1, 2008) was a Canadian geologist, whose work involved geochronology, ore deposits, and meteorites. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1938 from the University o ...

, obtaining a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in geology in 1937 and an

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in 1941. Later, after winning a fellowship from

Imperial Oil Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...

, he obtained his

degree at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1951. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Dr. Stelck worked on the

Canol project The Canol Project was constructed during World War II to ensure a supply of oil for the defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. The project was completed in two years at an astronomical cost and was abandoned less than a year later. ...

and for Imperial Oil, mapping the geology of the

Rocky Mountain The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

foothills from

Jasper, Alberta Jasper is a specialized municipality and townsite in western Alberta within the Canadian Rockies. The townsite is in the Athabasca River valley and is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park. History Established in 1813, Jasper Hou ...

to the Canadian Arctic by horseback, canoe, and dogsled. During that time he confirmed that the

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

Norman Wells Norman Wells ( Slavey language: ''Tłegǫ́hłı̨'' "where there is oil") is a town located in the Sahtu Region, Northwest Territories, Canada, settled about 140 km (87 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The town, which hosts the Sahtu Regional o ...

in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

was producing from a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

, and he postulated that other such reefs could be present elsewhere in the subsurface of the

. This work led to the discovery of additional fossil reefs that proved to be excellent

petroleum reservoir A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

s, such as the Leduc oil field. After the war Dr. Stelck began a long career as a professor at the University of Alberta, during which time he was a teacher and mentor to generations of students. Much of his research involved the use of

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

foraminifera Foraminifera (; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class of amoeboid protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell biology), ectoplasm for catching food and ot ...

for determining

and interpreting

paleoecology Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

, and he introduced the use of

palynology Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and '' -logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposit ...

for unraveling the biostratigraphy of nonmarine sediments to western Canada. His efforts proved to be of great value in the exploration for oil and gas and led directly to a number of major discoveries, including the natural gas fields at Fort St. John and

Monkman Pass Monkman Pass, in the Canadian Rockies, is southwest of Tumbler Ridge and northeast of Hansard. Found in the Hart Ranges, some consider this mountain pass as the southern limit of the informal grouping known as the Northern Rockies, although those a ...

in northeastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Dr. Stelck died on May 14, 2016, at the age of 98. During his career he had published more than 100

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed scientific papers, the last one in the year of his death, as well as writing dozens of works on the geology of Alberta and northeastern British Columbia for various text books. In addition to the many honours he received, some of which are listed below, ''Asteroid 187680 Stelck'' is named for him, as are many fossil organisms such as the

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

''Stelckiceras liardense''. The University of Alberta has established the C.R. Stelck Chair in Petroleum Geology to continue his work.

Awards

*1960, elected to the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

*1980, received the Centennial Award of the

Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) is an engineering society that regulates the practices of professional engineering and geoscience in Alberta. APEGA receives its mandate from the Engineering and Geos ...

*1982, received the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the University of Alberta *1982, awarded the

Logan Medal :::''There is also a Logan Medal of the arts, awarded by the Chicago Arts Institute.'' The Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada. Named after Sir William Edmond Logan, noted 19th-century Canadian geologist. It ...

by the

Geological Association of Canada The Geological Association of Canada (GAC) is a learned society that promotes and develops the Geology, geological sciences in Canada. The organization holds conferences, meetings and exhibitions for the discussion of geological problems and the ...

*1994, awarded the R.J.W. Douglas Medal by the

Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists The Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG) is a professional geological society in Canada. The CSPG works to advance the science of geology, foster professional development of members and promote community awareness of the profession. The ...

*1997, appointed Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

*2001, awarded the Stanley Slipper Medal by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists *2001, received the Grover Murray Distinguished Educator Award from the

American Association of Petroleum Geologists The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world's largest professional geological societies with more than 40,000 members across 129 countries as of 2021. The AAPG works to "advance the science of geology, especially as ...

*2003, awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree by the University of Alberta *2005, inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame *2005, received the Alberta Centennial Medal *2012, received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal

References

Biographies & Histories of PalynologyUniversity of Alberta TributeGeology profs helped shape province's fortunesOil Industry Honours Pioneering Geologist

External links

University of Alberta Convocation Address
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stelck, Charles Richard 1917 births 2016 deaths Canadian geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Logan Medal recipients Scientists from Edmonton Stanford University alumni University of Alberta alumni Academic staff of the University of Alberta