James (Jim) W.H. Monger is an

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

scientist of the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

and a world leader in the application of

plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large ...

to the study of

mountain chain A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger m ...

formation.

Education

Monger obtained his BSc at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, his MSc at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, and his PhD at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(1966).

Career

Dr. James Monger is an authority on

Cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly us ...

geology 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 Ear ...

. Monger concentrated his research on field studies and detailed geological mapping of upper

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

and lower

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

and

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

layers. He used this work to demonstrate that the Canadian Cordillera is a collage of displaced

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own ...

s that have been accreted to the western margin of North America. Over his 40-year career as a research geoscientist with the Geological Survey of Canada he contributed the following to geological studies; * the first plate tectonic interpretations of the evolution of the Canadian Cordillera * the first metamorphic map of the Canadian Cordillera * an award-winning paper on suspect terranes that evolved into the first terrane map of the Cordillera * a proposal for the collisional origin for the two major plutonic belts * the first trans-Cordilleran structure section that integrated geological, geophysical and geochemical data. Monger led the Global Geoscience Transects Project. He had an essential role in the Canadian LITHOPROBE Project. In 1997, Dr. Monger began working at the

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

as an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth Science. There he has developed and taught an undergraduate course and collaborate on research projects with earth science faculty and researchers

Personal life

As of 2006, he was living on the

Saltspring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled by ...

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, ...

, Canada.

Awards

*1995 - Presented 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 ...

*2002 - 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 ...

is the highest award of 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 ...

Publications

* 1987 - authored ''Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belts and Evolution of the Pacific Ocean Basin''. * 2003 - co-authored with R. A. Price, ''Transect Of The Southern Canadian Cordillera From Calgary To Vancouver: Field Trip Guidebook 2003'' * 2005 - co-authored with William Henry Mathews, ''Roadside Geology of Southern British Columbia''

References

Geological Association of Canada Newsletter December 1997

Geological Association of Canada Newsletter June 2002

Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Awards

Books by J.W.H. Monger

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monger, James Living people Canadian geologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel Alumni of the University of Reading University of Kansas alumni University of British Columbia alumni Logan Medal recipients Year of birth missing (living people)