Joanna Hodge, Professor of Geology in the Earth Resources Technician Co-op Program
Born and raised in the shadow of Mt Taranaki, an active volcano on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, geology was a natural fit for Joanna. As a child, she would insist her parents take her to the visitor’s information centre to play with the volcano diorama and dreamed of being a volcanologist. While completing her BSc in Geology at the University of Auckland she was distracted by shiny things and changed direction to pursue a career in mineral exploration. After completing her Master’s degree she moved to Western Australia where she worked for eight years on various mineral exploration projects, completed her PhD on gold-bearing fluids in crustal-scale fault systems and successfully dodged myriad venomous creatures.
A fortuitous meeting at a conference in Vancouver led to Joanna’s migration northwards where she spent 7 years planning and operating various exploration and feasibility programs in Northern British Columbia and Yukon, before moving to Ontario and taking up her current role at Fleming College in 2013. A registered Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo), Joanna teaches introductory geology, surficial landforms, processes, and mineral exploration sampling protocols, environmental geochemistry, and stability of earth and structures within the Earth Resources Technician Co-op Program. She also introduces Drilling and Blasting students to the wonders of geology in the Rock Studies course and teaches Ecology and Environment in the Common First Semester.
“Geology has taken me places I never thought I would see, growing up in small-town New Zealand. I’ve been paid to go places like China, Japan, and the Yukon, and I spent a month studying geology and penguins in Antarctica. One of the things I love the most about my job is sharing with my students the opportunities a career in geology will afford them and seeing them return from their co-op jobs enthused about their postgraduate options.”
Joanna is a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion in her program. She organized the inaugural Women in Rocks event hosted in the newly renovated Geocentre at Frost Campus in 2018, is a member of the Academic Accessibility committee at Fleming College, and works on incorporating Universal Design into all aspects of the program.
When not looking at rocks, talking about rocks or playing with rocks Joanna spends her time hiking with friends and their dogs, singing in a band, and building her zero net energy home. She is owned by two cats and dreams of one day living somewhere warmer, with fewer black flies.
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