Shell Canada expands students' experiential learning
Shell Canada expands students' experiential learing 
By Mark Lowey
Click here for a slide show of student activities supported by the SEEL program.
University of Calgary students now have more opportunities to expand their learning beyond the classroom thanks to a gift from Shell Canada.
The Calgary energy company, at a special luncheon on campus attended by Shell Canada representatives, U of C President Elizabeth Cannon and other university VIPs and students, announced $500,000 to support two experiential learning programs.
The geoscience department will receive $300,000 over three years, in a new initiative called the Shell Geoscience Educational Partnership in Sedimentary Geology, to enhance and expand its field school.
In addition, the Shell Experiential Learning Program, administered by the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), will receive $200,000 over two years, to extend the original four-year program by another two years.
"Our mission is to stay engaged with the university," says Frank George, Shell Canada's Campus Ambassador to the U of C, when announcing the new gift.
Dr. Cannon adds that the U of C's partnership with Shell Canada is important in advancing the university’s key goals, which include pride in the institution and a research-intensive university with a strong focus on undergraduate education. "I am confident that you will see a return on your investment in the high quality of the educational experience we offer and in the excellence of our graduates," says Dr. Cannon.
David Layzell, ISEEE's executive director, says the Shell Experiential Energy Learning (SEEL) program, after nearly four years, has awarded more than $365,000 and benefited upwards of 800 individual undergraduate students including undergrad clubs engaged in activities focused on sustainable energy, environment and the economy. "The students and the student organizations that benefit from the SEEL program are all in the faculties and schools that ISEEE works closely with," says Layzell.
ISEEE plays a critical role in bringing together various U of C faculties to work on energy and environment initiatives, notes George. This is unique to the U of C, and has helped make the SEEL program the most successful of its kind that Shell supports on campuses across Canada.
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