Graduates contribute to community
It was the glitter of gold that brought Eric Hou all the way from Mongolia to Harris Creek near Vernon, B.C.
Hou, a geochemist who will receive his PhD in Geological Sciences this month, analyses concentrations of gold in streams. He has just completed three years of doctoral field work at the Okanagan creek, studying how gold is carried downstream.
"I look at how the gold particles are dispersed in the stream," says Hou. "Then I try to trace them back to the deposit."
Although most elements become diluted as they are carried downstream from the source, concentrations of gold can actually increase. Gold's high density and the way it combines with sediment on its journey downstream create an abnormal pattern, making it difficult to locate the deposit.
That's when Hou gets interested.
"I look at the velocity of the stream, its slope and the coarseness of the sediment -- they all affect how the particles are dispersed," he says.
He also analyses the concentration of gold in the glacial deposits, rocks and landslides surrounding the stream, looking for clues about the gold source.
"I'm more of a detective than a prospector," he says.
Hou's interest in geology started in high school, when a teacher told him that geologists travel all over the world. His career illustrates the point.
He commutes to South China three to four times a year, doing stream sleuthing for a Canadian mining development company. He has worked with mining engineers there for two years, trying to determine the commercial potential of primary gold sources.
His expertise in gold exploration has also taken him to the first home of the North American gold rush -- California. He worked in Yuma for two summers, helping the U.S. Geological Service develop a method of analysing gold dust concentrations in dry creek beds.
Hou's mobility gives him the chance to visit with his parents and siblings, who still live in Mongolia. He, however, has decided to make Canada his home and, with his wife and child, has become a Canadian citizen.