Higher education on the High Seas, as Coast Mountain College launches new vessel for popular ACE program

Tsimshian elder Murray Smith and Coast Mountain College
Instructor Ken Shaw at the launching of the newest marine resource
for the Prince Rupert campus
(Photo from Province of BC)

A course based at the Prince Rupert campus of Coast Mountain College has one more resource now to add to the curriculum, with the College launching a new vessel the Na Malgsa Aks,  now a key element of the Popular Applied Coastal Ecology program on the North Coast.

Funded with 250,000 dollars of assistance of the Province of British Columbia, the new 7.6-metre (27 foot), 12-passenger, aluminum-hulled boat will add to the experience of learning for students and staff of the program.

The ACE initiative draws not only students from the Northwest, but across Canada and from around the world. 

The program was a path once charted by North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice who is an alumnus of Coast Mountain College and represented the Province at Monday's launching of the Na Malgsa Aks

“The mobile marine classroom gives students the opportunity to practise coastal natural resources management, ecosystem restoration and environmental monitoring with the tools and technology they will be using once they enter the workforce. As alumnus of the applied coastal ecology program, it's fantastic to see how the program has evolved over time to keep up with the latest technology used in the natural resource sector. The mobile marine classroom is an important tool for carrying out the necessary work in protecting and monitoring this important coastal environment and training the future stewards of the north coast region.” 

Na Malgsa Aks means “the story the water tells” in the La̱xyuubm Ts’msyen language. and the new boat will serve as a mobile classroom, complete with the latest technofy for field studies off the North Coast of the Prince Rupert area. 

The vessel comes equipped with a range of equipment towards those studies, including: 

a crane and winch for lowering and towing equipment; 

side-scan sonar; 

single-beam echo sounder; 

laptop for remotely operated vehicle control; 

lifeline, first-aid kit, safety vests, inflatable boat, line puller and handheld radio; 

underwater cameras; an 

underwater wi-fi extension line; 

air drones; and 

plankton troll nets. 

 The combined classroom and field-work experience the boat will enable will prepare students for careers in sustainability, ecology, and fish and wildlife conservation.

You can learn more about the Applied Coastal Ecology Program here.

Further background on Monday/s launch of the Na Malgsa Aks can be reviewed from the Provincial Government's information release.

A wider overview of past Coast Mountain College notes is available here.