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Wednesday, December 23, 2015 www.pgcitizen.ca
Season of sledding
CITIZEN PHOTO BY JAMES DOYLE
Best friends Caitlyn Melo, 3, front, and Harleyquinn Bodenham, 3, middle, ride with Abby deBruyn, 14, on Tuesday as they enjoyed the Christmas break with some sledding on the hill at Rainbow Park.
Top UNBC professor mourned
Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN
Citizen staff, sallen@pgcitizen.ca
One of the first concepts Joselito Arocena would impart to students was the same simple idea that helped drive his decades of research: soil is life.
“That’s something he would say usually at the start of every term and trying to get that across to students. It’s this magical little layer that covers the earth, less than a metre in many place. It’s the integration of the air, water, ground and life,” said Chris Jackson, a senior lab instructor who taught with the distinguished geochemistry professor at the University of Northern B.C. for seven years.
“That was his essence.”
Arocena, known by most as “Lito,” died Sunday at age 56, only a few months after colleagues learned he’d been diagnosed with cancer. His obituary said Arocena “passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family.” A funeral mass was held Tuesday and a memorial will be planned in the New Year.
Time and again, Arocena’s colleagues pointed to his enthusiasm, positivity and zeal for collaborative work as his defining qualities.
“He meant everything to us. He was a fantastic individual to start with. Extremely friendly and always positive,” said Kathy Lewis, a professor and chair of the Ecosystem Science and Management Program, who was on his hiring committee.
An internationally-known soil researcher, Arocena was a founding member of UNBC and became its first Canada Research Chair in 2001. He was also one of 10 faculty who founded the Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) - with a mandate of collaboration among diverse experts - which this year gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.
“He was a phenomenal scientist. He did some incredible research,” said Lewis, pointing to Arocena’s prolific resume of published works.
As of December 2014, he’d authored 105 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 56 of which held the names of NRESi as co-authors.
“He was one of the driving forces behind
UNBC HANDOUT PHOTO BY PAUL SANBORN
UNBC professor Joselito Arocena is seen in this undated UNBC handout photo. Arocena died on Sunday.
the creation of that institute and probably the person who most represented what it stood for,” Lewis said. “He was a fantastic scientist but I think what stands out most in my mind was his absolute passion for this idea of an interdisciplinary approach to solving complicated problems to do with the environment.”
Most recently, Arocena focused his collaborations internationally with universities in Spain, France and China.
“He was invited to give many talks at various universities in China, and was appointed an adjunct professor, with “high-end expert status” at Wenzhou University in recognition of his substantial research collaborations,” said a UNBC release in his memory.
Arocena immigrated to Canada from the Philippines as a student. He had a master’s degree from the University of the Philippines, a licentiate in soil science from the State University of Ghent (Belgium), and a doctorate in soil genesis and classification from the University of Alberta.
There he met Paul Sanborn in the 1980s
when both were studying under the same professor.
Later they worked together when Sanborn was at the Forestry Service.
“He was always very generous with his time,” said Sanborn. “I always learned something from talking to him. We just had a very nice collaboration and friendship.” When Arocena was named Canada Research Chair for Soil and Environmental Sciences, a position opened up at UNBC.
“I owe my job to him,” said Sanborn, a UNBC ecosystem science and management professor. “That’s a very special connection.” With the research chair position, Arocena used the funding to include others in his work, said Peter Jackson.
“Some people would take an opportunity like that and use it to build their own area but he used it more broadly to develop UNBC,” said Jackson, an environmental science and environmental engineering professor. “He’s had a profound impact.” Sanborn remembers Arocena as an incredibly hard worker.
— see ‘HE REALLY INSPIRED, page 3
Clear skies, cold temps for Christmas
Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca
The weather outside won’t be frightful this Christmas but the fire will still be so delightful as the temperature dips to a chilly -14 degrees.
Sunny skies and no snow are in the forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so it looks like Santa’s travels will be under a blanket of stars this year in the Prince George region.
“We are going to guarantee you a white Christmas this year,” said Michael Carter, meteorologist for the Weather Network. “I know that’s probably not shocking news because, according to the numbers I have here, you will see a white Christmas about 92 per cent of the time. So it would be pretty strange if that wasn’t what I had to tell you today.”
— see ‘COLD WON’T, page 3
Five arrested in crime spree
Citizen staff
Five people believed to be responsible for a spate of property crimes have been arrested after a pair of police chases.
According to Prince George RCMP, a man and a girl were arrested on Thursday after police located a stolen vehicle being driven onto Eaglenest Crescent off Tabor Boulevard.
The truck, a GMC pickup, was reported stolen on Wednesday from a Shelley Road driveway. It was found abandoned in the middle of the road a few minutes after the RCMP’s Street Crew unit spotted it on Thursday.
— see WILD RIDE, page 3
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