The Camsell Award 2001

Spreading the Word

DICKSON MANSFIELD has spent thousands of volunteer hours over the past decade spreading the gospel of geography across Canada.

The lifelong educator, now teaching at the faculty of education at Queen's University, received this year's Camsell Award for his dedicated service to the educational arm of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Canadian Council for Geographic Education (CCGE). As co-founder and past chair of the CCGE, Mansfield says his primary role was to develop a network of "geo-evangelists," as he calls the teachers who "ignite a passion for geography" in their students.

His tireless work helped launch the popular summer-institutes program for teachers and The Great Canadian Geography Challenge, a national geography competition for students.

"I think we've made a difference," says Mansfield. We do too.