Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 10/02) - Jurate Gertzbein, district geologist for the Kivalliq region, was flipping through Faces of Nunavut, News/North (March 2002), when she came across a story about Charlene Mannik of Baker Lake, who yearned to become a geologist.

Gertzbein needed an assistant, so she contacted the student and hired her.

This summer, the two women will traverse the Kivalliq, visiting active exploration camps and collecting mineral samples.

At one of their stops near Ferguson Lake, they will study a "large mysterious body of rock" to see how it relates to other deposits in the area.

"I'll be trying to focus a lot of it as an educational experience for her," says Gertzbein. "It will give her a good indication of what jobs in geology are like."

Mannik was slightly nervous about accepting the job, but quickly changed her mind.

"I like looking at rocks and going out on the land," she says.

Mannik first became interested in rocks through a friend from Vancouver.

"He is a geologist" she explains. "I'd hear him talk about his job."

The 19-year-old has one more year of high school after this summer. Over the summer, she'll make between $15 and $20 per hour.

She plans to use the money to buy her parents a snowmobile or ATV -- "I want to help them get whatever they want."

Her mother, Hattie Mannik, is brimming with pride. Not too many people her age get an opportunity like this, she says. "Sometimes I can't believe it. I am just so proud and happy."