The Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives is hoping a new exhibit will become the bedrock of the institution.

The museum is planning to create a geological education area, a permanent showpiece which will pay tribute to a Canadian geologist who conducted much of his field work in Jasper National Park.

Jasper Historical Society board president Warren Waxer and archives manager Karen Byers presented the concept to Parks Canada’s Planning and Development Committee on March 22. Byers said it would be an outdoor, hands-on exhibit.

“People would be able to touch the rock samples, kids would be able to climb on them,” she said.

Funding for the exhibit comes from a donation from the family of the late, preeminent geologist Eric Mountjoy. Most of Mountjoy’s research has concentrated on JNP’s Miette area, and in particular on its exposed coral reefs from the Devonian period (395 million years ago).

PDAC member Dale Karpluk supported the educational aspect of the planned exhibit.

“I think it’s a tribute to the work at the museum that you’ve got this funding,” she said.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com