Title: Shell Project Better World
Duration: 7.19 minutes
It's sometimes hard to put it into words. You get something a little bit different from Mother Nature
every day here.
It makes you sort of feel humble. Like when you're here in these really cold conditions, it serves as a
constant reminder that we're pretty subjected to what nature wants.
Priceless in terms of experience that people gain.
[Shell Project Better World]
[David Martin, Upstream International VP Safety, environment and Sustainable Development, Shell]
We work with partnership organisations, NGOs, because they can help us to evolve new and better ways
of working on current and emerging themes in society and in nature.
[Steven de Bie, Manager, Environmental Partnerships, Shell]
The partners that we have signed collaborative agreements with are IUCN - the World Conservation
Union - Wetlands International, also a global organisation. The Nature Conservancy - very strong in
America. And last but not least, Earthwatch.
[Jo-Anne Croft, PR Manager, Earthwatch]
Earthwatch seeks to engage all sectors of society in environmental research around the world. That's
why we exist. We strongly believe that we need to engage with businesses at every level to try and
deliver the internal changes that need to take place to work towards a more sustainable business and a
more sustainable society.
[Shane Colwell, Volunteer, Shell Project Better World employee network]
Shell Project Better World started between a bunch of like-minded Shell individuals in the late nineties.
And they decided to create a volunteering organisation within Shell. They saw a gap within Shell for that,
and since then we've gone from strength to strength.
[David Martin, Upstream International VP Safety, environment and Sustainable Development, Shell]
We actually give opportunity to staff to participate in research opportunities in various places around
the world, so that people can bring back those experiences into the organisation to produce more
sustainable outcomes in the work and the projects that they're doing inside the company and we
believe that that is a very virtuous thing to maintain.
[The Town of Churchill]
[Carley Basler, Research Technician, Churchill Northern Studies Centre]
Churchill is a really special place and it's sometimes hard to put it into words. I mean you get something
a little bit different from, you know, Mother Nature every day here. Weather-wise or even wildlife-wise.
[Dr Peter Kershaw, University of Alberta, Associate Professor, Earthwatch Principal Investigator]
It's an area of real dynamism in terms of response to changing environmental conditions. So if things
change, this is where we expect them to be registered first. This is the area that is most sensitive to
those changes.
[Abhijeet Kulkarni, Reservoir Engineer, Shell Volunteer]
I wanted to understand climate change from a really, like, grass roots point of view.
[Herman Wirtz, Project engineer Pearl GTL, Shell Volunteer]
And for Shell of course, what's really relevant is, is the climate change subject. And, that basically
triggered me to learn more about climate change and that's why I signed up for the Earthwatch
programme.
[Dr Peter Kershaw, University of Alberta, Associate Professor, Earthwatch Principal Investigator]
People that aren't from a scientific background or science training come and get a lot of insights as to
what the limitations are.
[Dr LeeAnn Fishback, Research Scientist, Churchill Northern Studies Centre]
There's no way that I would be able to collect the amount of data in the short period of time that I can
with a whole team dedicated research volunteers. So these folks come along at targeted times when we
can go out and sample intensely a particular part of the environment that we're interested in.
This is the tundra site. We're working on the vegetation between the trees which is dominantly a tundra
system.
We are establishing, helping to establish a baseline which is required to quantify the impacts of climate
change in the Arctic.
Right now we are doing the coring. So I'm gonna take the sample. The snow sampling involves several
techniques that we are looking at - all the different snow pack characteristics; so it can be a few hours
out in the field in the cold to collect the snow samples. There is also quite a bit of lab work that's
involved. We come back and melt snow samples that we've collected in the field to look at water
quality. Things like PH and conductivity. And then usually Pete's got a lecture at the end of the day after
a nice dinner.
It's hard work so we get ten days straight of kind of gruelling hard work out of all of the Earthwatch
volunteers.
When you see how much work that goes into it, you know, I think it's a good thing we are here in order
to sharpen the analysis and get more data.
[Dr Peter Kershaw, University of Alberta, Associate Professor, Earthwatch Principal Investigator]
In the Mackenzie Mountains, I have a team that comes in that's almost exclusively Shell. If it weren't for
support from Shell through Earthwatch, we wouldn't be doing that research.
The highlight of my experience on the project so far is, I guess, the passion of Dr Peter Kershaw and his
team. It's some pretty harsh environment so that passion that he puts in and his team is very laudible.
[Matti Urlass, Maintenance Engineer, Shell Volunteer]
Yeah, I think the Earthwatch programme is a great way for Shell to train their staff on sustainable issues.
[Dr LeeAnn Fishback, Research Scientist, Churchill Northern Studies Centre]
Just that opportunity to come here, experience the North, Experience the Arctic. Talk about climate
change, work with scientists gives them a chance to reflect on that.
[Jo-Anne Croft, PR Manager, Earthwatch]
And to have those people then go back and be able to speak with their colleagues and with their families
and their communities in an informed way and with passion and conviction, is just really pwerful. And
that sort of ripple effect of spreading what they've learnt.
[Allard Castelein, VP Environment, Shell]
Over the last ten years we've had 450 Shell staff seconded and supporting Earthwatch projects. That's
been a great contribution, I believe, for both organisations. I think within Shell we can leverage that
exposure of our staff even better by sharing the knowledge and the information and the experiences to
a wider audience.
[Marjet Visser, Communications Advisor, Churchill Volunteer 2008]
So the value you bring back to Shell is first of all a broader mindset. Where you think about those
environmental and social impacts. But also I think more in your skills. In stakeholder engagement skills,
your leadership skills, and I thought that was very worthwhile.
[Yuri Jongkind, Project Manager, Pernis Refinery, Kenya Volunteer 2010]
And you do see an effect of what we do here - we produce energy but we also put CO2 up in the air. You
can make a difference with every small bit you're doing in a project. And for example, putting some
extra engineering hours in to find the optimum between insulation and tracing in oil pipe lines. That
saves in the end costs for Shell but also saves or makes it more sustainable.
Participating in this Earthwatch programme will help me have passion about sustainably developing
projects and that passion I hope to take along as I progress in my career and hopefully reach a senior
position in Shell.
As Shell, we are looking to develop our projects sustainably. It's absolutely critical to our core business
objectives these days. And part of that involves understanding local stakeholder demands and the
sensitivity of local environments in which we hope to operate. And I really see that as the core benefit of
Project Better World. It's creating awareness of sustainable development across Shell.