Bob Abell:
Dr. Robert (Bob) Abell is an enviromentalist, humanist, educator, ballroom dancer, and computer nerd. With a degree in Chemistry from Acadia U, and passionate about science education, he taught at his former high school in Saint John, N.B. 1964-'67. He completed a B.Ed. in '66 at University of New Brunswick. He was selected that year as the first teacher in N.B. to pilot Chem Study, a radically different course, developed as part of the National Science Foundations Course Content Improvement Program.
In Fall '67, Bob set out on a life-altering trip by freighter, motorcycle, ferry, motorcycle, freighter, and airplane, travelling though twelve different countries in four months. Ending up in Melbourne, Australia, he taught in a private day/correspondence school that later became Taylor College. Tasks included marking, field trips, and lab assistance in Biology — enhancing his understanding of — and interest in — yet another science field. A year later, he travelled by plane to Fiji, Hawaii, and on to Vancounver and Edmonton, to enroll at University of Alberta in a Ph.D. program in Science Education — with a very specific focus on the application of computers to science education — for the following Fall.
From the Alps to the rolling mountains of then Yugoslavia, to the Anatolian plains and steep coastal mountains of Turkey, the island of Cyprus, deserts of southern Israel and Somalia, to the lush tropical rainforest of Malaysia, urban Singapore, and a continent of unique contrasts, Australia — differing ecosystems and biodiversity were accentuated. So were the effects of bureauacy, warfare, racial tension and hatred, tribalism, colonialism, and religiousity.
The return trip, via Fiji, gave Bob his first underwater experience with a massive tropical coral reef, at a time when damage from trawlers, ocean accidification, and intensifying storms had not yet taken toll on the incredible biodiversity there.
Bob's Ph.D program focused heavily on psychology, statistics, and research methodology, with a reading course on Systems Theory, and "top up" classes in advanced chemistry and post-grad computing. With his Ed Psych Professor, he co-authored a paper on Factor Analysis in 1974 that was published in Psychometrica, called a seminal work, and quoted as recently as 2016.
On completion of his course work, he took an instructional design position with Athabasca University, a then pilot project in distance education. After designing units for courses in Ecology and in Computing, he became a Systems Analyst, and within a year, the Director of Computing Services. He implemented word processing, project tracking, and information services, with the department growing rapidly from 2 to 10 staff. He also took a break to design, build, insulate, wire, and plumb an acreage house, which by 1984 also had a solar-assist hot water system installed on the roof.
He had left Athabasca U in 1981, founding two startups, one with his life partner who had joined him at the alter in December, '70. In his "spare time" he finished the doctorate at U of A in '83. Over the years, the two companies became four, which included educational consulting, a revolutionary approach to computer teleconferencing that foreshadowed online web conferencing, and an innovative multi-terminal interactive mall directory service in what was at that time the worlds largest shopping mall, with over 800 stores and dozens of attractions.
Bob was invited to speak at several conferences, including an e-learning conference in Mexico City and a conference in Barritz, France, focused on graphic communication and information systems over computer networks. He authored two subchapters of The Telidon Book on Canada's revolutionary computer vector graphics standard — foreshadowing in one subchapter the internal structure of what would later become "The Internet"
In 1995, Bob and family moved to Ottawa for another start up opportunity. Way led to way, and by 2000, he and Evelyn set up Automated Learning Corporation, which went on to be a training developer and supplier to hundreds of companies, research laboratories, the military in Canada and the US — and NASA. ALC focused on manufacturing processes, health and safety, security, technology, and process improvement methodologies, with about 15% of Fortune 100 companies among their clients for 70+ courses.
Bob became deeply involved with local environmental issues in the Kanata region of Ottawa, around the destruction of 1,100 hectares of ancient forest with First Nations, archeological, environmental, and biodiversity significance. This developed into a worldwide dialog with a broard range of science expertise via LinkedIn, which soon became Scieso.
In 2012, he installed solar electric panels on his suburban home, and has invested in other local alternative energy efforts. He regularly dialogs with area politicians, is a strong supporter of proportional voting, and has twice made formal presentions to City Council Comittees, once on archeology, and the second on pesticide use by the City.
Oh yes ... and he's published one non-fiction and three enviromentally-themed novels, then turned the novels into screenplays. The first, he directed and produced as a feature film called Corporate Prey (2019). Corporate Prey screened in four online festivals, won an award of merit, and was nominated best picture and best cinematographer by Maveric Movie Awards for 2019. The second screenplay, Trails, was a quarterfinalist in the Coverfly/Final Draft screenwriting competition (2023), finishing in the top 6% of approximately 10,000 entries.
Website: “Rovell Creative"