Greene, Bryan 1938- (Bryan A. Greene)

PERSONAL:

Born November 16, 1938, in Tilting, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada; son of Leonard (a teacher) and Madeline (a homemaker) Greene; married, May 25, 1963; wife's name Patricia (a nurse); children: Theresa, Michael, Sheila, and Maureen. Education: Newfoundland Memorial University, B.A., 1958, B.Sc., 1960, M.Sc., 1962.

ADDRESSES:

Home—St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. E-mail—bgreene@nfld.com.

CAREER:

Geologist. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, field geologist, then senior mapping geologist, then director of the geological survey, 1970- 1996. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Advisory Council, 1980-1990.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Roberta Buchanan) The Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard, introduction by Roberta Buchanan, biography by Anne Hart, McGill-Queen's University Press (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bryan Greene is a Canadian geologist. Born on the eastern side of Fogo Island, in Tilting, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, on November 16, 1938, Greene completed all of his higher education at Newfoundland Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. He first graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in education in 1958. This was followed with a bachelor of science degree in 1960 and a master of science degree in 1962, with a focus on geology. As a geologist, Greene worked primarily for the Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, beginning as a field geologist in 1970. In his twenty-plus years working with the provincial government, he was promoted to senior mapping geologist before eventually being named director of the geological survey.

His 2005 publication, The Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard, was written with Roberta Buchanan and Anne Hart. It highlights the life of Mina Hubbard, a Canadian explorer who became the first white woman to cross Labrador. Her husband died exploring the Canadian northeast, a tragedy that spurred Hubbard to make the crossing herself. Throughout her journey, she recorded notable events in her diary, including meeting various indigenous peoples, naming or renaming natural landmarks, and the dynamics of race, culture, and gender among her travelling companions, while venturing north from the Grand Lake along the Naskaupi and George Rivers up to Ungava Bay.

Writing in Arctic, Joanna Kafarowski called The Woman Who Mapped Labrador an "impressive and beautifully designed volume." Kafarowski added that with its publication, "Mina Hubbard has rightfully earned her place amongst the most daring and resourceful of explorers." Alison Dyer, writing in Beaver: Exploring Canada's History, found the diary of Hubbard's expedition "carefully annotated by Buchanan and Greene." Dyer concluded: "Handsomely produced, The Woman Who Mapped Labrador is a fertile cross-disciplinary collaboration that keeps within the boundaries of academic accuracy. It is also, more importantly, highly readable. In crystallizing Mina Hubbard's achievements it rightfully places her in the annals of important Canadian explorers."

Wendy Roy, reviewing the work in the Journal of Canadian Studies, commented that the book is "well worth reading," pointing out in particular its "discussions of travel, mapping, photography, and contributions to historical and environmental records." She acknowledged that Mina Hubbard's "diary has been painstakingly transcribed, edited, and introduced by Roberta Buchanan of the Department of English at Memorial University and Bryan Greene of the Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador." Roy thought, however, that "one of the only drawbacks of this fine publication is that it does not include another compelling account of the same trip: the diary of George Elson." Elson was a travelling companion of hers and her husband's guide. Roy stated: "Illustrated by a number of photographs taken during her expedition, as well as by family photos and new maps of parts of her trip, the diary is a wonderful resource for those interested in early Canadian travel writing, photography, and cartography."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History, April, 2007, Christina Leece, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard, p. 658.

Arctic, March, 2006, Joanna Kafarowski, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador, p. 100.

Beaver: Exploring Canada's History, June 1, 2006, Alison Dyer, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador, p. 47.

Canadian Historical Review, September, 2006, Margaret Conrad, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador, p. 517.

Journal of Canadian Studies, winter, 2007, Wendy Roy, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador.

Times Literary Supplement, February 3, 2006, Andrew Taylor, review of The Woman Who Mapped Labrador, p. 24.