Much of the early work in understanding the nature of heavy oil deposits and then locating them was guided by the University of Saskatchewan's Professor Harry Edmunds

Born in Britain in 1898, he served with the Royal Engineers during World War I.  In 1925 he came to Canada, taking a post with the Department of Soils at the University of Saskatchewan.  In 1929, he became the first professor in the newly established Department of Geology.

Widely recognized as an expert on the glacial geology of Saskatchewan and for his part in the development of the Lloydminster oil fields, he is fondly remembered by all the pioneers of the local oil industry.  His theoretical understanding of our geology and his unusually active and long lived field work in this area were crucial in the industry's formative years of the 1930's and 1940's.

During the 1950's, he served on the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Conservation Board, overseeing an expanding Saskatchewan petroleum industry which confirmed much of his early work.  He died in 1965, still in his position as Head of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan.