Talisman Energy Inc. is ramping up its corporate giving program by targeting Alberta's two largest universities in an effort to attract more students to the oil and gas industry.

Talisman president and CEO Jim Buckee has announced the company will donate $2 million in scholarships to the University of Calgary over the next 10 years, starting in September. Each scholarship will be worth $10,000.

Buckee also revealed that the University of Alberta will soon receive a similar-sized gift, but would not elaborate.

The scholarships represent an increase in the company's targeted corporate giving, Buckee said last week. "The Talisman Centre was the first initiative in this category. (The scholarship donation) is definitely a step up for us in Calgary."

Larry MacDougal, Business Edge
U of C students Travis Manderson and Jessica Shumilch show robotic vehicles to Talisman CEO Jim Buckee.

In 2002, Talisman agreed to fund the Lindsay Park Sports Centre - renamed the Talisman Centre - with $500,000 a year until 2022, representing the largest contribution in the company's history.

The U of C bursaries are intended to be used for energy-related subjects. While the sciences - from engineering to environmental studies - will take precedence, the scholarships can also be applied towards other academic areas, such as legal studies. Buckee said emerging law issues in Canada and abroad make sharp young legal eagles a hot commodity for the company.

"We grapple with 20 jurisdictions at the moment and we need to develop the ability to see what's important in these various jurisdictions," he said.

Talisman hopes the donation will help attract Alberta's brightest young minds to a career in oil and gas. Buckee said that following the collapse in oil prices two decades ago, global recruitment in the oil industry fell dramatically, leaving a chasm in active employees moving through the system. He said that while the situation has begun to change of late, he would like to see things recover at a faster rate.

"This presents a terrific opportunity for new entrants in the oil industry because there's a big hole in front of them waiting to be filled ... so it looks to me to be a very good time to go away from the high-tech (industry) back into the oil industry," he said, adding that the oil industry works with state-of-the art computer technologies in areas such as seismic processing and reservoir simulation.

U of C president Harvey Weingarten said that he expects Alberta colleges and universities to receive more funding from energy companies, due in part to higher oil and gas prices, but more so to staunch the hemorrhage of human capital.

"It's not just that energy prices are high, it is also that the energy industry understands there is an impending shortage of highly educated people to work in the industry," Weingarten said.

"It's not just engineers, but people from science, geophysics, people from business, people from environmental design, the law school ... so what (the companies) are providing is broad-based support for some of the very best students we have who are going to do work in the energy-related industry."

The university wasn't the only educational institution to receive an energy-industry boon last week.

Enmax Corp. announced it would establish the Enmax Centre of Excellence - a new program focused on career pathways and environmental education - at Calgary's Lord Beaverbrook High School.

The program will support students by linking their curriculum and community experiences to their own career plans. In addition, Enmax will provide the school with two $1,000 scholarships for two Grade 12 students who have displayed outstanding environmental stewardship and community leadership.

(John Ludwick can be reached at ludwick@businessedge.ca)