Some present opportunities to join our group
I am not actively seeking new graduate students at this time (for 2022).
I encourage students to develop their own projects- the main caveat being that it must fit broadly within the goals. and be consistent with the funding, I have available. But contact me if you think you might be interested. Be aware, however, right now my group is near capacity- that makes it harder to find a spot, but not impossible…
People
Research Associates
Joel Pumple, MSc. Permafrost Archives Laboratory Lab Manager
Mahya Roustaei, PhD- Research Associate. Characterization of permafrost physical properties using multi-sensor core logging and Industrial CT imaging. [PermafrostNet]
Jordan Harvey, MSc- CT and Multi-sensor core logging technician
Postdoctoral
Alistair Monteath, PhD- Late Pleistocene shrub expansion in Beringia and characterization of frozen materials (PACS Lab). [FATE and PermafrostNet]
Doctoral
Joseph Young – PhD – (2018 -) Permafrost landsystems in the Mackenzie Mountain Foothills, NWT and setting of prominent thaw slumps and permafrost changes. [PermafrostNet]
Scott Cocker – PhD -(2020- ) Beringian paleoecology using traditional and ancient eDNA methods. [FATE collaboration]
Alexandre Chiasson – PhD (2020- ) Geologic setting and permafrost characterization in the central Mackenzie valley corridor. [PermafrostNet]
Alejandro Alvarez- PhD-(2022- ) Permafrost landsystems and ground ice distribution along the southern Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk corridor
Co-supervison
Ben Stoker (co-supervised with Martin Margold, Charles University, Prague- based at Charles University). Laurentide Ice Sheet dynamics in the central Mackenzie valley
MSc.
Brielle Andersen- MSc. Thesis studen (2020- ) (co-supervised with Ben Rostron UofA). Characterizing buried valley systems of the Edmonton area for groundwater resources using electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)
Michelle Landry- MSc. Thesis student (2022- ) Permafrost integrity in drilling sumps in the Sahtu Region, NWT
Undergraduate researchers
Evan Francis– BSc. Thesis student (2022- ) Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Beringian environments, Yukon
Emma Braun- BSc. Thesis student (2022- ) Impacts of permafrost thaw in the Mackenzie Mountain foothills on aquatic systems
Alumni
Martin Margold (2015-2018) Cosmogenic dating of Laurentide Ice Sheet dynamics. Present position: Assistant Professor, Charles University, Prague
Trevor Porter (2012-2014) Water isotope reconstructions of late Cenozoic climate. Present position: Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Fabrice Calmels (2007-2012) Permafrost resilience and response to historic disturbances. Present position: Senior Permafrost Scientist Yukon University
Svetlana Kuzmina (2007-2012) Fossil insects from Beringian sedimentary environments. Present position: Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow
Stephen Kuehn (PDF 2007-2009) Electron microprobe development for tephrochronology applications. Present position: Associate Professor, Concord University, WV.
PhD
Tyler Murchie (PhD 2021; co-supervised with Hendrik Poinar, McMaster University- based at McMaster). Ancient Environmental DNA. [FATE Collaboration]
Alireza Saidi-Mehrabad PhD 2021 (co-supervised with Brian Lanoil- based in Biological Sciences). Microbial community changes across the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary from relict permafrost. Alireza is now a PDF at the DRI in Las Vegas, NV
Sophie Norris – (PhD 2020) – Reconstructing the patterns and dynamics of the late Wisconsian Laurentide Ice Sheet deglaciation in NW Saskatchewan and NE Alberta. Present position: Sophie completed a postdoctoral fellowship with John Gosse’s group at Dalhousie and is now (2022) an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria.
Robin Woywitka (PhD 2018) Geoarchaeology of the Oilsands Region, NE Alberta. Present position: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Grant Macewan University.
Lauren Davies (PhD 2018) Toward a cryptotephra framework for northwestern North America. Present position: Post Doctoral Researcher Department of Geography, Cambridge University
Derek Turner (PhD 2014) Stratigraphy of SW Yukon Quaternary sediments. (co-supervised with Brent Ward, Simon Fraser University). Present position: Instructor, Douglas College, British Columbia
Britta Jensen (PhD 2012) Tephrochronology of Middle Pleistocene to Holocene sediments in Yukon and Alaska. Present position: Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Edmonton.
Alberto Reyes (PhD 2010) Stratigraphy, chronology and paleoenvironmental significance of perenially frozen interglacial sediments in eastern Beringia. Present position: Associate Professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Edmonton.
Grant Zazula (PhD/PDF 2006)- Paleoecology of Pleistocene Beringian Arctic Ground Squirrel nests. Grant was based at SFU Biology for his PhD but worked closely with me through his dissertation and a brief PDF at University of Alberta. Present position: Yukon Paleontologist, Government of Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon.
MSc. (Primary Supervisor)
Casey Buchanan – MSc Thesis Student (2022) Isotopic characterization of active layer processes in a permafrost peatland catena
Allison Rubin – MSc. Thesis student (2022) Stratigraphy and sedimentology of Edmonton area buried valleys
Jordan Harvey – MSc Thesis Student (2021 ) (co-supervised with Britta Jensen) Cryptotephra and dating of Yukon lakes
Joseph Young (MSc 2018) Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the lower Athabasca valley, NE Alberta: Present position: PhD candidate at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Sasiri Bandara (MSc 2017 co-supervised with Vince St. Louis, Biological Sciences) Mercury from Yukon permafrost. Present position: Researcher – University of Alberta/Alberta Environment and Parks
Joel Pumple (MSc 2016) Characterization of permafrost valley fills along the Alaska Highway, SW Yukon. Present position: PACS Lab Installation Manager/Technical Director, Edmonton.
Matt Mahony (MSc 2015) A 50,000 year record of meteoric water isotopes from Yukon permafrost. Present position: Staff geologist at Terta Tech in Ann Arbor Michigan, U.S.A.
Hayley Dunning (MSc 2011) Tephrochronology of SW Yukon and SE Alaska sites. Present position: Hayley realized through her thesis that her real passion was writing about science more than science, and went to journalism school at UBC and is now a media officer at Imperial College, London.
Kristen Kennedy (MSc 2009) Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Last Glacial Maximum Eagle River meltwater channel, Northern Yukon. Present position: Yukon Geological Survey project geologist, Whitehorse, Yukon.
Britta Jensen (MSc 2007) Tephrochronology of east-central Alaska loess deposits. Britta subsequently completed a PhD with me and a PDF at Queens University, Belfast, and eventually came back to us as an Assistant Professor running her own research group.
Simon Robinson (MSc 2007) Paleoecology of Pleistocene sandsheets and loess in interior Alaska. Present position: Consultant in the U.K.
Mike Davies (MSc 2007) Debris flow hazards near Valemont, BC. Present position: BGC Consultants, Edmonton
MSc. (Co-supervisor)
Patrick Neuberger (co-supervised with Brian Lanoil). Microbial community changes along an anthropogenic permafrost thaw gradient. Present position: Agriculture Canada
Ann Hammad (co-supervised with Brian Lanoil). Microbial community changes from relict permafrost
Tara Sadoway (co-supervised with Hendrik Poinar) Ancient Environmental DNA from relict permafrost, Yukon
Veronique Germaine (co-supervised with Michel Lamothe) UQaM. Dating eolian sandsheets along the Upper Yukon River between Dawson City and Eagle, Alaska
Recent undergraduate theses
Marlianne Sadoway — BSc. Thesis. (2020-2021) Multiple isotope (14C, 3H, 18O, 2H) characterization of Wagner Natural Area groundwater
Allison Rubin (BSc. Thesis) Drainage history and HEC-RAS modeling of glacial lake Edmonton drainage Present Position: MSc. Student, University of Alberta
Alejandro Alvarez (BSc. Thesis) Characterization and dating of Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway permafrost cores. Present Position: MSc. Student, University of Alberta
Julia Valentine-Soares (2018) Isotope hydrology of Parkland County lakes, precipitation and groundwater. Present Position: MSc Student, Hydrogeology, University of British Columbia
Aria Zhang (2017) Isotope hydrology of Whitemud Creek and its relation to the North Saskatchewan River. Present Position: Graduate student Hydrogeology, University of Waterloo
Kasia Staniszewska (2017) Characterization of pore water stable isotopes across the MIS 5a-4 transition, Yukon. Present Position: Graduate Student, University of Alberta
Madison Chamzuk (2016) Isotope time series of the North Saskatchewan River Present Position: Contaminant Hydrogeologist, Milennium EMS Solutions
Gerard Otiniano (2016) Stable isotopes of Dempster Highway tree rings Present Position: PhD Student, University of Toronto
Sasiri Bandara (2015) Characteristics of recent drained thermokarst lakes, Old Crow basin, YT. Present Position: Researcher – Alberta Environment and Parks