People

Current Postdoctoral Scholars

  • Dr. Fiorella Barraza: Impacts of atmospheric dust deposition (from bitumen mines, dry tailings, gravel roads) on the speciation of trace elements in snowmelt and peatland surface waters.
  • Dr. Mandy Krebs: The potential environmental impacts and ecological significance of trace elements in aquatic industrial particles, including those present in treated oil sands process water released to the Athabasca River. The aim of my project is to determine which trace elements are directly bioavailable ionic species, and which are bioaccessible and may become bioavailable during ingestion to evaluate the risks to the health of aquatic ecosystems.

Current Graduate Student Supervision

  • Sundas Arooj Butt, Ph.D: Metals vs. Minerals: Impacts of atmospheric dust deposition on the speciation of trace elements in snowmelt and peatland surface waters.
  • So Yeon (Sunny) Choi, Ph.D: Potential bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements in Lake Miwasin water and sediment to aquatic organisms.
  • Dulani Hansika Kandage, M.Sc: Influence of concentration and speciation of Ni,V and Mo in soil solution on plant uptake and accumulation by Hordeum jubatum.
  • Mika Little-Devito, M.Sc: The impact of peat extraction activities on dissolved organic carbon, nutrients, and major ion concentrations in outflow water in two biogeoclimatic settings.
  • Andrii Oleksandrenko, Ph.D: Fallout radionuclides in peat bogs as markers of the start of the Anthropocene.
  • Yu (Swain) Wang, Ph.D: Application and assessment of AF4 coupled techniques in the investigation of colloid-trace element interactions.
  • Quinc Ybanez, Ph.D: The natural filtration of water by soil in Elmvale, Ontario, Canada.

Current Research Personnel 

  • Taylor Bujaczek: Research Coordinator
  • Dr. Chad Cuss: Collaborator & Adjunct Professor
  • Tracy Gartner: Trust Administrator
  • Marjan Ghotbizadeh: Part-time Technician
  • Georgia Janzen: Research Technician
  • Dr. Muhammad Javed Babar: Part-time Technical Assistance
  • Karen Lund: Administrative Support
  • Andy Luu: Senior Technician
  • Tommy Norenberg: Engineer
  • Judy Schultz: Research Technician
  • Sambhavi Thirupurasanthiran: Research Assistant

Former Postdoctoral Scholars

  • Dr. Muhammad Javed Babar: Characterization of the suspended particles (>0.45 µ) using multidisciplinary approaches such as metal sequential extraction, mineralogy, and fractionation of the particles in different size ranges (2-100 µ) using SPLITT fractionation.
  • Dr. Beatriz Bicalho: Atmospheric deposition of V and Ni recorded by Sphagnum moss and peat from the Athabasca Oil Sands region: a molecular speciation study from source to receptor.
  • Dr. Chad Cuss: Application of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled to UV-Visible and fluorescence detectors (AF4-UV-FLD) to distinguish natural and processed bitumen, and to characterize DOM in the Athabasca R. and its source waters.
  • Dr. Edwige Demangeat: Bioavailability and Bioaccessibility of Trace Elements in Natural and Industrial Particles of the Lower Athabasca River Watershed
  • Dr. Lina Du: The fate, transformations and availability of trace elements in soil, environments. Research activities include the development, testing and deployment of specialized metal-free lysimeters for collecting soil solutions; collection, preparation and analysis of soil and soil solution samples using ICP-MS and AF4-IPC-MS; analysis and interpretation of associated data.
  • Dr. Gabriel Magnan: Reconstructing environmental and climate change of the last 1200 years in ombrotrophic peatlands of the Fort McMurray region using testate amoebae
  • Dr. Kaj Sullivan: The potential bioaccessibility of TEs in aquatic particles, using rigorous experimental studies of their chemical reactivity in synthetic gastric fluid.
  • Dr. Claudio Zaccone: Atmospheric deposition of organic contaminants in NE Alberta.

Former Graduate Student Supervision

  • Na Chen, M.Sc: Distinguishing trace elements in the acid soluble ash (ASA) and acid insoluble ash (AIA) of Sphagnum mosses within the Athabasca Bituminous Sands Region.
  • Hannah Deierling, Diploma candidate (visiting student from the University of Heidelberg). Reconstructing spatial and temporal variations in atmospheric nitrogen deposition in Alberta using Sphagnum moss from the herbarium collection of the Devonian Botanical Garden (Diploma thesis completed December 2012).
  • Mark Donner, Ph.D: Natural and anthropogenic inputs of arsenic and selenium to the environment in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta. Co-supervisor (principal supervisor, Dr. Tariq Siddique).
  • Lina Du, Ph.D: Trace metal speciation in soil solutions of pristine and cultivated soils. Co-supervisor (principal supervisor, Dr. Miles Dyck).
  • Marc La Fleche, M.Sc: Nickel and vanadium in tree rings from the Athabasca Bituminous Sands mining region. Co‐supervision (principal supervisor, Dr. Justine Karst).
  • Elyse Gariepy, M.Sc: Root uptake of As and Se by rat root (Acorus calamus) grown in a laminar flow, clean air cabinet. Co‐supervision (principal
    supervisor, Dr. Lee Foote).
  • Carla Germani, M.Sc: Evaluation of different sequential extraction methods to determine fractionation of trace elements in different soils.
  • Marjan Ghotbizadeh, M.Sc: Spatial and temporal variation in trace element speciation in the Athabasca River.
  • Katharina Groebner, M.Sc: (visiting student from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, January to August 2016). Comparison of lichens with
    Sphagnum moss as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of mineral dusts.
  • Erin Humeny, M.Sc: Erosion of sediment and phosphorus from logging roads.
  • Daniela Lobianco, Ph.D: (visiting student from the University of Foggia, Italy, summer 2014). Posta Fibreno: a floating peat bog island.
  • Moussavi, Parvin, Ph.D: Exploring the impact of soil freeze thaw cycles on metal uptake in Lake Miwasin watershed using a reactive transport model.
  • Gillian Mullan-Boudreau, M.Sc: Dust In Reclamation Technology (DIRT): moss and peat as monitors of past, present, and future rates of atmospheric dust deposition. Completed December 2016.
  • Andrew Nagel, M.Sc: Investigating the relationship between metal speciation and toxicity in the Athabasca River.  Ph.D: Understanding the effects of chemical speciation on bioavailability and toxicity of thallium to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and water flea (Daphnia magna).
  • Luisa Poto, Ph.D: (visiting student from the University of Venice, Italy, summer 2013). A peat bog archive of environmental change in northern Italy.
  • Samantha Stachiw, M.Sc: Distinguishing natural from anthropogenic sources of trace elements to native berries.
  • Xue, Jinping (Bruce), M.Sc: Major sources, size and optical properties of dissolved organic matter in a large boreal river: The Athabasca River, Canada.

University of Heidelberg

Postdoctoral Scholars

  • Dr. Heike Kempter: Sphagnum moss from ombrotrophic bogs as archives of atmospheric dust and metal deposition. (current)
  • Dr. Nicolas Givelet: Natural and anthropogenic deposition of Hg, As, and Se in the Canadian Arctic.
  • Dr. Bin Chen: Natural and anthropogenic deposition of Sb and Bi from the atmosphere.
  • Dr. Karin Koinig: Reconstructing Holocene climate change and human impacts using trace metals in Alpine lake sediments

Graduate Student Supervision

  • Alex Mitev, Diploma. The isotopic evolution of Pb in the atmosphere of Ontario since AD 1850.
  • Monika Lindemann, Diploma: Titanium in ombrotrophic peat as a surrogate of the abundance of mineral dusts. ( August, 2010)
  • Caroline Furneisen, Diploma: Arsenic in bottled waters. (November 2009)
  • Biver, Marc, Ph.D: Chemical speciation of Sb in surface waters impacted by weathering of stibnite at an ancient mining site, Goesdorf, Luxembourg. (defended May 2011)
  • Zheng, James, Ph.D: Accumulation rates and predominant natural and anthropogenic sources of trace elements in ice from Devon Island, Canada (Marie Curie Fellow, defended February, 2008).
  • Sapkota, Atindra, Ph.D: Chemistry, mineralogy, and isotopic composition of atmospheric soil dust recorded by a peat bog in Tierra del Fuego, southern Patagonia (defended December, 2006).
  • Gonzalez, Zayre. Ph.D: Mechanism of natural As enrichment in peat, and implications for the treatment of As-bearing waters (defended July, 2006).
  • Jutta Frank, Ph.D: Mechanism of As retention and atmospheric accumulation rates in Finnish bogs impacted by Ni-Cu smelters (defended December 2005).
  • Nicole Rausch, Ph.D: Deposition and fate of trace metals in Finnish bogs and implications for the use of bogs as geological archives (defended July 2005).
  • Gäel Le Roux, Ph.D: Fate of natural and anthropogenic particles in peat bogs (defended May 2005; 2006 Viktor Dulger Environmental Prize).
  • Henrik Wild, Diploma: Uptake of Sb by earthworms in contaminated soils, Braunschweig, Germany (2007).

University of Berne

Graduate Student Supervision

  • Nicolas Givelet, Ph.D. thesis: Longterm records of atmospheric Hg deposition in the High Arctic of Canada (defended February 2004)
  • Fiona Barraclough, Ph.D. thesis: A complete Holocene record of atmospheric Hg deposition (defended December 2002)
  • Dominik Weiss, Ph.D. thesis: Peat bog archives of atmospheric Pb deposition (defended June, 1998)
  • Urs Eggenberger, Ph.D. thesis: Mineralogy, geochemistry, and weathering rates in forest soil profiles in Canton Ticino, Switzerland (defended November, 1995)
  • Philipp Steinmann, Ph.D. thesis: Mineral weathering and pore water genesis in Sphagnum bog profiles in Canton Jura, Switzerland (defended April, 1995)
  • Ina Potthast, Ph.D. thesis: Historical record of heavy metals in a fringing reef system, Mauritius (defended November, 1994)
  • Kristina Knudsen, M.Sc. (Dept. Chemistry, Uni. Odense, Denmark): Long term records of atmospheric Hg deposition in the Faroe Islands using peat cores from bogs (since September 2000).
  • Michael Goodsite, M.Sc. (Env. Engin, Uni. Odense, Denmark): Long term records of atmospheric Hg deposition in Denmark and Greenland using peat cores from bogs.
  • Martin Otz, Diploma: Geological controls on the chemical composition of groundwaters in the Southern Alps
  • Hubert Vogel, Diploma: Organic and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus in corals from a fringing reef system, Mauritius.