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Welcome to the Applied Geochemistry group Wiki.
The Applied Geochemistry group (AGg) in the Department of Geoscience employs a wide variety of physical, chemical, isotopic, and modeling techniques to study aspects of the water cycle and to trace the fate of anthropogenic carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in surface and subsurface environments.
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Current Research
Our current research projects focus on environmental research, research related to sustainable energy supplies, and research at the interface between energy and the environment:
- Energy-related Research
- Environmental Research
- Research at the Interface between Energy and the Environment
The goal of our research is to enhance sustainable practices in energy supply, forestry, and agriculture, while minimizing the impact on terrestrial and aquatic environments. Graduate student opportunities for participation in our research program are here.
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News
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New Discoveries
- Bernadette Proemse and co-authors have discovered that nitrate and sulfate in industrial particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region have unique oxygen isotope ratios. In their recent paper published in Atmospheric Environment the authors suggest that δ18O values of sulfate and δ18O and δ17O values of nitrate may serve as suitable tracers for quantifying industrial contributions to atmospheric sulfate and nitrate deposition in the surrounding environment. For access to this manuscript go to:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.046
- Bernhard Mayer and Len Wassenaar have recently published a paper on sources and transformations of nitrate in Lake Winnipeg using chemical and isotopic techniques. They found high spatial and seasonal variabilities in δ15N value of lake water nitrate suggesting a highly dynamic nitrogen cycle in Lake Winnipeg. For full access to this paper go to:
http://www.iaglr.org/jglr/journal.php
A recent presentation on this topic given at Goldschmidt 2012 can be viewed here.
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Recent Awards
- Bernhard Mayer has been awarded a NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement (DAS) for three years (2012-2015). This award aims to provide substantial and timely additional resources to accelerate progress and maximize the impact of outstanding research programs.
- 2011-06-13 Norka Marcano's oral presentation entitled "Using Produced Oil Molecular Composition to Monitor In Situ Upgrading Operations in Oil Sands & Heavy Oil Reservoirs" was selected as the winner for the Best Student Oral Geology Presentation at the 2011 CSPG Convention.
- 2011-05-24 Bernadette Proemse received the Student Outstanding Research Award at the 43rd Annual Air Pollution Workshop 2011 held in Fort McMurray.
- 2010-05-18 The Government of Canada announced on Thursday, May 13 that Ben Cowie, a Ph.D. student in the Applied Geochemistry group, Department of Geoscience, was awarded the most prestigious graduate scholarship in Canada: the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Ben was selected as one of 57 recipients of the Vanier award in Natural Sciences and Engineering for his demonstrated leadership skills and high standard of scholarly achievement. Congratulations, Ben!
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Personnel News
- 2012-06-04 Andrew Kinston has taken up a part-time research associate position in the Applied Geochemistry isotope laboratory to help with method development and to enhance sample throughput.
- 2012-05-01 Alison Banwell joined us as an undergraduate summer student for 4 months.
- 2012-04-09 Dr. Veith Becker joined the AGg on April 9, 2012, as a PDF for 1 year.
- 2012-02-27 Veronique Fau has joined our research group as a co-supervised MSc student based at the University of Paris VI, France.
- 2011-12-14 Dr. Jinsoo Park from Korea has joined us for a 6-month research associate appointment to work on applications of stable isotope techniques to environmental problems.
- 2011-11-27 Dr. Woo-Jin Shin has joined us as a postdoctoral fellow to work on biodegradation of organic contaminants under various redox conditions.
- 2011-11-14 Jack Goodwin has joined our research group as a Research Assistant.
- 2011-09-10 Chris Jackson has joined our research group as a MSc student.
- 2010-05-01 The AGg welcomes Anita Gue as a new MSc student. Anita will be co-supervised by Dr. Steve Grasby from the Geological Survey of Canada.
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Recent Degrees
- 2012-03-15 Bernadette Proemse successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Tracing Industrial Emissions in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Using Stable Isotope Techniques".
- 2012-01-09 Leslie Harker successfully defended her MSc thesis entitled "Assessing Solute Sources and Chemical Weathering Reactions in the Kettle River Basin, British Columbia".
- 2011-07-07 Norka Marcano successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled "Isotopic and molecular studies of biodegraded oils and the development of chemical proxies for monitoring in situ upgrading of bitumen".
- 2011-02-24 June Chao defended her MSc thesis on "Major ion and stable isotope geochemistry of the Bow River, Alberta, Canada".
- 2010-10-12 Gareth Johnson has defended his Ph.D. thesis entitled "Stable isotope approaches to monitoring and verification of injected CO2 at the Pembina Cardium CO2 monitoring pilot, Alberta, Canada".
- 2010-08-12 Gareth Johnson received the award for Best Oral Presentation in the Division of Environmental Geosciences at the AAPG meeting in Orleans for his presentation "Application of Stable Isotope Techniques to Monitor CO2 Storage at the Pembina Cardium CO2 Monitoring Pilot, Alberta, Canada".
- 2010-10-07 Michael Nightingale has defended his M.Sc. thesis entitled "Water-CO2-rock Interactions at the Pembina Cardium CO2 monitoring pilot".
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New Instrumentation
- 2012-03-29 We have received a new Picarro G-2201-i analyzer for isotopic analyses of CO2 and CH4.
- 2012-03-29 We have received a new Bruker GC for compositional analyses on formation gases, dissolved and free gases from groundwater samples, and soil gases.
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Other News
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Getting started
For members of the AGg:
