STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES

There are opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Contact Dr. Scott Lamoureux or the Geography Department for more information.

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PAST STUDENTS

David Fortin, Ph.D. 2008
My research looked at ways to compare and integrate a variety of paleoenvironmental archives in order to reconstruct long term pictures of North American hydroclimatic conditions. I worked with varved sediment records from Temiskaming Lake in northern Ontario/Québec in combination with regional tree-ring records. I am particularly interested in linking local and regional records of past hydrological variability with global patterns of climate.My experience prior to working in the EVEX laboratory was in palynology/paleobotany at the University of Montreal, where I built an ongoing love affair with muddy waters. I enjoy working on new ways to look at sedimentary records, focusing on integrating various high resolution methods of analysis. I am always looking for ways to get closer to mud, and never refuse an opportunity to get wet on a frigid day of the Boreal winter in order to get a core or two.

Jessica Tomkins, Ph.D. 2008
My doctoral research focused on reconstructing regional climate, lake conditions and sedimentation processes at the northern extreme of the Canadian High Arctic, using the annually-laminated (varved) sedimentary record of a meromictic (oxygenated, freshwater overlying anoxic, saline water) lake on the spectacular northern coast of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. A 1000-year varve record from Lake A (83º00’N, 75º30’W) has been developed and is being used to analyse changes in temperature and precipitation in the study area over time. The record is being compared to that of a nearby lake (Lake C2) to gain a regional view of hydroclimate variability. Changes to the lake environment are being assessed through examination of varve sedimentation, sediment organic matter content and, through collaboration with colleagues at Université Laval, the lake’s paleoecological record. This region has undergone recent notable environmental changes, including reduced summer ice cover on Lake A, major fracturing of the adjacent 3000-year old Ward Hunt Ice Shelf and break-up of the nearby Ayles Ice Shelf. This research will contribute to understanding these changes within the context of this region’s long-term hydroclimate history.

Krys Chutko, Ph.D. 2008

My research interest is in glaciology, primarily using weather and sedimentary records to model past changes in glacier mass balance. My previous research has examined the potential for modelling glacier mass balance from remote weather stations, as well as understanding the role that the North Atlantic Oscillation plays in driving glacier mass balances in western Europe. My current research involves examining sediment deposition in lakes in response to glacial melt conditions. This work is being carried out in the Archer River on central Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic, where two lakes with different sedimentary environments are being looked at. In the headwaters of the catchment, a proglacial/ice-dammed lake experiences sedimentation that is largely driven by climatic influences. Daily temperature records are being used to explain how ice and snow melt lead to complex varve deposition in this lake. Lower in the catchment, a shallow and relatively isolated lake has yielded a potential late-Holocene record of organo-clastic sedimentation. Changes in sediment structures, organic matter and carbonate content, and biological productivity are being used to understand large-scale changes in this glacial environment during the past ~4000 years.

Jaclyn Cockburn, Ph.D. 2008

My research interests are in past and contemporary, cold region landscape processes and how climate variability has affected these landscapes. I am also interested in the formation of clastic varve (annually laminated sedimentary) records and the isolation of the different process signals (e.g., climatological, hydrological, geomorphological) from these records to evaluate landscape changes (e.g., permafrost degradation or destabilization) through time. In the context of future global change, high resolution records will help us understand how surface processes in the past have responded to climate change. I have carried out a multi-year study of the hydroclimatic and geomorphic processes that control snowmelt runoff and sediment transfer from the watershed and deposition into the lakes Cape Bounty. In addition to improving interpretations of the long sedimentary records, this first aspect of my research contributes to our understanding of sediment transfer dynamics in systems with short-lived runoff events (e.g., high arctic, semi-arid regions, flash floods in deforested regions). Secondly, evaluating the long sedimentary records from paired catchments facilitates the development of two independent paleoenvironmental records and to quantify the strength of the climate signal in sedimentary record proxies through time.

Hilary Dugan, M.Sc. 2010

I am interested in studying hydrological and limnological processes in Arctic watersheds. My master's project will focus on the chemical evolution of morphologically similar freshwater and hypersaline coastal lakes. Isolated from the ocean during the Holocene, many coastal lakes of the Canadian High Arctic archipelago have since evolved into freshwater systems or, on occasion, become hypersaline. The mechanisms behind the different evolutionary paths in these lakes are poorly understood and continue to be enigmatic. Working at Cape Bounty, and Shellabear Point on Melville Island, my goal is to distinguish the chemical processes acting on the different lakes in order to understand how the systems have developed through time.

Claire Kaufman, M.Sc. 2008

My research focused on the reconstruction of past climate dynamics using a variety of environmental proxies. I worked to link variations in lake productivity, sedimentation rates and pollen composition to changes in the relative position and intensity of the Aleutian low in southwest Alaska. Aleutian low variability has been associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a pattern of Pacific climate variability varying with a 20-30 year periodicity. The PDO influences a variety of natural systems in North America, particularly the northwest region of Canada and Alaska. I completed my B.Sc. in Physical Geography at Simon Fraser University in 2004. Before coming to Queen’s, I spent time working at the Royal Military College for the Environmental Sciences Group. I was involved in numerous environmental remediation projects ranging from the clean-up of former military radar stations in the Canadian Arctic to environmental risk assessment of small-arms firing ranges across Canada. I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities such as running, hiking, cross-country skiing, and cycling. I also love to travel, and in 2005 went on a solo cycling trip through the country of Samoa in the South Pacific. I am also addicted to collecting rocks.

Dana McDonald, M.Sc. 2007

My research interest relates to suspended sediment dynamics in high arctic rivers and the impacts of hydroclimatic variability on sensitive northern landscapes. My Master’s research involves examining the annual and interannual relationships that exist between climate, river discharge and suspended sediment transport in a high arctic river system at Cape Bounty, Melville Island, Nunavut. Through this project, I hope to develop an understanding of the complex relationships between snowpack distribution, sediment availability and accessibility, and river discharge in this enivronment. This project contributes to the integrated watershed study at Cape Bounty through collecting and analyzing high resolution suspended sediment concentration, particle size, river discharge and weather data in order to characterize spatial and temporal variability in sediment erosion and transport through the melt season.

Jessica Tomkins, M.Sc. 2003

My M.Sc. research was focused on developing a long-term, high-resolution record of climate variability from the sedimentary record of proglacial Mirror Lake, which is located in the southern Selwyn Mountains in the Northwest Territories. We compared the thickness of annual laminae (varves) to local weather data in order to determine climatic influences on sedimentation in the lake over time. Weather data was available from Tungsten, located only 6 km south of the study site, which provided us with the unique opportunity to closely examine the connections between climate, snow and glacier melt and sedimentation in Mirror Lake. A 607-year varve thickness record (1389-1996) was developed and was found to be highly related to summer temperature, although snowpack was an important secondary influence. Through collaboration with Dr. Dave Sauchyn (University of Regina), we also compared the varve thickness record to tree ring width records from the Mirror Lake catchment. Each proxy record was used to develop a record of July mean temperature from 1704-1996. Many similarities in low-frequency variability were apparent, although each record reflected periods when other influences (e.g., glacier activity for the varve record and summer moisture stress for the tree ring record) weakened the temperature signal recorded and caused some discrepancies between the records. This comparison allowed for a detailed examination of the benefits and challenges associated with using multiple types of proxy records to examine climate variability in the same study area.

Andrew Forbes, M.Sc. 2003

Kailey Stewart, M.Sc. 2003

Jackie Cockburn, M.Sc. 2003

Anna Donevan, B.Sc.H. 2010

Jessey Chudiak, B.Sc.H 2010

Joshua See, B.Sc.H 2009

Elizabeth Wells, B.Sc.H 2005

Elizabeth Wells (Queen's University) I was a field assistant during the 2004 season and developed the original catchment snowpack scheme. Currently, I am a teacher in eastern Ontario and enjoy sharing stories with my students about the exciting adventures at Cape Bounty.

Allison Reid, B. Eng. 2007

I was a field assistant during the 2006 season. This season saw big snow, big rivers, and endless water sampling! Now I work with an environmental consulting firm in the Toronto area.