Stable Isotope Lab Personnel
Research Associate
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Dr. Oliver Warr
E-mail: oliver.warr@utoronto.ca Phone: 416-978-0833 I am currently employed in the Department of Earth Sciences as a Research Associate where I am currently applying my intellectual, analytical, and field research skill set which covers noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe), stable isotope (C,H, N) geochemistry of gases and fluids and clumped methane isotopes, to continue to investigate how they can be applied in innovative ways to better understand the origin, evolution, and habitability of deep crustal fracture fluids within Precambrian crust environments. I am also exploring the potential for these environments to act as proxies for understanding overall planetary processes on Earth and beyond (e.g. Mars). The geochemical toolkit I use incorporates, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, noble gases, biomass, radiocarbon, oxygen, sulphur, methane clumped isotopes, trace metals, cations, and anions. Specifically, my published and future research focusses on long-term unconventional hydrocarbon production, natural analogues to CCS and nuclear waste storage facilities, and subsurface fluid formation, evolution, and migration. This involves leading field teams to remote locations globally, including active mines at depths up to 3 km to investigate fluid residence times, fluid volumes, and the extent of water-rock interactions within the crystalline basement. |
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Weibin Chen
E-mail: weibin.chen@utoronto.ca
My research interests focus on understanding the processes of biotic and/or abiotic degradation of organic contaminants based on compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) and mathematical simulations of the evolution of the target organic compounds during degradation. Coupled with reactive transport (RTM) modeling, CSIA allows us to determine the extent of degradation of organic contaminants and the degradation mechanisms in polluted sites, which are essential for remediation practices.
E-mail: weibin.chen@utoronto.ca
My research interests focus on understanding the processes of biotic and/or abiotic degradation of organic contaminants based on compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) and mathematical simulations of the evolution of the target organic compounds during degradation. Coupled with reactive transport (RTM) modeling, CSIA allows us to determine the extent of degradation of organic contaminants and the degradation mechanisms in polluted sites, which are essential for remediation practices.
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Dr. Min Song
E-mail: m.song@utoronto.ca My research focuses on exploring water-rock reactions including radiolytically driven reactions in deep crustal fracture waters within Precambrian Shield rocks, and their impacts on deep C, S, H cycles and subsurface habitability. By “following the water”, I and my co-workers use water isotope analysis and other aqueous geochemical and hydrogeological tools, along with laboratory-based experiments to explore to what degree deep crustal environments may be connected or disconnected with the surface environments, and the corresponding impact on subsurface life and biogeochemistry. My current and future research will also apply laboratory simulation and modeling approaches to investigate the potential mechanisms and rates of water-rock reactions, and the influences of minerals, host rock types and porosity, etc. on the production of potential electron donors (e.g., H2, acetate) and electron acceptors (e.g., SO42-) that are capable of sustaining subsurface ecosystem over geological timescales. The long-term goal of my research is to gain insights on prebiotic chemistry, life’s origin and co-evolution with its environments over Earth’s history. |
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Dr. Pete Higgins E-mail: pete.higgins@utoronto.ca I examine how thermodynamic principles control whether or not life can survive, grow and/or evolve in various physico-chemical settings. To do so, I develop and employ computational models which: i) assess dynamic habitability, ii) constrain possible biomass levels, and iii) estimate biosignature production and detectability against an abiogenic background. The universal nature of these laws allows us to apply such techniques to environments throughout the cosmos, from deep earth through deep time, to the oceans of icy moons in the outer solar system, and even exoplanets around distant stars. |
Some past SILERS
Dr. Joan De Vera
E-mail: joan.devera@mail.utoronto.ca
The primary objective of my research is to contribute to the understanding of the degradation of toxic organic contaminants in the environment using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). To this end, one of my research projects uses CSIA and mathematical modelling to assess the _in situ_ biodegradation of chlorinated benzenes at a contaminated groundwater site. I am also interested in learning the role of trace metals in the biodegradation of organic contaminants. More specifically, I am exploring the cobalt-Vit. B12 interaction and how this affects the reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated organic contaminants. These works have important implications for management/remediation of contaminated field sites.
Current Position 2022: Posdoctoral Fellow, Earth Sciences, University of Southern California
E-mail: joan.devera@mail.utoronto.ca
The primary objective of my research is to contribute to the understanding of the degradation of toxic organic contaminants in the environment using compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA). To this end, one of my research projects uses CSIA and mathematical modelling to assess the _in situ_ biodegradation of chlorinated benzenes at a contaminated groundwater site. I am also interested in learning the role of trace metals in the biodegradation of organic contaminants. More specifically, I am exploring the cobalt-Vit. B12 interaction and how this affects the reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated organic contaminants. These works have important implications for management/remediation of contaminated field sites.
Current Position 2022: Posdoctoral Fellow, Earth Sciences, University of Southern California
Dr. Huan Cui
(Co-Supervised with Dr. Benedicte Menez IPGP Univ. Paris)
I conduct multidisciplinary research that integrates sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and paleontology to investigate the co-evolution of environment and life in Earth history. Fundamental in my projects is the emphasis of first-hand field-based investigations and a hypothesis-driven approach. The multidisciplinary nature of my research requires a holistic understanding of the Earth-life system at both micro- and macro-scales in deep time. In Barbara's group, I will employ various techniques, including SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) and stable isotopes, to explore biosignatures in deep Earth.
New Position 2022: Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University
(Co-Supervised with Dr. Benedicte Menez IPGP Univ. Paris)
I conduct multidisciplinary research that integrates sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and paleontology to investigate the co-evolution of environment and life in Earth history. Fundamental in my projects is the emphasis of first-hand field-based investigations and a hypothesis-driven approach. The multidisciplinary nature of my research requires a holistic understanding of the Earth-life system at both micro- and macro-scales in deep time. In Barbara's group, I will employ various techniques, including SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) and stable isotopes, to explore biosignatures in deep Earth.
New Position 2022: Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, Mississippi State University
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Dr. Jethro Sanz-Robinson I study the mechanisms and rates of abiotic hydrocarbon formation in Earth’s oceanic and continental lithosphere. I am currently analyzing the stable carbon and hydrogen isotope signatures of light hydrocarbon gases found in fluid inclusions and deep fracture fluids from the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in Canada. This research is being undertaken to better understand the role that abiotic methane plays in biogeochemical cycling and the sustenance of subsurface life on our planet. Current Position 2021: Golder Environmental Consultants |
Dr. Alero Gure
My research interests are inspired by the life-energy-environment interdependence. My work as a postdoctoral fellow involves integrating fluid data collected from deep subsurface environments into thermodynamic models to constrain the biotic and abiotic contributions to the signatures of those systems. One objective is to identify and develop new connections between deep subsurface and near-surface environments while considering variations in parameters that are unique to these distinct systems.
Current Position 2021: Golder Environmental Consultants
My research interests are inspired by the life-energy-environment interdependence. My work as a postdoctoral fellow involves integrating fluid data collected from deep subsurface environments into thermodynamic models to constrain the biotic and abiotic contributions to the signatures of those systems. One objective is to identify and develop new connections between deep subsurface and near-surface environments while considering variations in parameters that are unique to these distinct systems.
Current Position 2021: Golder Environmental Consultants
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Dr. Nivea Magalhães
I am a stable isotope scientist, with experience in sulfur, carbon, and hydrogen isotope systematics. My main goal during my postdoctoral research time is to learn more about deep subsurface fluids of SE Brazil, which I have sampled from two active mines. Studies in different areas around the globe have shown the potential for ancient fluids to be preserved within fractures in the rocks. I am keen to understand the (bio)geophysical mechanisms and processes surrounding how these deep crustal fluids in Brazil have formed, how they evolved over time, and how we might be able to relate them to a global framework of the deep subsurface. Current Position 2020: Laboratory Manager, University of St. Andrew’s Scotland |
Recent Graduate Students
Elizabeth Phillips
PhD, University of Toronto, 2021
NSERC PGS Scholarship 2018-2021
Current Position: Nordvulk Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Iceland
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Jesse Tarnas PhD, Brown University 2021 Advisor: Prof. John Mustard Current Position: NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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Annie Cheng PhD, University of Oxford, 2020 (co-supervised with Dr. Chris Ballentine, Oxford) Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Earth Sciences, University of Oxford |
