I am originally from Toronto, and definitely like being in Southern Ontario and a part of the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster.  This is also due to working with the great team in the lab.  I have been really excited by the research that has been completed. It is great to see everyone’s hard work pay off, papers coming out and people moving on to the next steps in their careers as faculty, researchers, graduate students and working in industry.

My background started with a B.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto with a focus on physical and analytical chemistry. During my M.Sc. and Ph.D. I moved into the field of isotope geochemistry and contaminant hydrogeology in the Department of Geology at the University of Toronto. During this time I developed the basis for application of compound specific stable isotope analysis to chlorinated solvent contaminants of groundwater systems. Following my Ph.D. I was an NSERC post-doctoral fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Here I adapted and developed the application of compound specific radiocarbon analysis of bacterial lipids to understand their carbon sources and their role in transformation and utilization of organic contaminants.

I am looking forward to continuing to be involved in research that is split between work relevant to highly applied questions such as the sources and remediation of organic contaminants, and research into academic questions concerning the activities and signatures of life in extreme environments. As well as continuing to enjoy life in Southern Ontario.