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RESEARCH |
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Student research opportunities
MSc/PhD opportunities in Paleoglaciology, paleohydrology and Quaternary environmental change Specific projects 1) Assessing controls on the morphometry of subglacial bedforms in the Puget Lowland, WA. 2) 3D architecture and composition of subglacial bedforms in the Puget Lowland or on the BC interior plateau. The two projects above would provide new datasets to address the question of subglacial bedform genesis under the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS), and under ice sheets more generally. These projects are timely in that streamlined bedforms have been recently imaged beneath an Antarctic ice stream, and are often used as an indicator of paleo-ice stream locations, yet their genesis remains allusive. To date, we have excellent regional datasets for a Puget Lowland project (Lidar, geology and surficial geology mapping, well data), yet no-one has systematically queried these datasets or built detailed 3D models of the sedimentary architecture of any CIS drumlins. 3) Paleogeography, paleoenvironment and paleohydrology of glacial Lake Merritt (gLM), BC. This project will contribute to a growing dataset on the extent, character and drainage of paleo-glacial lakes in southern British Columbia. So far my students have worked on glacial lakes Thompson and Penticton, and are currently working on glacial Lake Kootenai and several smaller glacial lakes on the Fraser Plateau. The flows draining these lakes were important geomorphic agents and their character provides important proxy information about CIS deglacial style and pattern. To date the general geography and outlets of gLM are known as is the isostatic rebound of its shorelines, yet we have no map of lake extent and know little about its paleoenvironment, and nothing about its paleohydrology. 4) Character and environment of the Nicomen gravel and/or other thick gravel packages within the Thompson River valley, BC. This project will enhance our knowledge of the character of ice sheet advance and/or retreat. Thick sheet-like gravel beds within otherwise braided gravel units in valley-fill sequences suggest periodic flooding during ice advance/retreat which in turn favours surging behavior in the ice sheet. To date these sequences are relatively dated by loose stratigraphic position; optical dating would provide an absolute age for the sediments. No detailed sedimentologic descriptions of these gravels have yet been made. 5) The morphology and landform associations of eskers in Keewatin. This would mainly be a mapping project; at this point I do not have funding in place for northern fieldwork. Very little is known about the detailed morphology and landform associations of northern eskers. While most Laurentide eskers formed in ice tunnels that terminated in lakes, those in Keewatin may have formed in ice tunnels that terminated on land, and hence their morphology and landform associations should differ. The project would add important new data to the question of esker genesis at a time when new work suggests an important climate control on esker distribution in the Keewatin region. 6) Comparison of esker morphology on Earth and Mars. This project would involve mapping morphometric variables of eskers and comparing datasets. It would assist Marian scientists in their ability to identify Marian eskers and hence infer paleoclimate. Qualifications Applicants should be highly-motivated, with a solid background in Quaternary geology and/or geomorphology and/or paleoglaciology and of excellent academic standing. You should also have experience in, or a desire to learn, sedimentology, topographic surveying, digital terrain analysis, aerial photograph interpretation, GIS, shallow geophysical techniques, paleohydrology and/or geochronology depending on the project. Physical fitness, and prior backcountry and/or field work experience will be considered an asset in field-based projects. Funding and applications Interested students are encouraged to contact me as soon as possible via email (tabrenna@sfu.ca) and to send a CV/resume, an unofficial copy of university transcripts, and a brief statement of scientific interests. For official application instructions please consult the Department of Geography Graduate Program website. The deadline for applications from students wishing to enter the graduate program are January 22nd (September entry for PhD and MSc students; consideration for SFU scholarships and awards) and September 15th (January entry under excetional circumstances for PhD students only). Guaranteed funding for masters and doctoral students in the Paleoglaciology Lab is available through a combination of scholarships, research assistantships, grants and teaching assistantships. Externally funded students are encouraged to apply.
Post-doctoral opportunities I welcome applications from post-doctoral researchers with external funding who wish to pursue research that falls within the thematic areas of my research program: paleo-ice sheet hydrology, paleo-ice sheet dynamics, and paleoenvironmental change. Select external funding sources are listed on my links page. UK applicants are encouraged to obtain funding through the Leverhulme Trust.
Undergraduate student opportunities I welcome applications from undergraduate students interested in taking up research assistantships. I normally have positions open for the summer. The annual deadline for applications for funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council - Undergraduate Student Research Awards (NSERC-USRA) program is late January.
For further information contact: Tracy A. Brennand office: RCB 7137 |
