SUMMER 2021
HES NEWSLETTER
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IN THIS ISSUE
FIELD NOTES
CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!
EMERITUS FACULTY
RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS
STUDENT RECRUITMENT
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & MODULAR COURSES
CAREER & RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
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Message from the Director
The Harquail School had a busy summer as we navigated changes and procedures associated with both the COVID-19 pandemic and the CCAA process occurring at Laurentian. Despite the challenges, we successfully found ways to continue to deliver our renowned educational and research programs. In May, we provided 2 in-person field mapping schools to 30 students. This was a highlight for the students, staff, and faculty involved, after having spent the academic year participating in courses remotely.
On the research side, we saw the return of a significant amount of field-based research by field assistants, graduate students, research associates and faculty, after a much-reduced 2020 field season due to COVID-19. Thank you to the staff of the Harquail School and Metal Earth for navigating monumental hurdles to get researchers into the field this summer. The high-quality research conducted in the School continues to receive visibility. In the past five months, we have had three research papers published in the prestigious Nature family of journals, resulting in significant positive media coverage. Additionally, an NSERC-RTI grant application, led by Dr. Andy McDonald, was successful and we will soon have a new X-Ray Diffractometer in the unit to support additional research. Congratulations to all on these research achievements.
Recent graduates of the Harquail School also deserve special congratulations. In addition to those that graduated this summer, a significant number of graduate students successfully defended their theses and dissertations in the past 4 months. We look forward to their graduations in the near future. We are also continuing and expanding our student recruitment efforts to attract future groups of leading geoscience students, who will fill their shoes.
This summer, we gained three new Emeritus Professors. Congratulations to Dr.’s Gibson, Lesher, and Spiers! While the three are now technically in retirement, rest assured that they maintain their offices/labs and are continuing student supervision and research. We look forward to their continued contributions now and in the future, particularly as we are implementing plans for growth and renewal as the CCAA process enters its final phase. Our Petrographic Technologist, Mr. Willard Desjardins, has retired after providing 48 years of service, producing both teaching and research thin sections. Congratulations to Willard, who I am sure will enjoy the additional time with his grandchildren and family! Please join me in welcoming François (Frank) Brunet, who took up the role of Petrographic Technologist this summer after Willard retired. Welcome aboard Frank!
Summer will soon be over, and we are excited for the return of students to the classroom this Fall term, starting with 3 in-person and in-the-field field mapping courses starting in just 2 weeks. This will be the first time many of these have had classes in person on campus, or the first time they have experienced their courses in our home, the Willet Green Miller Centre. Everyone I have talked to is excited for the return of ‘normal’ classes. As always, please feel free to contact me if you have questions or want to discuss anything.
Doug Tinkham
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Our faculty, researchers, and students, have been working in the field on projects in various provinces. Earlier this spring, Stephane Perrouty guided 18 students in his April Field School, and Douglas Tinkham led 11. Twenty-nine BSc students in total benefited from these hands-on experiences, which took place in and around Sudbury.
A second series of fall Field Schools will take place in late August and early September. We are providing two schools at the undergraduate level, and one for graduate level students.
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CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES!
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The Harquail School of Earth Sciences faculty, staff, and students congratulate 3 new PhD, 9 MSc, and 10 BSc graduates from our Earth Sciences programs. We wish them every success in their future endeavours!
We have posted the full list of graduands along with links to graduate theses, and video messages from staff and faculty in a news post on our website. Convocation was held virtually on Thursday, June 3, 2021.
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NEW EMERITUS PROFESSORS
(Pictured L-R:) Emeritus professors: Dr. C. Michael Lesher, Dr. Graeme Spiers, and Dr. Harold Gibson.
This spring, 3 members of our outstanding faculty moved from being full-time professors into the ranks of Emeritus Professors. We are grateful for their tremendous contributions to our students and our School. Rest assured, they are maintaining active status and continue to contribute to our students, research, publications, and initiatives. They are retaining offices and we look forward to working with them in their new roles.
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RESEARCH & RECENT PUBLICATIONS
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With research continuing through challenges presented by COVID and Laurentian's restructuring, we’re pleased to highlight a sampling of our recent publications. Among these, three were published in the prestigious Nature family of journals. Further, we are pleased to share news of a new addition of equipment, thanks to an NSERC-RTI award.
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Hastie, E.C.G., Schindler, M., Kontak, D.J. et al. Transport and coarsening of gold nanoparticles in an orogenic deposit by dissolution–reprecipitation and Ostwald ripening. Commun Earth Environ 2, 57 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00126-6
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Györgyi Tuba, Daniel J. Kontak, Brandon G. Choquette, Jérémie Pfister, Evan C.G. Hastie, Edmond H.P. van Hees, Fluid diversity in the gold-endowed Archean orogenic systems of the Abitibi greenstone belt (Canada) I: Constraining the PTX of prolonged hydrothermal systems, Ore Geology Reviews, Volume 135, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2021.104221.
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Adrian G. Rehm, Taus R.C. Jørgensen, Phil C. Thurston, Harold L. Gibson, Bruno Lafrance, Synsedimentary rifting and basaltic-komatiitic volcanism in the Pontiac subprovince, Superior craton (Canada): Implications for Neoarchean geodynamics, Precambrian Research, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2021.
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HES awarded NSERC-RTI Grant for PXRD System
The high-level of research excellence continues to expand in the HES, through the award of NSERC-RTI funding this summer, in support of the purchase of a new research-level Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) system. It will be the first of its specific kind installed in an Earth Sciences unit in Canada. The PXRD will support research programs into primary and altered geological materials, including those related to Ni-Cu-PGE (McDonald) and orogenic Au ore systems (Perrouty), sedimentological and geochemical transitions through deep time (Turner) and Environmental remediation (Spiers). Researchers in the unit will better understand the geological materials they are working on, through the characterization and quantification of their mineralogical contents. The system is also expandable, providing opportunities for in-situ, high-temperature analyses. The HES is proud to acknowledge support provided by NSERC, and funds from the Harquail family donation, which will build our research capacity.
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The Harquail School of Earth Sciences' YouTube channel is one to watch for the latest research from the Metal Earth project. Dozens of new research presentations are now available through our Metal Earth playlist. Thank you to all presenters and collaborators for making this possible. A few presentations by Metal Earth researchers are not available at this time because of content restrictions.
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Willard Desjardins Retires
After 48 years of service, Willard Desjardins has retired. Willard made tremendous contributions to our School, through not only his work, but through his generous support of our students. He cared deeply and will be missed. We wish him well on his next chapter! We are welcoming Francois (Frank) Brunet, who has big shoes to fill, but is already working in the rock cutting room, helping students and researchers with their projects.
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Recruitment of new students and retention of our current students is a major focus at HES. Our programs and reputation remain strong and resilient. Our outreach team deeply appreciates the efforts made by students, faculty, alumni, and staff who have joined in virtual sessions to highlight all of the excellent reasons to study with us. Virtual events featuring multiple voices have been effective in gaining the trust of incoming students in these unusual times.
There is still work to do; we are helping new and returning students with course registration, and we are ramping up for the next high school recruitment cycle. As of now, we can report the following:
- more than 450 prospective students, teachers, parents, and guidance counsellors have joined HES virtual outreach sessions, including students from Canada, Colombia, and China over the past recruitment cycle. We reached more people than ever before!
- high school teachers have provided very positive feedback on the virtual events, allowing us to post testimonials on our Outreach page
- meetings between staff & students seeking support with program transfers enabled Laurentian students to enter our BSc Earth Science program
We are looking forward to welcoming our next cohort of students this fall, and are continuing our efforts and finalizing strategies for the next recruitment cycle. If you have feedback or would like to help, email us at hes@laurentian.ca.
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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & MODULAR COURSES
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SEG 2021 Post-conference Workshop
Greenstone belt architecture and metal endowment of the Superior craton
September 22 & 23, 2021
This workshop will highlight the variable mineral endowment of Archean granite-greenstone terranes of the Superior Craton focussing on the 3D structural architecture of these terranes derived from surface geology, reflection seismic, and magnetotelluric studies.
The symposium will highlight new results from Laurentian University’s Metal Earth program where in excess of 1,000 km of reflection seismic, magnetotelluric and gravity geophysical surveys have provided some of the highest resolution imaging across transects within the Abitibi and the Wabigoon terranes.
The contributions will emphasize integration of field and laboratory geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies providing new insights into the geological and metallogenic framework of granite-greenstone terranes, their relationship to metasedimentary terranes, the mantle metal reservoirs underlying granite-greenstone terranes, and the architecture of the structural conduits controlling the upward migration of melts and mineralizing hydrothermal fluids.
The course will consist of presentations by Metal Earth researchers.
This is a virtual workshop, but spaces are limited. Register by August 31, 2021 to ensure you can attend!
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Registrations are open for Dr. Bruno Lafrance's modular course, Structure, Tectonics, and Mineral Exploration.
This 8-day field- and lecture-based course addresses the fundamentals of structural field analysis, and will be held in Sudbury, Ontario from September 8-15.
Sudbury has spectacular geology and is internationally known as one of the three largest meteoritic impact structures on Earth.
Moreover, it is at the junction between the Archean Superior craton, the Paleoproterozoic Southern Province, and Mesoproterozoic Grenville Province, allowing easy access to a variety of geological environments from granite-greenstone belts, to continental rift sequences, to high-temperature gneissic terranes.
Mapping exercises will be complemented by lectures, allowing the unique opportunity to directly apply classroom learning to the field. By the end of the course, participants will have learned how to:
- conduct a geometrical structural analysis of a multiply deformed terrane
- complete a structural interpretation of a deformed terrrane
- determine the sense of movement in shear zones
- determine the geometry and dynamic significance of quartz vein systems.
For more information and to register, visit our website.
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CAREER & RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
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The Mineral Exploration Research Centre (MERC) has one PDF and three fully-funded MSc graduate opportunities for Harquail School of Earth Sciences students. Apply now or share these opportunities to help us connect with top-calibre applicants.
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