KK's PhD is focused on the geology of North Andros Island in the Bahamas where she will investigate the history of sea-level change that has periodically exposed and flooded the stable carbonate platform throughout the Pleistocene. Karst features, cements, and depositional facies mapped and examined in surface rocks will provide information on the interaction of fresh and seawater on the island throughout recent times and into the Pleistocene. In addition, the depositional and diagenetic controls on pore network evolution may be examined, offering insight into changing behaviours of fluids in icehouse carbonate reservoirs. 

Kate is examining the late Cambrian SPICE Event and the "Furongian Gap" in eastern Laurentia. Her field sites are based in Newfoundland. This supposed gap in the fossil record has been identified in several locations around the world, but has been questioned as a worldwide phenomenon, and rather may be considered a more localized phenomenon, the cause of which is yet to be determined. 

Eric joined the PDRG and the Lowe Tectonostratigraphy Research Group in Fall 2024. His project will examine the reservoir properties and CCUS potential of several offshore oil fields of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hyperpectral imaging of drill core through clastic reservoirs will be used to define certain key intervals affected by carbonate diagenesis.  Selected samples and mineralogical phases identified through core-logging and through hyperspectral analysis will be micro drilled and analyzed for x-ray diffraction, stable isotope, and trace element analyses. Raman spectroscopy will be used to identify mineral phases and structure. This data will be used to decipher the controls on the distribution of spectra to the depositional and diagenetic history of the formations.

Julia is currently working as a Research Assistant (RA) in the PDRG while pursuing her BSc in Earth Science at Memorial. Julia helps with many different tasks in the lab, including the extraction of benthic foraminifera from modern sediment cores collected in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. and North Andros, Bahamas. Her identification of different types of foraminifera within the cores will help to determine how changes in the water chemistry over time have affected the diversity and population of foraminifera in shallow marine settings. 

Drew's MSc project studies the distribution and effect of bioturbation on diagenesis in the intertidal zone in Abu Dhabi, adjacent to the famous sabkha environment of mixed carbonates and evaporites. The data collected from sediment cores along a transect of different bioturbation intensities is compared with pore water data to determine how infauna affect the sediment and pore water chemistry, and the formation of hardgrounds.  Drew is doing his MSc at the University of Alberta with myself and Dr. Murray Gingras, with Dr. Fiona Whitaker at the University of Bristol as an additional advisor. 

UPDATE: Drew Brown will begin his PhD with Drs. Cathy Hollis and Ian Kane at the University of Manchester and Dr. Hilary Corlett at Memorial.