Faculty
 | Vera Pospelova (Ph.D. 2003, McGill University), Principal Investigator. Professor since 2019. Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, USA. Professor 2005-2019. School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, Canada. HWK Senior Fellow in Marine and Climate Research. |
Current Members of the Paleoenvironmental Group
 | Vincy Winifred (Ph.D. candidate). Dinoflagellate cysts in surface sediments of the Alaskan Arctic and their relationship to hydrographic conditions. |
 | Liyang (Franklin) Qin (M.Sc.). Spatial distribution of biogenic silica in surface sediments of the eastern Chukchi and Alaskan Beaufort Seas. |
 | Amy Brewster. Undergraduate Lab Assistant. |
 | Dr. Sandy McLachlan. Postdoctoral Associate in Late Jurassic-Cretaceous Marine Palynology. |
Alumni
Post-Doctoral Fellows:
 | Dr. Zhen Li. 2019-21. Co-supervised with Dr. Roger Francois at UBC, Canada. Visiting at UVic. Website at UBC, Canada |
 | Dr. Manuel Bringué. 2015-18. Co-supervised with Dr. Bob Thunell at USC, USA. Visiting at UVic. Website at NRCan, Canada |
 | Dr. Maija Heikkilä. 2010-12. Co-supervised with Drs. R. Macdonald and G. Stern at the University of Manitoba. ArcticNet, Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence. Website at the University of Helsinki, Finland |
 | Dr. Kenneth Mertens. 2009. Website at Ifremer, France |
Former Graduate Students:
 | Sandy McLachlan (Ph.D.). 2021. Dinoflagellate cysts of the late Cretaceous–early Paleogene of the northeast Pacific; biostratigraphy, diversity, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. NSERC PGS D Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Jin-Si Over (M.Sc.). 2019. Thesis: Last Interglacial (MIS 5e) sea surface hydrographic conditions in coastal southern California based on dinoflagellate cysts. UVic. Second Place at IdeaFest Research Reels 2019: Watch the movie |
 | Janset Kankus (Ph.D.) at Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology. Co-supervised with Dr. Nihayet Bizsel. Distribution of phytoplankton and dinoflagellate cysts in the Aegean Sea. UVic. |
 | Weiming Jiang (M.Sc.). 2019. Co-supervised with Drs. Li, Luo & Lin at Guangzhou University & the Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, China. Thesis: Distributions of modern dinoflagellate cysts in sediment samples from the South China Sea. UVic. |
 | Pieter Gurdebeke (Ph.D.) at University of Ghent. 2019. Co-supervised with Drs. Mertens and Louwye. Thesis: Holocene dinoflagellates and other palynomorphs in Northern Hemisphere estuaries: taxonomy, distributions, geochemistry and paleoecological application. UVic. |
 | Zhen Li (Ph.D.). 2018. Thesis: Reconstructing Holocene East Asian climate and oceanographic history of the northern South China Sea: high-resolution records of pollen, spores, and dinoflagellate cysts. NSERC CGS D3 Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Maximilien Genest (M.Sc.). 2018. Thesis: The impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on phytoplankton as seen through the dinoflagellate cyst record. NSERC AGB/GS-M Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Iria García Moreiras (Ph.D.) at University of Vigo. 2017. Co-supervised with Dr. Castor Munoz Sobrino. Thesis: Climatic and anthropogenic impacts on the Ria de Vigo (NW Iberia) over the last two centuries: a high-resolution dinoflagellate cyst sedimentary record. UVic. |
 | Sean Mullan (Ph.D.). 2017. Co-supervised with Dr. V. Barrie. Thesis: Tidal sedimentology and geomorphology in the central Salish Sea straits, British Columbia and Washington State. UVic. |
 | Carl Jonsson (M.Sc.). 2017. Co-supervised with Dr. R. Hebda. Thesis: Late-Early to Middle Pleistocene vegetation and climate history of the Highland Valley, British Columbia, Canada. UVic. |
 | Sandy McLachlan (M.Sc.). 2017. Thesis: Macro- and microfossils from the Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada. Co-supervised with Dr. R. Hebda. UVic. |
 | Andrea Price (Ph.D.) at McGill University. 2016. Acting as a co-supervisor with primary supervision by Dr. Chmura. Thesis: Dinoflagellate cysts as indicators of water quality in Northeast US estuaries. NSERC CGS D3 Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Manuel Bringue (Ph.D.). 2015. Thesis: High resolution dinoflagellate cyst sedimentary records of past oceanographic and climatic history from the Northeastern Pacific over the last millennium. FQRNT B2 PhD Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Cooper Stacey (M.Sc.). 2014. Thesis: Frequency and Initiation Mechanisms of Submarine Slides on the Fraser Delta Front. Co-supervised with Dr. P. Hill. UVic. |
 | Joanna Czarnecki (M.Sc.) at Simon Fraser University. 2013. Thesis: Palynology and geochemistry of channel-margin sediments across the tidal-fluvial transition, lower Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada. Co-supervised with Drs. Dashtgard and Mathewes at Simon Fraser University. UVic. |
 | Andrea Price (M.Sc.). 2012. Thesis: Late Quaternary climatic and oceanographic changes in the Northeast Pacific as recorded by dinoflagellate cysts from Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California (Mexico). NSERC AGB/GS-M Scholarship. UVic. |
 | Miranda Brintnell (M.Sc.). 2012. Thesis: Ancient Earth Ovens and their Environment: a Holocene History of Climate, Vegetation, and Fire in Upper Hat Creek Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Co-supervised with Dr. R. Hebda. UVic. |
 | Clio Bonnett (M.Sc.). 2011. Thesis: Dinoflagellate cysts from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of Grassy Island, British Columbia, Canada. UVic. |
 | Byron Molloy (M.Sc.). 2010. Thesis: Marine geomorphology study of post-glacial landscapes and the sea level implications: using multibeam bathymetry from Goletas Channel - Hardy Bay - Shusharti Bay, northeast Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Co-supervised with Drs. A. Dallimore & V. Barrie. UVic. |
 | Svetlana Esenkulova (M.Sc.). 2010. Thesis: Organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst production, composition and flux in the Central Strait of Georgia (BC, Canada): a sediment trap study. UVic. |
Former Undergraduate Students:
 | Abigail Wilwerding. 2021-22. Understanding How Seasonal Sediment Flux Varies in a Northeastern Pacific Fjord. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) project. UMN. |
 | Eva MacLennan. UVic. |
 | Jake Dingwall. UVic. |
 | Declan Lineen. UVic. |
 | Alison Thomas. 2016. Honours Thesis: Reconstructing sea surface salinity change in the western North Pacific over the last ~18,000 years using Operculodinium centrocarpum process length variation. The Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award (JCURA). UVic. |
 | Robin Connelly. UVic. |
 | Alison Thomas (NSERC USRA). 2015. Quantitative reconstructions of past sea-surface salinity change in the western North Pacific using dinoflagellate cyst process length. UVic. |
 | Jasmin Chana (NSERC USRA). 2014. Development of paleo-indicators and reconstruction of past sea-surface salinity in coastal waters of Vancouver Island. UVic. |
 | Erinn Raftery. UVic. |
 | Sandy McLachlan. UVic. |
 | Grace Aroella-Jarvie. 2014. Honours Thesis: Sediment trap study of dinoflagellate cyst production in Effingham Inlet (BC, Canada) and the impact of the 1999 La Niña event on phytoplankton. UVic. |
 | Francine Beaujot. 2014. Honours Thesis: Monitoring benthic communities at Ogden Point: a seven-month underwater experiment. Co-supervised with Dr. J. Volpe. UVic. |
 | Guy Hoffman. Precambrian micropaleontology and geochemistry. UVic. |
 | Alicia Lew. UVic. |
 | Julia McMillan. 2012. Honours Thesis: Dinoflagellate cysts in the Chukchi Sea during the Holocene: A pilot study. UVic Faculty of Sc., Honour Fest poster award and SEOS best honours presentation. UVic. |
 | Zoe Sandwith. UVic. |
 | Andrea Price (NSERC USRA). 2010. Honours Thesis: High-resolution sediment trap study of dinoflagellate cyst production in Saanich Inlet. SEOS best honours presentation award. UVic. |
 | Alanna Krepakevich (NSERC USRA). 2008. Tracing the influence of sewage discharge on coastal bays of Southern Vancouver Island (BC, Canada) using sedimentary records of phytoplankton. The potential impact of sewage outfall discharge on the distribution of toxic dinoflagellates in coastal waters of the Greater Victoria region. UVic. |
 | Dustin Dahn. UVic. |
 | Kirsten Kennedy (NSERC USRA). 2009. Honours Thesis: Copepod eggs: A discussion of morphology, distribution, and abundance in British Columbian marine sediment. SEOS best honours presentation award. UVic. |
 | Kyla Adams. 2009. Honours Thesis: Dinoflagellate Stratigraphy of the Trent River Formation. UVic. |
 | Michelle Spani. UVic. |
 | Keely Roden (NSERC USRA). 2006. Identification of Foraminiferal Organic Linings. UVic. |
 | Sarah Newman. UVic. |
 | Clio Bonnett. UVic. |
 | Christophe Serie. UVic. |
I miss you all : ) Lab photos from 2016.
