Research Group

I am Ishmael, originally from Ghana, where I completed a bachelor’s degree in Earth Science at the University for Development Studies and worked in the mining industry for a few years before pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota, USA. My master’s thesis focused on petrofabric analysis of the Basal Mineralized Zone of the Duluth Complex, where I used a combination of analytical techniques to investigate the relationship between magma flow mechanisms and sulfide mineralization. Currently, as a PhD student at UBC Okanagan, I am researching the geological controls on the distribution of Ni–Co-(PGE) mineralization hosted in variably serpentinized ultramafic intrusions within the Timmins mining district, Ontario.

I am Bemnet, originally from Ethiopia, where my passion for Earth science began as a junior student at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University. After completing a BSc in Geology, I later pursued my MSc at Addis Ababa University in Resource Geology (Mineral Deposit), where I was honored as one of the recipients of the Year Female Scholarship Award. Driven by curiosity and a strong desire to understand how sulfide minerals respond to deformation, I am currently a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. My doctoral research focuses on the deformation and metamorphism of sulfide minerals in volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, using two case studies: the Brabant deposit in Saskatchewan and the Bathurst deposit in New Brunswick, Canada.

I recently worked in Kirkland Lake, Northern Ontario, where I assisted with geological mapping of the regional area alongside a graduate team from Laurentian University. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science at UBC Okanagan, working toward an Honours in Earth and Environmental Sciences. My research focuses on lithium-bearing pegmatites in the Revelstoke area, specifically at an outcrop on Mount Begbie. There, I am investigating lithium enrichment and melting processes using petrographic analysis and trace element geochemistry. This work contributes to testing the partial melt theory and aims to contribute to an ongoing geological debate surrounding the origin of lithium-rich pegmatites. 

I am a Master of Earth Sciences student at the University of Oxford. My research focuses on Li–Cs–Ta pegmatite formation, with fieldwork on a Li-mineralised pegmatite in the Canadian Cordillera (British Columbia). Working with Professors Richard Palin (Oxford) and Tarryn Cawood (UBCO), our project aims to test the anatectic model of pegmatite formation through detailed mapping and geochemical analysis of the Li-mineralised pegmatite, simple pegmatite, and adjacent migmatite.

My name is Daniel Novak and I am currently studying at Carleton University in Ottawa alongside the GSC (Geological Survey of Canada) to complete my master’s degree in Earth Sciences. Previously, I have worked in the mining industry in different sectors and places across Canada during the summers of my undergraduate degree. My current project is focused on the metamorphic timing and conditions of a metamorphic rock suite in Dryden, Ontario which display a variety of metamorphic grades from greenschist facies (chlorite stable) to melting. The results of this will then be compared to the nearby pegmatites to determine if any spatial or timing similarities exist.