I am a Lecturer in Economic Geology in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of St Andrews since 2015. My role within the School consists of developing and teaching economic geology classes as well as establishing a high profile research portfolio. I designed and am currently co-ordinating the MSc programme in Mineral Resources that launched in September 2017.

Background

I obtained a PhD in economic geology from Queen’s University, Canada, in 2009. My PhD research project focused on determining the critical differences between unconformity-related uranium mineralised and barren alteration systems of the Athabasca Basin, Canada. After completing my PhD, I worked for CanAlaska Uranium Ltd, a junior exploration company in Canada until I joined the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in late 2010 where I worked as an embedded researcher at the Gold Fields St Ives Gold Mines in Western Australia. My research there focused on documenting the nature, composition and textural relationships of gold and alteration associated with orogenic gold deposits using a multiscale approach. During my time with CSIRO, I also acquired a good comprehension of the industry approach to mineral exploration, their research interests and how to manage relations with an industry sponsor. From 2013 to 2015, I undertook postdoctoral research at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, focusing on the structural, chemical and hyperspectral reconstruction of Zn-Pb-Cu and Cu-rich VMS deposits. Since arriving at St Andrews in 2015, I expended my research area to include sedimentary-hosted stratiform copper deposits.

Research Focus

My main research interests are in the areas of geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, economic geology, petrology, mineralogy and hyperspectral geology. In particular, my research aims to increase our understanding of the genesis and geodynamic setting of ore deposits using a multidisciplinary and multi-scale approach, supported by fieldwork and various high-precision analytical techniques. In addition to the immediate ore deposit environment, my research also focuses on weakly mineralised and barren alteration areas, as understanding these systems is key to understanding the processes leading to ore deposition, but also why some areas are not endowed with mineralization.

Long Term Research Plan

In addition to the research interests above, I am interested in expanding my research related to environmental geology to include the mapping of metals and trace elements associated with the ore at the deposit scale (i.e., as native or mineralic inclusions or in the mineral structure). My long term goal is to understand the long-term localization, mobility and remediation of metals and trace elements associated with mine waste and tailings. I believe that a greater understanding of ore system mineralogy, genesis and geological setting will lead to greater efficiency during metal extraction as well as improved environmental models.

To Conclude ...

my long-term research plan involves a cradle to grave understanding of the mining cycle aimed at studying the whole exploration, mining and remediation cycles.