Alumni News - Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto

Connaught Fellowship
Neil Bennett Christoph Schrank
Stephanie Tille
Graduate Admission Awards
Shannon Carto Carla Rose
Tiffany Johnson Kerry Evans-Tokaryk
Jennifer Kyle Adrian Van Rythoven
Barbara Perez
The Helen Sawyer Hogg Graduate Admissions
Award
Robert Gray Allison Laidlow
Laurent Roy
Jeff Fawcett and John Gittins Graduate Explorers
Fund
Katrina Van Drongelen
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge with thanks donations from the following:
Nick and Marilyn Tintor for the establishment of an undergraduate and a graduate award in the Explorer’s Fund.
Andrew F. Bau
Richard Bedell
Jennifer A. Clark
Kathryn A. David
J. Jeffrey and Sylvia Fawcett
Ann Ehrlich Hersch
Bruce Jago
Debra R. Kendall
Derek Lee
J. Douglas and Sheila D. Macdougall
Eric W. and Anita Mountjoy
John and Mary Louise Riley
Kevin A. Shaw
Alar Soever
Scotiabank Marine Geology Research Laboratory
The SMGRL was established in 1989 with an “Excellence
in Education Award” from the Bank of Nova Scotia, its first
annual award of this type, to the lab’s Director, Steve Scott.
Because of Steve’s retirement to emeritus status in 2006,
the SMGRL has fewer researchers but is nevertheless still
very active. Since the 2008 newsletter, the lab’s research
team has published 14 papers and presented 23 talks/posters
at national and international conferences, most of which
were invited.
Postdoctoral Fellow Elitsa Hrischeva worked with Steve on
metalliferous sediments at modern seafloor hydrothermal
sites. Some of this was a contribution to the Environmental
Impact Statement by Toronto-headquartered Nautilus Minerals
Inc. on their Solwara 1 seafloor massive sulfide site in
the Bismarck Sea offshore eastern Papua New Guinea that
the company expects to mine when the current international
financial crisis is resolved and necessary permits are issued.
In June, Elitsa took a position with Activation Laboratories
in Ancaster, Ontario.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Filipa Marques, is splitting her time
between the SMGRL and the University of Lisbon. She and
Steve are using melt inclusions in phenocrysts of volcanic
rocks to understand better the igneous and hydrothermal
processes that are presently producing seafloor sulfides in
the Azores region of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and that in the
geologic past produced giant massive sulfide deposits of
the Iberian Pyrite Belt of Portugal and Spain. Filipa spent
several weeks at sea off the Azores training to be a pilot of
a robotic submersible as Portugal solidifies its exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) claim.
Steve spent all or part of every month on the road in 2008,
mostly giving invited, keynote and plenary talks in 8 countries.
One trip with his wife, Joan, was a 2-month odyssey
through France, China, Australia and Hawaii. In Kunming,
SW China, and with the help of 8 internationally renowned
geologists, they organized a 5-day short course on ore deposits
for 325 enthusiastic participants. Steve conducted 21
media interviews involving print, radio and television, one
of which was the taping of an hour long @issue program
for the digital broadcaster ichannel that will be aired on
Ocean Day. He is a subject of interest in the ROM’s new
Teck Suite of Galleries and also managed to fit in some
outreach at a Toronto public school.
S.D.S.
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