Earth and Environmental Science

The Department of Earth and Environmental Science is very appreciative of the Harrison McCain Foundation Awards that were awarded to three of our professors (Dr. Snyder, Dr. Van Rooyen, Dr. O’Driscoll) this summer. The goal of the Harrison McCain Emerging Scholar Award Program is to help fund curiosity-driven research projects and initiatives undertaken by emerging scholars across all three Faculties at Acadia University. Details of the funded projects in our department are below.

Dr. O’Driscoll received a Harrison McCain Visiting Professor Award which will support the visit of Prof. Tom Sizmur from the University of Reading, UK to Acadia this fall to examine mercury binding to microplastics. This work is in collaboration with Dr. O’Driscoll and Dr. Mallory and will take place in the Mercury Lab (https://mercurylab.acadiau.ca) within the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Center.

Photo: Dr. Sizmur

Dr. Snyder received a Harrison McCain Emerging Scholar Award for their project entitled “Determining the timing of salt expulsion in sedimentary basins”.

Evaporites are weird rocks as they can flow and contort very soon after accumulation. This project will attempt to pin down the timing of salt movement in areas around the Atlantic provinces.

Dr. van Rooyen received a Harrison McCain Emerging Scholar Award for their project entitled “Origin, age, and affinity of the Clyburn Brook Formation, Cape Breton Highlands, N.S.”.

This grant will support work in the Cape Breton Highlands with an MSc student in Geology, Dylan McKeen. The goal of this project will be to find out where the rocks in the Clyburn Brook Formation are from, how old they are, and how they fit in with the rest of the Cape Breton Highlands.