Four MSc theses in four areas defended in one week
The final week of fall term was busy with exams and thesis defences. Within the space of a week, four MSc theses were defended, one in each of the disciplines in the Earth and Environmental Science Department: Geology, Environmental Science and Applied Geomatics; and a fourth in Environmental Engineering at IST, Portugal.
First up was Caleb Grant, pictured below with his thesis supervisor, Sandra Barr. His thesis, "Petrology and age of metamorphic rocks in the Cheticamp Lake - Glasgow Brook area, northeastern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia" was defended on 11 December with Dawn Kellett and Rob Raeside as principal examiners.
On 16 December, Lauren Muzak Ruff defended her thesis, "An applied paleolimnological assessment of the impacts of hydroelectric reservoir development and anadromous fish (Alosa pseudoharengus) visitation on productivity in Gaspereau Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada", before examiners Shannon Sterling and Mike Stokesbury. Of special note is that Lauren's thesis is our first MSc thesis in the recently approved MSc Environmental Science program.
Beatriz Maria Boavida Malcata Martins defended her MSc thesis in Lisbon on December 17th entitled “Variation in methylmercury biomagnification in freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates: a critical review” with supervisors Dr. O’Driscoll (EES, Acadia), Dr. Mallory (BIO, Acadia), and Dr. Canario (IST). Examination committee: Dr. Maria Joana Castelo-Branco de Assis Teixeira Neiva Correia; Dr. Nelson James O'Driscoll; Dr. Joana Luísa Pereira.
The final defence in the cluster was in the MSc (Applied Geomatics) stream, when Daniel Mutton defended his thesis "Development of a Geomorphometric Approach to Seafloor Morphology Classification of the Manicouagan Peninsula using High-Resolution Topo-Bathymetric LiDAR" before examiners Ian Church and Ian Spooner.
Congratulations to all four candidates!