Dr. Pablo Joaquin Alonso-Muruaga
Assistant Researcher for the National Research Council of Argentina (IGEBA-CONICET); Assistant Professor for the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
I was introduced to Ichnology by my former professor of Historical Geology Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano, and by my undergraduate supervisor Dr. Luis Buatois at the University of Tucumán, Argentina. This prompted me to pursue a Ph.D. supervised by Dr. Buatois and Dr. Limarino from the University of Buenos Aires.
My research field is related to sedimentology, ichnology, and stratigraphy, mainly involving process-based sedimentology, trace fossil studies, and its integration into sedimentary facies analysis, in order to reconstruct ancient depositional environments and interpret their possible sequence stratigraphic framework.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Geological Sciences1 (Universidad de Buenos Aires); Geologist2 – (Universidad de Tucumán).
1- Doctoral Thesis: Sedimentología, Icnología e Estratigrafía de la Transgresión Postglacial del Carbonífero Superior en la Cuenca Paganzo y Áreas Relacionadas. Supervised by: Dr. Carlos O. Limarino and Dr. Luis A. Buatois
2- Undergrad Thesis: Análisis Paleoecológico de las Comunidades Marinas Bentónicas de la Fauna de Levipustula en la Formación Hoyada Verde, Sierra de Barreal, Provincia de San Juan. Supervised by: Dr. Gabriela A. Cisterna and Dr. Luis A. Buatois
Select publications:
Alonso-Muruaga, P.J., Limarino, C.O.; Spalletti, L.A., Colombo Piñol, F. 2018. Depositional Settings and Evolution of a Fjord System During the Carboniferous Glaciation in Northwest Argentina. Sedimentary Geology, 369: 28-45.
Alonso-Muruaga P. J., Buatois, L.A. y Limarino, C. O. 2013. Ichnology of the Late Carboniferous Hoyada Verde Formation of Western Argentina: Exploring Postglacial Shallow-marine Ecosystems of Gondwana. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 369: 228–238
Alonso-Muruaga P.J., Buatois, L.A.; Mángano G.; Limarino, C.O. 2012. Ichnology of the Paganzo and Calingasta -Uspallata Basins, Late Paleozoic of Western Argentina -a Review. In Netto, R. G.; Carmona, N.B. y Tognoli, F.M.W (Eds). Ichnology of Latin America – Selected Papers. Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontología, Monografías da Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontología, 196, p. 69-81
Dr. Zain Belaústegui
Professor Lector at the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona (Spain)
My main scientific interest is the ichnologic study (bioturbation and bioerosion) and the taphonomic analysis of marine, continental and transitional units (mainly from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic), emphasizing the implications of these studies for paleoecologic, paleoenvironmental and paleodepositional interpretations. Also interested in neoichnology.
I have a degree in Geology (2007) from the ‘Universidad Complutense de Madrid’ (Spain), a Master’s in Paleontology (2009) from the ‘Univeristat de Barcelona’ and the ‘Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’ (Spain), and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences (2013) by the ‘Universitat de Barcelona’ with the thesis entitled: “Ichnologic and taphonomic study from the marine Miocene of El Camp de Tarragona Basin (NE Spain)” (Supervisor: Dr. Jordi M. de Gibert; Tutor: Prof. Jordi Martinell).
I performed a formative stay in the University of Saskatchewan, under the supervision of Luis and Gabriela, during September and October 2010.
Today, my current position is ‘Profesor Lector’ (partly equivalent to Lecturer) at the Faculty of Earth Sciences of the University of Barcelona (Spain).
Select publications:
Belaústegui, Z.; Gibert, J.M. de (2013). Bow-shaped, concentrically laminated polychaete burrows: A Cylindrichnus concentricus ichnofabric from the Miocene of Tarragona, NE Spain. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology(381-382), 119 – 127
Beláustegui, Z.; Muñiz, F.; Mángano, M.G.; Buatois, L.; Domènech, R.; Martinell, J. (2016). Lepeichnus giberti igen. nov. isp. nov. from the upper Miocene of Lepe (Huelva, SW Spain): Evidence for its origin and development with proposal of a new concept, ichnogeny. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 452, 80 – 89
Belaústegui, Z.; Belaústegui, A. (2017). Modernist architecture in Barcelona reveals a new trace fossil from the Miocene of Montjuïc (NE Spain). Geologica Acta, 15(3), 169 – 186
Dr. Noelia Carmona
Check out her recent interview! (in Spanish)
Luc Chabanole
M.Sc.
After completing my undergraduate degree in Geological Sciences at the University of Regina, I worked for two years in rare earth element exploration. In 2012 I returned to school, completing my Master’s at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Luis Buatois in 2015.
M.Sc. thesis: Sedimentology, ichnology, and stratigraphic architecture of the upper Devonian-lower Mississippian Bakken Formation, west-central Saskatchewan. (Supervised by Dr. Luis A. Buatois)
Dr. Sudipta Dasgupta
Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India.
After working for five years as a Senior Geoscientist with Reliance Industries (Navi Mumbai, India), I moved to Saskatchewan to pursue a doctoral degree under the supervision of Dr. Buatois. Once completed, I worked as a Research Associate for a year with Dr. Jenni Scott at Mount Royal University (Calgary, Canada) and then a year with Dr. Renata Netto at UNISINOS (São Leopoldo, Brazil). Since 2017 I have been in Mumbai India, working as an Assistant Professor of ichnology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy at the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay. Currently, I am exploring the Cenozoic Kutch Basin in Gujarat, India, from an ichnological, sedimentological, and stratigraphic viewpoint. Other research interests of mine include the ichnology of stressed depositional settings, process sedimentology, and high-resolution seismic and sequence stratigraphy.
Doctoral research opportunities: Canadian as well as international students with ichnology and sedimentology specializations may feel free to contact me.
Degrees: Ph.D. in Geology1 (University of Saskatchewan, Canada); M. Tech in Applied Geology2 – (IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India); B.Sc. (honours) in Geology (Asutosh College, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India). 1- Doctoral Thesis: Ichnology, depositional dynamics, and sequence stratigraphy of the Plio-Plaeistocene Orinoco Delta: Mayaro and Morne L’Enfer formations, southern Trinidad. Supervised by: Dr. Luis A. Buatois 2- Master’s of Technology: Earthquake precursors in satellite thermal-infrared images Supervised by: Dr. Arun Saraf 
Dr. Patricio Desjardins
Regional Geologist, Shell Exploration & Production Company (Texas, U.S.A)
I am a sedimentologist and stratigrapher by background and that is where my passion in geology has been able to flourish. I have a wide experience in clastic and mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems including a wide range of sedimentary environments, from fluvial to deep water, and everything in between. I strongly believe that subsurface studies need to be anchored to rocks, thus I include to most of in my work packages core and outcrop studies. I specialize in the recognition and understanding of geologic controls on hydrocarbon accumulations and well performance enabling high quality business decisions. I can successfully integrate multiple disciplines across multiple asset and support organizations. I tailor specialist studies to business needs and steer projects toward asset value drivers.
Ph.D. thesis: Sedimentology, Ichnology and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Lower Cambrian Gog Group.
Select publications:
Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R., Mángano, M.G., 2012. Sedimentological–ichnological model for tide-dominated shelf sandbodies: Lower Cambrian Gog Group of western Canada. Sedimentology 59, 1452–1477
Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R. and Mángano, M.G., 2012. Forced-regressive tidal flats: Response to falling sea level in tide-dominated settings. Journal of Sedimentary Research 82, 149–162
Desjardins, P.R., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Pratt, B.R. 2010. Skolithos pipe rock and associated ichnofabrics form the southern Rocky Mountains, Canada: Colonisation trends and environmental controls in an Early Cambrian sand-sheet complex. Lethaia 43, 507–528
Desjardins, P.R., Aguirre, H., 2016. Chapter 7: Sierras Blancas. In: González, G., Desjardins P.R. et al. (eds), Regional Transect of the Vaca Muerta Formation, IAPG, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Desjardins, P.R., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G. 2012. Tidal Flats and Subtidal Sand Bodies. In: Knaust, D. & Bromley, R.G. (Eds.), Trace Fossils as indicators of Sedimentary Environments. Development in Sedimentology 64, 529–561. Elsevier
Dr. Davinia Díez-Canseco
Associate professor, University of Alicante (Spain)
Davinia is an associated professor at the University of Alicante (Spain) where she teaches Stratigraphy. She did two stays during 2013-2014 with the ichnology research group at the University of Saskatchewan as part of her doctorate which she completed at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid in 2016. She has collaborated with the group from then with a research focuses on the sedimentology and ichnology of continental and marginal-marine environments.
Select publications:
Díez-Canseco, D., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Diaz-Molina, M. & Benito, M.I. 2016. Ichnofauna from coastal meandering channel systems (Upper Cretaceous Tremp Formation, South-Central Pyrenees, Spain): Delineating the fluvial-tidal transition. Journal of Paleontology 90(02):250-268.
Díez-Canseco, D., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Rodriguez, W. & Solorzano, E. 2015. The ichnology of the fluvial-tidal transition: interplay of ecologic and evolutionary controls. Developments in Sedimentology 68:283-321.
Díez-Canseco, D., Arz, J.A., Benito, M.I., Diaz-Molina, M. & Arenillas, I. 2014. Tidal influence in redbeds: A palaeoenvironmental and biochronostratigraphic reconstruction of the Lower Tremp Formation (South-Central Pyrenees, Spain) around the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. Sedimentary Geology 312:31-49.
Dr. Javier Dorador
Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the Royal Holloway University of London (UK)
I received my Bachelor degree in Geology and Master in Applied Geology, both of them in the University of Granada (Spain). Then, in 2017 I finished my PhD by the University of Granada (Spain), supervised by Prof. Francisco J. Rodríguez-Tovar. It dealt with the palaeoenvironmental analysis along the Quaternary based on the ichnological analysis of cores from marine sediments. During this period I conducted various stays, including MARUM, (Germany); University of Saskatchewan (Canada); Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie (Basel, Switzerland) and Statoil ASA (Norway) for training.
After that, I was worked for six months as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology from the University of Granada, but nowadays, I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences from the Royal Holloway University of London (United Kingdom). My position is funded by a Newton International Fellowship by The Royal Society and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship by the European Commission.
My research line is focused on the ichnological analysis in cores to analyze palaeoenvironmental changes and reservoir properties, with a special interest in contourite deposits.
During my career, I have published 21 research papers, most of them in highly ranked journals, and I have presented my research in more than 20 scientific meetings. I have been also involved as an educator for degrees of Geology and Biology, Master in Geology, and I have supervised one master thesis. I have been also involved in outreach activities, participating in workshops and activities for the general society. Finally, I would like to add that I was awarded by the Jordi de Gibert Award (International Ichnological Association) and the Early Career Research Grant (Spanish Palaeontological Association).
Select publications:
Dorador, J., Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J., 2018. High-resolution image treatment in ichnological core analysis: Initial steps, advances and prospects. Earth-Science Reviews, 177, pp. 226-237.
Dorador, J., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Rodríguez-tovar, F.J., 2019. Ichnology of the Winnipeg Formation, southeast Saskatchewan: a glimpse into the marine infaunal ecology of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Lethaia, 52 (1), pp. 14-30.
Dorador, J., Wetzel, A., Rodríguez-Tovar, F.J., 2016. Zoophycos in deep-sea sediments indicates high and seasonal primary productivity: Ichnology as a proxy in palaeoceanography during glacial–interglacial variations. Terra Nova, 28 (5), pp. 323-328.
Dr. Meagan Gilbert
Research Geologist at the Saskatchewan Geological Survey (Regina, Canada)
I completed a B.Sc. (High honours) in Palaeobiology in 2012 at the University of Saskatchewan. In 2013 I began a Masters program with Luis Buatois and Robin Renaut, which was upgraded to a Ph.D. in 2015. I am primarily interested in paleoenvironmental reconstruction and appreciate the utility ichnofossils bring to unravelling these types of problems. I have a number of research interests outside my main area of focus and have ongoing projects focused on paleoentomology, biomechanics, paleohistology, and geology of the Eocene-Oligocene transition in Southwest Saskatchewan.
Thesis: Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy, Ichnology, and Vertebrate Paleontology of the Belly River Group (Upper Campanian) in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Robin Renaut (with a great deal of support from Dr. Gabriela Mángano).
Dr. Richard Hofmann
Postdoctoral researcher at Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity (Germany)
I got interested in marine palaeoecology as an undergraduate at Freiberg University (Germany). My later M.Sc. supervisor Dr. Olaf Elicki encouraged me to join a field trip to Jordan in March 2006 where I met Dr. Mángano, and we investigated animal-substrate interactions in Cambrian shallow marine siliciclastics. In spring 2007 I was lucky to join the Lab of Dr. Mángano and Dr. Buatois as a visiting student. Dr. Elicki and Dr. Mángano then supervised my thesis on said Cambrian trace fossils from Jordan which was completed in summer of 2008. In early 2009, I became a PhD-Student in the Lab of Prof. Hugo Bucher and Dr. Michael Hautmann working on Early Triassic marine macrofossils to better understand the recovery from the end-Permian mass extinction. After attaining the degree in late 2013, and staying for a postdoc on Permian benthic communities, I am currently studying diversification patterns of Early and Middle Ordovician benthic communities with projects at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Germany) since 2015. Although ichnology, unfortunately, has never been a main interest ever since the time in Saskatoon, this fascinating field never left me. The ichnological tools developed under the tutelage of Gabriela and Luis are always in my backpack, which enabled me to publish a number of papers along the way.
M.Sc.-Thesis: Trace fossil analysis and sedimentary environments of the “Middle” Cambrian Hanneh Member, Southern Dead Sea (Burj Formation, Jordan). (Supervised by: Dr. Olaf Elicki and Dr. Gabriela Mángano)
Select publications:
Hofmann, R. (2016): The end-Permian mass extinction. In Mángano, M. G. and Buatois, L. A.: The trace-fossil record of major evolutionary events. Topics in Geobiology, Springer, 325-349
Hofmann, R., Buatois, L. A., MacNaughton R. B., Mángano, M. G. (2015): Loss of the sedimentary mixed layer as a result of the end-Permian extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 428, 1-11
Mángano, M. G., Buatois, L.A., Hofmann, R., Elicki, O., Shinaq, R. (2013): Exploring the aftermath of the Cambrian explosion: The evolutionary significance of marginal- to shallow-marine ichnofaunas of Jordan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 374(1), 1-15.
Hofmann, R., Mángano, M. G., Elicki, O. and Shinaq, R. (2012): Paleoecologic and biostratigraphic significance of trace fossils from shallow- to marginal-marine environments from the Middle Cambrian (Stage 5) of Jordan. Journal of Paleontology. 86(6), 931-955.
Hofmann, R., Goudemand, N., Wasmer, M., Bucher, H., Hautmann, M. (2011): New trace fossil evidence for an early recovery signal in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 310, 216-226.
Dr. Verónica Krapovickas
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Research Assistant at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Currently, I have a research position at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and a Teaching position at Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. I met Gabriela Mángano and Luis Buatois in 2001 when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Tucumán (Argentina). Their enthusiasm made me interested on ichnology. Gabriela Mángano and Claudia Marsicano were my PhD. advisers at Univerdidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina and I spent three terms (2007, 2009, 2013) as a PhD student and postdoc at University of Saskatchewan.
I am interested in the interrelationship between animals and their environments, and particularly in how ecosystems and its functions have changed through time in response to major events in the history of the Earth. I use animal-sediment interactions as a proxy for investigating such questions. My projects are currently focused on: (1) The role of tetrapod footprints on continental ichnofacies models and paleoenvironmental reconstruction; (2) Implication of tetrapod ichnology in the reconstruction of arid-semiarid environments and ancient ecosystems; and (3) the ichnological evidence of evolution of South American mammals.
Ph.D. thesis: Continental Ichnofacies Models: the role of vertebrate trace fossils (Supervised by: M. Gabriela Mángano and Claudia A. Marsicano)
Select publications:
Krapovickas, V., Mángano, M.G., Buatois, L.A., Marsicano C.A. 2016. Integrated ichnofacies models for deserts. Earth Science Reviews157, 61-85.
Krapovickas, V., Marsicano, C., Mancuso, A.C., de la Fuente, M. S., Ottone, E.G. 2015. Tetrapod and invertebrate trace fossils from aeolian deposits of the lower Permian of central-western Argentina. Historical Biology, 27 (7): 827–842.
Krapovickas, V., Ciccioli, P.L., Mángano, M.G., Marsicano, C.A., Limarino, C.O. 2009. Paleobiological and paleoecological significance of a Miocene South American ichnofauna in anastomosed fluvial deposits. Países Bajos. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 284: 129-152. ISSN 0031-0182.
Dean Meek
M.Sc., GIS and Database Specialist
I am currently working as a GIS and Database Specialist at the Mineral Exploration Research Centre, Laurentian University. As part of the $104 million Metal Earth research program, I am working to create and maintain databases for the large volumes of geological data created as a result of this project, followed by visualizing this data in traditional maps and 3-dimensional models. In my spare time, I am working on publishing results from my MSc thesis regarding the design and implementation of an ichnology database.
Thesis: Data processing methodologies to investigate associations between depositional environments and trace fossil occurrence
Supervisors: Dr. Bruce Eglington & Dr. Luis Buatois
Gabriel Mendoza
Researcher at Servico Geológico Colombiano (Columbia)
Dr. Nic Minter
Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth
I am interested in co-evolution between life and the planet. My research is at the interface among palaeontology, sedimentology and behavioural ecology; focusing on organism-sediment interactions, both when they were alive (trace fossils) and dead (taphonomy), and what they can tell us about ecosystems through time and their responses to major events in the history of life on Earth. These include evolutionary radiations, colonization events and mass extinctions. My research involves field, laboratory, collections, and database studies; studying organism-sediment interactions ranging from half a billion years old through to conducting actualistic experiments and observations with modern animals, and across deep marine to desert environments. I have been lucky enough to work on world-renowned geological localities, including the Cambrian Burgess Shale of British Columbia, Carboniferous of Atlantic Canada, Permian Robledo Mountains of New Mexico, Triassic Petrified Forest National Park of Arizona, and Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast of Korea.
I graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc in Geology and Biology in 2003 before going on to complete a PhD on continental ichnology in 2007 from the same institution. I undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Bristol from 2009-2010 and then the University of Saskatchewan from 2010-2012. After my postdoctoral research at the University of Saskatchewan, I took up a permanent lectureship at the University of Portsmouth in 2013 where I am now a Senior Lecturer in Geoscience in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences Portsmouth.
My research at the University of Saskatchewan was funded by a Government of Canada Post-doctoral Research Fellowship under the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Programme, and then an NSERC Engage Grant. I worked with Luis and Gabriela on the trace fossil record of the colonization of land and developed methods for quantifying ecospace occupation and ecosystem engineering using trace fossils. We continue to work together on a number of projects, including applying these methods to other important events in the history of life on Earth; as well as experimental work on the effects of transport on the preservation of soft-bodied organisms and allochthonous trace-producers.
Selected publications:
Bath Enright OG, Minter NJ, Sumner EJ, Mángano MG & Buatois LA (2021) Flume experiments reveal flows in the Burgess Shale can sample and transport organisms across substantial distances. Communications Earth and Environment 2, 104.
Buatois LA, Mángano MG, Minter NJ, Zhou K, Wisshak M, Wilson MA, Olea R (2020) Quantifying ecospace utilization and ecosystem engineering during the early Phanerozoic – the role of bioturbation and bioerosion. Science Advances 6, eabb0618.
Minter NJ, Buatois LA, Mángano MG, Davies NS, Gibling MR, MacNaughton RB & Labandeira CC (2017) Early bursts of diversification defined the faunal colonization of land. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1, 0175.
Minter NJ, Mángano MG & Caron J-B (2012) Skimming the surface with Burgess Shale arthropod locomotion. Proceeding of the Royal Society B. 279, 1613-1620.
Dr. Diego F. Muñoz
Conicet Assistant Researcher at the National University of Córdoba
I finished my Geology degree (2009) at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina) studying the taphonomy of Lower Ordovician marine siliciclastic environments shell beds from NW Argentina, supervised by Dr. B. G. Waisfeld. Afterward, I worked for private oil companies until 2012. Between 2012 and 2016 I studied, together with my supervisor Dr. J. L. Benedetto, the systematics, diversity, biostratigraphy, taphonomy, and palaeobiogeography of Lower Ordovician brachiopods, mainly from NW Argentina. During my Ph.D., I became interested in the diverse trace fossils found in the Central Andean Basin and I decided to turn my scientific life into Ichnology. This is why now I’m studying marine siliciclastic trace fossils, particularly cruzianids, supervised by Dr. M. G. Mángano and B. G. Waisfeld. I am particularly interested in the relationship between the occurrences between trace fossils and their probable producers, and to study the ichnological record from a paleobiological perspective.
Postdoctoral Supervisors: Dr. M. Gabriela Mángano and Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld
Degrees: PhD (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)1; Geologist (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba)2.
1- Doctoral Thesis: Biostratigraphy, taphonomy, and diversity of Lower Ordovician brachiopods from the Cordillera Oriental, northwestern Argentina. (in Spanish). Supervised by: Dr. Juan Luis Benedetto and Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld.
2- Undergraduate Thesis: Taphonomic analysis in upper Tremadocian deposits, Quebrada de Humacha, Huacalera area, Cordillera Oriental, Jujuy Province. (in Spanish). Supervised by: Dr. Beatriz G. Waisfeld and Dr. Juan Luis Benedetto.
Publications:
Muñoz, D.F., Mángano M.G, Buatois, L.A. Unravelling Phanerozoic evolution of radial to rosette trace fossils. Lethaia. In press. DOI: 10.1111/let.12317
Muñoz, D.F., Mángano M.G, Buatois, L.A. Gyrophyllites cristinae isp. nov. from Lower Ordovician shallow-marine deposits of northwest Argentina. Ichnos. In press. DOI: 10.1080/10420940.2018.1538983
Muñoz, D.F., Benedetto, J.L. The eoorthid brachiopod Apheoorthina in the Lower Ordovician of NW Argentina and the dispersal pathways along western Gondwana. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 2016, 61 (3): 633-644. DOI: 10.4202/app.00241.2016
Dr. Alina Shchepetkina
Freelance Scientific Editor at Cactus Communications
I am a trilingual (English, Spanish, and Russian), field- and laboratory-based sedimentologist and ichnologist. I completed my BSc and MSc in Petroleum Geology and Lithology at the Gubkin State University of Oil and Gas (Moscow, Russia). My MSc thesis helped refine the paleoenvironments of deposition and spatial distribution of reservoir rocks by petrographic characterization and detailed facies analysis of Jurassic and Cretaceous deltaic successions in the Caspian Basin. I also lead and contributed to a diverse array of clastic and carbonate sedimentological projects for various basins of the Russian Federation.
In 2011, I emigrated to Canada to earn a Ph.D. in the fields of sedimentology and ichnology at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB), working with S. George Pemberton and Murray K. Gingras. I conducted research in modern coastal sedimentary environments (Petitcodiac River estuary in New Brunswick, Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Netarts Bay in Oregon, and Ogeechee River estuary in Georgia) and ancient rock record (Cretaceous McMurray Fm., Bluesky and Gething Fm.). My work efforts have been recognized internationally and resulted in a number of peer-reviewed publications. In 2017, I secured a position in a competitive Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program (CONICET, Argentina), and moved to the Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología (General Roca, Rio Negro) to build a geological model of the continental to marginal-marine Cretaceous Centenario Fm., Neuquén Basin. During the postdoctoral fellowship, I was invited for a 3-month internship at the University of Saskatchewan to work in collaboration with Gabriela Mángano and Luis Buatois.
I also have energy experience, having conducted several internships with leading Russian and international companies (e.g., TNK-BP, Gazpromneft-NTC, SNGEO, Shell Canada), working as a part-time sedimentologist at the Petroleum Lithology Department (Gubkin State University), as an MWD D&M engineer at Schlumberger, and a scientific consultant for YPF. My research interests span the fields of clastic sedimentology, neo- and paleoichnology, petroleum geology, sequence stratigraphy, and petrography.
Selected publications:
Schchepetkina, A., Gingras, M.K., Zonnevel, J-P., and Pemberton, S.G. 2018. Modern observations of floccule ripples: Petitcodiac River estuary, New Brunswick, Canada. Sedimentology, 65(2), 582-596.
Shchepetkina, A., Speta, M., Gingras, M.K., Rivard, B., and Pemberton, S.G. 2017. Hyperspectral imaging as an aid for facies analysis in massive-appearing sediments: A demonstrative case study for the middle McMurray Formation. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology. 65(2), 262-278
Shchepetkina, A., Gingras, M.K., and Pemberton, S.G. 2016. Sedimentology and ichnology of the fluvial reach to inner estuary of the Ogeechee River estuary, Georgia, USA. Journal of Sedimentary Geology. 342, 202-217.
Shchepetkina, A., Gingras, M.K., Pemberton, S.G., and MacEachern, J.A. 2016. What does the ichnological content of the middle McMurray Formation tell us? Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology. 64(1), 24-46.
Dr. Fernando Valencia
Carbonate Sedimentologist at CGG (UK)
I hold a B.Sc. in Geochemistry and a B.Sc. in Geological Engineering, both from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). After my undergraduate studies, I worked as a reservoir geologist in the oil and gas industry for more than 7 years, mostly in the world-class carbonate reservoir Perla field (the largest offshore-gas field in the Western Hemisphere). Recently, I earned an M.Sc. in Petroleum Geosciences at the Simon Bolivar University (USB), where I did interesting research on carbonate diagenesis. My professional and academic experience working with carbonate systems increased my interest in trace fossils and their influence on the dynamic petrophysical behavior (porosity and permeability) in carbonate rocks and sediments, which is now the subject of my current Ph.D. project at the University of Saskatchewan.
Thesis: Bioturbation and its effects on porosity and permeability in carbonate rocks and sediments.
Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Juan C. Laya (Texas A&M University)
Publications:
Valencia, F. & Laya, J.C. (2020) Deep-burial dissolution in an Oligocene-Miocene giant carbonate reservoir (Perla Limestone), Gulf of Venesuela Basin: Implications on microporosity development. Marine and Petroleum Geology. 113 (104144): 1-22. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104144.
Valencia, F. and D’Alterio, F. (2014). Application of Isotope Geochemistry for the determination of Non-hydrocarbon gases origin in the Perla field, Sub-Block Cardon IV West, Gulf of Venezuela. Memories of the I Natural Gas Venezuelan Conference (ICVGAS). EX-14.
D’Alterio, F; Reveron, M.; Bertolo, F.; Maffioletti, F.; Sanseviero, R. and Valencia, F. (2013). Workflow for the construction of the static and dynamic model of the carbonate reservoir MIO-Perla-1, Perla field (Block Cardon IV West). SPE WVPS Second South American Oil and Gas Conference. SPE-WS-172.
Gustavo Valencia
Environmental Engineer at New Gold Inc. (Calgary, Canada)
I hold a B.Sc. in Geological Engineering from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and an M.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of Saskatchewan. I have worked with fluvial depositional systems, specifically with the characterization of fluvial architecture elements and high-resolution sedimentology. Also, I worked as a Field Geologist on some projects of groundwater exploration in metamorphic formations (Cordillera de la Costa, Venezuela). I am interested in ichnology since it is a powerful tool for sedimentary environment interpretations.
Thesis: Trace fossils and sedimentary architecture in Miocene fluvial deposits from western Argentina.
Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois, Dr. Gabriela Mángano & Dr. Oscar Limarino ( University of Buenos Aires)
Dr. Romain Vaucher
Sedimentologist, Research Associate at Université de Genève
I am a fieldwork sedimentologist specialized in shallow-marine clastic environments working on both modern and ancient sedimentary systems. My research interests in sedimentology include, but not limited to, paleoenvironments, processes, paleontology, and paleoclimate.
After graduating from the University of Geneva, where I obtained both my BSc (2010) and MSc (2012) degrees, I completed my Ph.D. (2013-10 to 2017-03) at University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (France). My Ph.D. research involved describing and quantifying the combined influence of waves and tides on siliciclastic sedimentary environments in ancient and modern systems to provide keys to reconstruct these oceanographic processes from ancient sedimentary sequences. Following my Ph.D., I did my first postdoctoral fellowship (2017-2019) at the National University of Córdoba (Argentina) in collaboration with the University of Saskatchewan (Canada). During this research position, I worked on the tectonic controls on deposition in the Early Paleozoic period of the proto-Andean basin in northwest Argentina. In 2019 (May), I started a second postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation to work at Simon Fraser University (Canada), in collaboration with National Taiwan University (Taiwan). Since then, my research focuses on climate and extreme weather event impacts on the Western Foreland Basin’s sedimentation in Taiwan.
Degrees: Ph.D. (University Claude Bernard Lyon 1) (1); M.Sc. in Geology (University of Geneva) (2); B.Sc. in Earth Sciences (University of Geneva)
1- Doctoral thesis: Characterization of hybrid sedimentary environments (wave-tide) in ancient and modern systems. Supervisors: Drs. Bernard Pittet and Bertrand Lefebvre
2- Master thesis: Impact of holothurids (Aspidochirotida) on carbonate sediments. Supervisor: Dr. Claude-Alain Hasler
Publications:
Vaucher, R., Vaccari, N. E., Balseiro, D., Muñoz, D. F., Dillinger, A., Waisfeld, B. G., and Buatois, L. A., (2020) Tectonic controls on late Cambrian-Early Ordovician deposition in Cordillera oriental (Northwest Argentina). International Journal of Earth Sciences 109, 6, 1897-1920.
Vaucher, R., Pittet B., Passot, S., Grandjean, P., Humbert, T., Allemand, P. (2018) Bedforms in a tidally modulated ridge and runnel shoreface (Berck-Plage; North France): implications for the geological record. BSGF – Earth Sciences Bulletin 189, 5
Vaucher, R., Pittet, B., Humbert, T., Ferry, S. (2018) Large-scale bedforms induced by supercritical flows and wave-wave interference in the intertidal zone (Cap Ferret; France). Geo-Marine Letters 38, 287-305.
Vaucher, R., Pittet, B., Hormière, H., Martin, E.L.O., Lefebvre, B. (2017) A wave-dominated, tide-modulated model for the Lower Ordovician of the Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Sedimentology, 64, 777-807
Vaucher, R., Martin, E.L.O., Hormière, H. Pittet, B. (2016) A genetic link between Konzentrat- and Konservat-Lagerstätten in the Fezouata Formation (Lower Ordovician, Morocco). Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 460, 24-34
For a full list of publications please see: https://sites.google.com/view/romainvaucher/
Lindsey Wesolowski
M.Sc.
Current research: Integrated Sedimentological, Stratigraphic, and Ichnologic study of the Late Campanian Dorothy Tongue, Bearpaw Formation near Dorothy, Alberta, Canada.
M.Sc. thesis: Trace fossils, sedimentary facies, and parasequence architecture from the Lower Cretaceous Mulichinco Formation of Argentina: The role of fair-weather waves in shoreface deposits. (Supervised by Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Gabriela Mángano)
Select publications:
Wesolowski, L.J.N., Buatois, L.A., Mángano, M.G., Ponce, J.J., and Carmona, N. B. (2018). Trace fossils, sedimentary facies and parasequence architecture of the Lower Cretaceous Mulichinco Formation of Argentina: The role of fair-weather waves in shoreface deposits. Sedimentary Geology 367, 146-163.
Dr. Lijun Zhang
Professor at Henan Polytechnic University (China)
During my bachelor’s (2002-2006) at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), I was introduced to Devonian trace fossils and marginal marine by my undergraduate supervisor, Dr. Yiming Gong. Over that time, I became interested in the complex and enigmatic Zoophycos, which can provide information about evolution, behavior, and response to substrate change. This prompted me to finish a Ph.D. at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan, China) with Dr. Yiming Gong and Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) with Dr. Guang Shi from 2006-2011. Currently, I am working at Henan Polytechnic University, mainly on trace fossils and their response to the biotic event, e.g. End-Permian mass extinction, Cambrian explosion. I am very proud to join the ichnogroup of Dr.’s Buatois and Mángano as a postdoc from 2016 to 2018.
Ph.D thesis (completed): Geobiology of the trace fossil Zoophycos
Postdoc Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois and Dr. Gabriela Mángano
Publications:
Lijun Zhang, Luis A. Buatois, M. Gabriela Mángano, Yong-An Qi, Chao Tai. Early Triassic trace fossils from South China: Assessing environmental and evolutionary controls to evaluate biotic recovery following the end-Permian mass extinction. GSA Bulletin, 2018, doi:10.1130/B31867.1
Lijun Zhang, Luis A. Buatois, M. Gabriela Mángano, Yi-Ming Gong, Qing-Lai Feng, Yong-An Qi, Mao Luo, Xin Zhang. Uppermost Permian trace fossils along a shelf-to-slope transect in South China and their implications for oceanic redox evolution and extinction pattern. Global and Planetary Change, 2018, 167, 74-86.
Lijun Zhang, Yongan Qi, Luis A. Buatois, M. Gabriela Mángano, Meng Yao, Li Da. The impact of deep-tier burrow systems in sediment mixing and ecosystem engineering in early Cambrian carbonate settings. Scientific Reports, 2017, 7:45773, doi:10.1038/srep45773.
See our publication page for a full list of publications
Liya Zhang
M.Sc., Geologist at Shell Canada
Currently, I am working as a geologist with Shell Canada. Prior to this, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering at the China University of Petroleum (Beijing) and a Master’s degree in Geology at the University of Saskatchewan.
M. Sc. thesis: Sedimentology, Ichnology, and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Upper Devonian-Lower Carboniferous Bakken Formation in the Southeastern Corner of Saskatchewan.
Charlie (Yu-Chen) Zheng
M.Sc., Ph.D. candidate
After finishing my undergraduate degree in Geoscience at the National Taiwan University, I moved to Saskatoon, Canada. There, under the supervision of Dr. Mángano and Dr. Buatois, I completed my Master’s thesis. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. at the University of Texas, Austin, under the supervision of Dr. Loucks and Dr. Kerans.
Ph.D. thesis: Implications of the OAE3 Distribution in Time and Space through the Integration of Depositional Environments, Ichnology, Geochemistry of the Austin Chalk
M.Sc. thesis: Ichnology and sequence stratigraphy of the Ordovician Stony Mountain Formation in the Williston Basin. (Supervised by Dr. Mángano and Dr. Buatois)
Select publications:
Charlie Y.C. Zheng, M. Gabriela Mángano, Luis A. Buatois, 2018. Ichnology and depositional environments of the Upper Ordovician Stony Mountain Formation in the Williston Basin, Canada: Refining ichnofacies and ichnofabric models for epeiric sea carbonates. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 501, 13-29.
Charlie Y.C. Zheng, M. Gabriela Mángano, Luis A. Buatois, 2017. Sedimentary facies variability of the Ordovician Williams Member in the Williston Basin, southern Manitoba: Lithostratigraphic implication. Manitoba Geological Survey, Report of Activities 2017, 148-157.
Mayra Zuniga
Exploration Geologist at Longford Exploration Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I am a proud geologist who’s always trying to learn more and more. I received my bachelor’s degree in Ecuador, from the Polytechnic National School. My main interest lies in everything related to the petroleum industry. I have some experience working in the oil & gas field. For almost two years I worked on several projects at Schlumberger, a petroleum services international company. I am really passionate about exploring and interpreting geology.
Thesis: A Sedimentologic, Sequence Stratigraphic, and Ichnologic Characterization of the M2 Sandstone of the Cretaceous Napo Formation, Eastern Ecuadorian Basin.
Supervisors: Dr. Luis Buatois & Dr. Gabriela Mángano
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