TSE Faculty
Award-winning professors committed to teaching and globally-recognized leaders in their fields of expertise
Julian Aherne
Associate Professor, ERS
BA, Graduate Diploma (Trinity College Dublin), MApplSc, PhD (University College Dublin)
Research and Teaching Interests
Using models to improve our understanding of pollutants in the environment; in-lab analysis of biosphere components and using the data to create equations as the basis for computer models
Office: ESC B303 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7887 Email: jaherne@trentu.ca
David Beresford
Assistant Professor, ERS, SAFS
Cross-appointed with Biology
BSc (Trent), BEd (Queen's), PhD (Trent)
Research and Teaching Interests
Role of dispersal in insect and mite populations; stable flies as pests of dairy and beef farms, and insect diversity in the Hudson Bay lowlands; insects that colonize corpses, such as blow flies and carrion beetles
Office: LHS D217 Phone:705-748-1011 x7540 Email: davidberesford@trentu.ca
Stephen Bocking
BSc, MA, PhD (Toronto)
Research and Teaching Interests
Roles of science in environmental policy and politics; regional environmental history and biodiversity conservation; the science and politics of salmon aquaculture; the history of environmental science in northern Canada
- Stephen Bocking's Website
- Blog: Environment, History, Science
- Stephen Bocking Twitter
- Stephen Bocking on Google Scholar
Office: ESC A132 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7883 Email: sbocking@trentu.ca
Jim Buttle
Professor, ERS, Env. Geoscience, Geography
BA (Toronto), PhD (Southampton)
Research and Teaching Interests
Hydrology; streamflow generation; land use change; forest landscapes
Teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in Physical Geography, including Earth’s Physical Processes and Environments, Hydrology, Hydrogeology, and Large-scale Geomorphology. Each course emphasizes the field work aspects of the subject, as well as the application of and modeling approaches
2021 Tuzo Wilson Medal Recipient
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC C125 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7475 Email: jbuttle@trentu.ca
D. Huy Dang
Assistant Professor, Environmental Chemistry Program Coordinator
Cross-appointed with Chemistry
BSc, MSc, PhD (Toulon)
Research and Teaching Interests
- Environmental biogeochemistry and analytical chemistry; fate and transport of nutrients, metals, and metalloids; development of analytical tools for emerging contaminants; applications of isotope composition to paleoenvironmental studies and forensic geochemistry
Further Information and Connections
- ENIGMA Lab at Trent University
- D. Huy Dang on Google Scholar
- Research Gate Profile
- Prof. Dang in Trent News, December 15, 2020
Office: CSB E120 Phone: 705-748-1011 x6364 Email: huydang@trentu.ca
Catherine Eimers
Associate Professor, ERS, Env. Geoscience, Geography, SAFS, Water Sciences Program Coordinator
BSc (Toronto), MSc (Trent), PhD (Waterloo)
Research and Teaching Interests
Impacts of climate and land use change on soil and water resources.
Teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in Physical Geography, including Water Resources, Soil Science, Applied Geoscience, and Climate Change: the Physical Basis.
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC A142 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7225 Email: ceimers@trentu.ca
Chris Furgal
Associate Professor, ERS, Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences Program Coordinator
Cross-appointed with Indigenous Studies
BSc, MSc (Western Ontario), PhD (Waterloo)
Research and Teaching Interests
Environmental health risk assessment, management and communication; Indigenous environmental health with focus on Arctic populations; Indigenous knowledge and science for environment and health research; food security and climate change and the health of northern Indigenous communities
Further Information and Connections
Office: GSC 303 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7953 Email: chrisfurgal@trentu.ca
Brendan Hickie
Senior Lecturer, ERS
BScAgr (Guelph), MSc, PhD (Waterloo)
Research and Teaching Interests
The study of fate of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems, their bioaccumulation through food webs and particularly accumulation by wildlife such as marine mammals, mink and river otter
Teaches in a range of courses including Natural Science Statistics, Environmental Toxicology and Pollution Ecology
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC A128 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7623 Email: bhickie@trentu.ca
Holger Hintelmann
Professor, ERS
Cross-appointed with Chemistry
Dean of Arts & Science - Science
BSc, PhD (Hamburg)
Research and Teaching Interests
The factors that control the (bio)availability of metals to develop descriptive models predicting their fate in the environment
Instructs several Chemistry and ERS-Chemistry joint courses.
Further Information and Connections
- Chemistry Department Profile
- Holger Hintelmann Trent Water Quality Centre Profile
- Holger Hintelmann on Google Scholar
Office: CSB F113 Phone: 705-748-1011 x6143 Email: hhintelmann@trentu.ca
Jean-François Koprivnjak
Assistant Professor (LTA)
BSc, MSc (McGill), PhD (Georgia Tech)
Research and Teaching Interests
Interactions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and organic pollutants and how these interactions will be altered by the proposed effects of climatic change; aquatic geochemistry; low molecular weight stable isotope geochemistry; effect of the oxidation state of DOM on the degradation rates of chemicals; modeling of freshwater DOM concentrations using absorbance measurements; importance of the evolution of CO2 gas from boreal lakes
Teaches courses in climatic change and water policy and previously taught courses in aquatic chemistry, geochemistry, and atmospheric chemistry
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC A135 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7512 Email: jkoprivnjak@trentu.ca
Peter Lafleur
Professor, Env. Geoscience, Geography
BSc (Brandon), MSc (Trent), PhD (McMaster)
Research and Teaching Interests
Bioclimatology and hydrometeorology, specifically the atmosphere-ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and water in peatland and tundra environments; ecosystem carbon measurement and modeling at the eastern peatland station of the Fluxnet Canada Research Network and investigation of carbon exchange variation between tundra types in the central North West Territories
Currently teaches courses in microclimatology, global climate systems, hydrometeorology, and field based research
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC C127 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7487 Email: plafleur@trentu.ca
Cheryl McKenna Neuman
Professor, Env. Geoscience, Geography Program Coordinator
BSc (Queen's), MSc (Guelph), PhD (Queen's)
Research and Teaching Interests
Process geomorphology; mechanics of sediment transport; experimental fluid dynamics; dust emission and air quality; wind tunnel simulation
Courses in Process Geomorphology, River Environments and Processes, Sedimentary Processes, and Geosystems at the undergraduate level and the Mechanics of Sediment Transport at the graduate level. A ‘hands-on’ approach to learning is emphasized in many of these courses incorporating both lab and field work
Further Information and Connections
- Trent Environmental Wind Tunnel Research Group website
- Cheryl McKenna Neuman on Google Scholar
- Cheryl McKenna Neuman Research Gate Profile
Office: ESC A144 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7307 Email: cmckneuman@trentu.ca
Heather Nicol
Professor, Geography
Program Coordinator, Circumpolar Studies Diploma
Director, School for the Study of Canada
BA (Toronto), MES (York), PhD (Queen's)
Research and Teaching Interests
The political geography of the circumpolar North, with a specific focus on the North American Arctic and Canada-US cross-border relations, tensions, geopolitical narratives and mappings of power and sovereignty; the history of circumpolar geopolitics in relation to globalization, security, environment, and polar governance.
A Fulbright Scholar and the 2015-16 Visiting Fulbright Chair to the University of Washington, at the Centre for Canadian Studies and the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC B307 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7107 Email: heathernicol@trentu.ca
Anne Pasek
Assistant Professor
Cross-appointed with Cultural Studies
Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment
BA (Alberta), MA (McGill), PhD (New York)
Research and Teaching Interests
How people communicate about the social challenges and material complexities of global warming, particularly as they concern the carbon cycle; the prospects of low carbon research methods across the social sciences and humanities; visual culture; new materialisms; infrastructure studies; science and technology studies
Teaches courses on environmental media, digital culture, and the politics of climate change
Further Information and Connections
Email: annepasek@trentu.ca
Roger Picton
Associate Professor, Geography
BA (Trent), MA (Carleton), PhD (Toronto)
Research and Teaching Interests
Fieldwork and experiential learning; planning and urban waterfronts; brewpubs and post-industrial redevelopment; critical and practical perspectives on urban life
Teaches courses in human geography: urban geography, urban planning, urban environments, and the geography of beer
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC A120 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7571 Email: rogerpicton@trentu.ca
Raul Ponce-Hernandez
Associate Professor, ERS, Env. Geoscience, Geography, SAFS
BEng (National School of Agriculture Mexico), MSc (Autonoma Chapingo), PhD (Oxford)
Research and Teaching Interests
Climate change impacts modeling on agriculture, forests and water resources; design of adaptation options; GIS/Remote Sensing modeling for watershed management and natural resource planning
Teaches courses in GIS at the introductory and upper undergraduate levels, soil management and integrated watershed management
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC B304 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7646 Email: rponce@trentu.ca
Ian Power
Assistant Professor, ERS, Environmental Geoscience Coordinator
Canada Research Chair in Environmental Geoscience
BSc and PhD (Western Ontario), Professional Geoscientist (British Columbia)
Research and Teaching Interests
Carbon sequestration and tailings management; natural analogues for carbon mineralization; geobiological approaches to carbon management. Takes an interdisciplinary approach to science that crosses conventional research boundaries to discover, understand, and harness geochemical processes to address environmental challenges.
Courses include Field Methods and Introductory Mineralogy.
Further Information and Connections
Office: CSB E114 Laboratory: CSB F107 Phone: 705-748-1011 x6257 Email: ianpower@trentu.ca
Stephanie Rutherford
Associate Professor, ERS, SAFS
BA (Toronto), MSc (Guelph), PhD (York)
Research and Teaching Interests
Animal studies; nature and nation; political theory and the environment; environmental justice; human-animal relations
Teaches courses in environmental ethics, environmental politics, and animal studies
Further Information and Connections
- Stephanie Rutherford's Website
- InsightOut: Letting go of the treadmill of productivity; or how to finish a book in a pandemic (article via St. Michael's College, University of Toronto)
Office: ESC A112 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7187 Email: srutherford@trentu.ca
Mark Skinner
Professor, Geography
Dean of Arts and Science - Social Sciences
Canada Research Chair in Rural Aging, Health and Social Care
BA (Laurier), MA (Guelph), PhD (Queen's)
Research and Teaching Interests
Health, rural and social geography; qualitative methods and community-based research; aging rural communities; how rural people and places respond to the challenges and opportunities of an aging population, particularly the role of the voluntary sector and volunteers in supporting older people and sustaining rural communities
Courses in qualitative methods, rural community sustainability and community-based research. Founding Director of the Trent Centre for Aging & Society
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC B315 Phone: 705-748-1011 x6142 Email: markskinner@trentu.ca
Karen Thompson
Assistant Professor, ERS, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Coordinator
BSc (Western Ontario), PhD (Guelph)
Research and Teaching Interests
The role of soil microbial communities in ecosystem functioning, including SOM stability and GHG fluxes; microbial measures as biological indicators of soil health; functional resilience and recovery of soil microbial C- and N-cycling communities to agricultural management, industrial disturbance, climate change, and land use change
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESB A118 Phone: 705-748-1011 x6756 Email: karenthompson@trentu.ca
Tom Whillans
Associate Professor, ERS, Ecological Restoration Program Coordinator
BA (Guelph), MSc, PhD (Toronto)
Research and Teaching Interests
Conservation and management of wetlands; impacts of marsh land management on aquatic biota; ecological constraints to lake level management and to wetland habitats; renewable resource management; Great Lakes and Kawartha area fisheries
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC B310 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7789 Email: twhillans@trentu.ca
Susan Wurtele
Associate Professor, Geography
BSc (Trent), PhD (Queen's)
Research Interests
Feminist and cultural geography; participatory citizenship
Teaches a range of courses including human geography and upper year courses on urban environments and feminist geographies. Classes are dynamic involving small group seminars and opportunities for field work and alternative assignment structures
Further Information and Connections
Office: ESC B306 Phone: 705-748-1011 x7454 Email: swurtele@trentu.ca