Resume

• 2009

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

  Thesis title - Strontium stable isotope behaviour accompanying melting and magmatism in the Earth - Moon system\n\nHigh-precision analysis of non-traditional isotopes in high-temperature cosmochemistry.

  Geochemistry and cosmochemistry

  University of Oxford

• 2005

  MSci

  Awarded the Illing Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Petroleum Geoscience

  Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences

  Imperial College London

  1st Class with Honours

• Trained as a Wikipedia Fellow to write and edit Wikipedia articles to promote women in STEM.\n\nhttps://wikiedu.org/blog/2019/03/06/experimenting-with-wikipedia-as-a-woman-in-stem/\n\nhttps://wikiedu.org/blog/2018/11/08/scientists-to-write-wikipedia-biographies-of-women-in-stem/

  Wiki Education Foundation

  Public Outreach

  Presentation Skills

  Earth Science

  Lecturing

  Isotope Geochemistry

  Hydrogeology

  Manuscript reviewing and editing

  Problem Solving

  Project Management

  Geochemistry

  Scientific Writing

  Data Collection

  Science Outreach

  Team Leadership

  Geochronology

  Research

  Data Analysis

  Science Communication

  Mass Spectrometry

  Nuclear Waste Management

  Improving paleohydrological and diagenetic reconstructions in calcite veins and breccia of a sedimentary basin by combining Δ47 temperature

  δ18Owater and U-Pb age

  Improving paleohydrological and diagenetic reconstructions in calcite veins and breccia of a sedimentary basin by combining Δ47 temperature

  δ18Owater and U-Pb age

  U-Pb ages have been measured on secondary dolomite and silica cements in Cambrian sandstone at the base of an 840 m thick sub-horizontally bedded sedimentary sequence beneath the Bruce nuclear site in southern Ontario to document the history of fluid movement. Results show an average U-Pb age of 320 ± 10 Ma. The initial common Pb end member is slightly but distinctly enriched in 206Pb compared to that in older and younger calcite cements elsewhere within the sedimentary section. Combined with previous hydro-geochemical and fluid inclusion studies on the same rocks

  the age is interpreted to record episodic migration of a saturated hydrothermal brine. Previously dated calcite cement in sub-horizontal fractures about 500 m higher in the stratigraphic section near the base of the Silurian sequence records similar U-Pb ages of 318 ± 10 Ma by LA-ICPMS and 313 ± 1 Ma by ID-TIMS. We suggest that the subhorizontal fractures were generated by slumping that resulted from dissolution of underlying evaporite deposits. These ages overlap with the peak of plutonism in the Alleghanian mountains

  which were being uplifted contemporaneously 500 km to the southeast. Results suggest transport of hydrothermal brine from areas of crustal melting through the deep Cambrian sandstone aquifer while

  at higher crustal levels

  meteoric water was also driven over equally large distances by hydraulic gradients from the Alleghanian mountains.

  Hydrochronology of a proposed deep geological repository for Low and Intermediate nuclear waste in southern Ontario from U-Pb dating of secondary minerals: Response to Alleghanian events

  The relative abundances of resolved 12CH2D2 and 13CH3D and mechanisms controlling isotopic bond ordering in abiotic and biotic methane gases

  A record of fluid flow has been documented within a Paleozoic carbonate platform sequence by U-Pb dating of calcite in veins and vugs from rock core sampled through a shallowly dipping sequence of sedimentary rocks beneath the Bruce nuclear site

  Ontario

  Canada. Secondary calcite from >650 m deep Ordovician carbonate rocks yields a Silurian age of 434 ± 5 Ma possibly related to infiltration of seawater from overlying evaporitic basins as well as hydrothermal solutions that infiltrated from below. In contrast

  near-surface Devonian rocks mostly give vein infill ages over the range 80-100 Ma with evidence for younger infill down to 50 Ma. Vein calcite samples previously dated from surface outcrops of Ordovician carbonate exposed up to 500 km to the east yield similar U-Pb ages. Coincidence of near-surface vein calcite ages indicates widespread vein emplacement synchronous with a change in direction of motion of the North American plate as well as possible erosional unroofing following passage of the region over the Great Meteor hot spot ca. 125 Ma ago. Deeper carbonate formations have remained apparently impermeable to post-Paleozoic disturbance despite these perturbations.

  Hydrochronology of a proposed deep geological repository for low and Intermediate level nuclear waste in southern Ontario from U-Pb dating of secondary minerals: Response to Silurian and Cretaceous events

  The Jurassic clay-rich aquitard sequence underlying the Swiss Molasse Basin is locally penetrated by unusually frequent veins consisting of calcite ± celestite

  in particular in the Schlattingen-1 and Oftringen drill cores. The veins are linked to extensional brittle structures

  with shear senses ranging between dip-slip and strike-slip. Deformation triggered transient and localised events of fluid flow within the aquitard followed by sealing of the structures by the vein minerals. Vein calcite was dated by LA-ICP-MS analysis using the U/Pb method. While this was a demanding undertaking

  given the low U and high common Pb contents of calcite

  9 significant ages could be obtained. Two groups of ages can be distinguished

  namely 31–39 and 11–18 Ma. Both age groups are consistent with the known regional tectonic evolution. The older age group corresponds to the main phase of rifting in the Upper Rhine Graben

  a major crustal discontinuity

  whose effects were not limited to the graben proper but affected large parts of the Molasse Basin.

  Veins in clay-rich aquitards as records of deformation and fluid-flow events in northern Switzerland

  Tracing ancient hydrogeological fracture network age and compartmentalisation using noble gases

  Precambrian Shield rocks host the oldest fracture fluids on Earth

  with residence times up to a billion years or more. Water-rock reactions in these fracture systems over geological time have produced highly saline fluids

  which can contain mM concentrations of H2. Mixing of these ancient Precambrian fluids with meteoric or palaeometeoric water can occur through tectonic fracturing

  providing microbial inocula and redox couples to fuel blooms of subsurface growth. Here

  we present geochemical and microbiological data from a series of borehole fluids of varying ionic strength (0.6 M to 6.4 M) from Thompson Mine (Manitoba) within the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Thermodynamic calculations demonstrate sufficient energy for H2-based catabolic reactions across the entire range of ionic strengths during mixing of high ionic strength fracture fluids with meteoric water

  although microbial H2 consumption and cultivable H2-utilizing microbes were only detected in fluids of ≤ 1.9 M ionic strength. This pattern of microbial H2 utilization can be explained by the greater potential bioenergetic cost of organic osmolyte synthesis at increasing ionic strengths. We propose that further research into the bioenergetics of osmolyte regulation in halophiles is warranted to better constrain the habitability zones of hydrogenotrophic ecosystems in both the terrestrial subsurface

  including potential future radioactive waste disposal sites

  and other planetary body crustal environments

  including Mars.

  Bioenergetic Constraints on Microbial Hydrogen Utilization in Precambrian Deep Crustal Fracture Fluids

  Methane is a key component in the global carbon cycle with a wide range of anthropogenic and natural sources. Although isotopic compositions of methane have traditionally aided source identification

  the abundance of its multiply-substituted \"clumped\" isotopologues

  e.g.

  (13)CH3D

  has recently emerged as a proxy for determining methane-formation temperatures; however

  the impact of biological processes on methane's clumped isotopologue signature is poorly constrained. We show that methanogenesis proceeding at relatively high rates in cattle

  surface environments

  and laboratory cultures exerts kinetic control on (13)CH3D abundances and results in anomalously elevated formation temperature estimates. We demonstrate quantitatively that H2 availability accounts for this effect. Clumped methane thermometry can therefore provide constraints on the generation of methane in diverse settings

  including continental serpentinization sites and ancient

  deep groundwaters. Copyright © 2015

  American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  Methane cycling. Nonequilibrium clumped isotope signals in microbial methane

  Chelsea

  Sutcliffe

  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

  University of Toronto

  Jack Satterly Geochronology Laboratory

  I use high precision U-Pb geochronology to age date fracture minerals and investigate the hydrogeology of proposed sites for the safe disposal of radioactive waste

  partnered with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). \nAge dating zircons for exploration geology with the Ontario Geological Survey

  Quebec Survey

  and multiple academic partners and institutions.

  Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  University of Toronto

  Postdoctoral Fellow of the Canadian Astrobiology Training Program (CATP)

  first Canadian cross-disciplinary

  multi-institutional undergraduate

  graduate and postdoctoral training program in Astrobiology. NSERC CREATE.

  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

  University of Toronto

  Toronto

  - Design

  develop and execute new geochemical research projects focused on LA-ICP-MS and TIMS analyses for 1) fracture infill studies for site investigations to assess the suitability for hosting a deep geological repository for intermediate-level nuclear waste

  2) geochronological analyses of the Canadian Shield

  and 3) mineral investigation. \n- Interpret raw geoscientific data for publication in peer-reviewed journals and present research findings at conferences and meetings.

  Research Associate

  Stable Isotope Laboratory

  Investigated the geochemistry of ancient saline fracture fluids in the Precambrian Shield. Used stable C

  H

  and O isotopes and gas source mass spectrometry to understand the provenance of crustal fluids.\nResearch highlighted in the New Scientist

  BBC

  CBC

  and published in Science.

  Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  University of Toronto

  Create and implement course syllabi and assessments for both undergraduate and graduate level science courses. \nDesign and deliver lectures and seminars to undergraduates and graduates. \nResponsible for the improvement of courses based on student evaluations and feedback.

  University of Toronto

  Wiki Education

  Selected to participate in a course to train scholars as Wikipedia Fellows with the skills to write and edit Wikipedia articles to promote women in STEM.\n\nhttps://wikiedu.org/blog/2018/11/08/scientists-to-write-wikipedia-biographies-of-women-in-stem/

  Wikipedia Fellow Volunteer

  English

  Spanish

  Illing Prize

  Outstanding achievement

  awarded upon graduating.

  Imperial College London