Overview
Dr. Kendall is a geochemist who uses the elemental concentrations and isotope compositions of geological materials to:
• Develop and use novel isotopic techniques to reconstruct the history of atmosphere and ocean oxygenation through time and its cause and effect relationships with biological evolution, seawater chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, and natural resource deposits
• Develop innovative geochemical methods that can serve as process tracers for energy and mineral resources, thereby improving genetic models of resource formation as well as exploration strategies for these important resources
Specific research themes:
• Development and application of the molybdenum, uranium, thallium, rhenium, and osmium isotope systems and redox-sensitive metal concentrations as tracers for local and global ocean redox conditions, and oxidative continental weathering and seafloor hydrothermal fluxes of metals (including bioessential metals) to the Precambrian and early Phanerozoic oceans
• Reconstruction of sedimentary environments using inorganic geochemistry (trace element concentrations and metal isotope compositions) of conventional and unconventional petroleum source rocks, and inferring the economic and environmental implications for energy resources
• Elemental geochemistry, metal isotope geochemistry, and geochronology of ore deposits and the implications for ore formation and exploration
Current PhD Students (sole-supervised)
Ivan Edgeworth
Alexandra Kunert
Current MSc Students (sole-supervised)
Brianna Miller
Holly Grierson (starting Fall 2024)
Laboratory Technician
Natasha Bell
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Isabella Ruppert
Completed PhD Theses
Xinze Lu, 2022
Early Paleozoic ocean redox dynamics: Perspectives from uranium isotopes of sedimentary rocks
Completed MSc Theses
Natasha Bell, 2023
Comparing thallium isotopes to paleosalinity and Mo-U isotope paleoredox proxies: A case study of the Upper Devonian Kettle Point Formation, Ontario
Alexandra Kunert, 2020
Reconstruction of local and global marine paleoredox conditions for the northeast-Panthalassan (British Columbia, Canada) expression of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event using a multi-proxy approach
Shuai Yang, 2019
Reconstruction of local and global marine paleoredox conditions during deposition of the Devonian-Mississippian Exshaw Formation (Black Shale Member) and the evaluation of hydrocarbon maturation effects
Waleed Gusti, 2018
(co-supervised with Dr. Orfan Shouakar-Stash, IT2 Isotope Tracer Technologies Inc.)
The effectiveness of persulfate and hydrogen peroxide on the oxidation of hydrocarbon contaminants at 30 C: A study with focus on the performance of compound specific isotope analysis
Su Wang, 2018
Development of Mo isotopes as petroleum tracers: the Phosphoria petroleum system, Bighorn Basin, U.S.A.
Alysa Segato, 2018
Mo isotope variations in molybdenites at single-crystal, ore deposit, and global scales: Implications for Mo source fluid, transport, fractionation mechanisms, and molybdenite mineralization
Yan Zhang, 2017
Experimental determination of the extent of Fe(III) reduction and Fe isotope fractionation during microbial reduction of ferrihydrite in freshwater systems by sulfate-reducing bacteria
Ahmad Abuharara, 2017
(co-supervised with Dr. Orfan Shouakar-Stash, IT2 Isotope Tracer Technologies Inc.)
Using isotopes to understand the origin of water and the effect of reinjection in the Los Azufers geothermal field in Mexico
Jieying Wang, 2016
Uranium and molybdenum isotope constraints on ocean redox conditions during deposition of the upper Devonian Kettle Point Formation, Ontario
Xinze Lu, 2016
Reconstruction of local and global marine redox conditions during deposition of Late Ordovician and Early Silurian organic-rich mudrocks in the Siljan ring district, central Sweden
Benoit Charette, 2016
(co-supervised with Dr. Carl Guilmette, Laval)
Long-lived anatexis in the exhumed middle crust from the Torngat Orogen and eastern Core Zone: Constraints from geochronology, petrochronology, and phase equilibria modeling
Aaron Bustard, 2016
(co-supervised with Dr. Martin Ross, Waterloo)
Fingerprinting and tracing the signature of basement-hosted unconformity-type uranium alteration through thick Quaternary tills: An example from the Thelon Basin, Nunavut
Completed MSc Course-Based Students
Chuqi Zhou, 2021
Zisen Ma, 2018
Wanzhen Lin, 2017
BSc Honors Thesis Students
Isabella Ruppert, current
Kien McGarvey, current
Alexander Jaszczur, 2024
Sara McDuff, 2024
Jananee Sriharan, 2023
Kirstin Cadera, 2022
Madison Foster, 2022
Annika Kjerulf, 2022
Joel Rocan, 2022
Jessica Verschoor, 2021
Sterling Whittaker Hawkins, 2021
Natasha Bell, 2019
Mitchell Jones, 2019
Benjamin Hartwell, 2018
Xuxin Hu, 2018
Yinuo Li, 2018
Sarah Matthews, 2018
Zhaochen Xiang, 2017
Congxi Zhu, 2017
Jian Liu, 2017
Chi Zhang, 2017
Di Zhao, 2017
Alexandra Kunert, 2016
Shuai Yang, 2016
Xuange Sun, 2016
Zhaoyu Huang, 2016
Hakyung Choi, 2016
Patrick Brunet, 2015
Wenyue Zuo, 2015
Su Wang, 2015
Shuo Liang, 2015
Caroline Thompson, 2015
Derek Piitz, 2014
Cynthia Davis, 2014
Ryan Truong, 2014
Fengzhou Wang, 2014
Alex Sheen, 2014
Nengzhao Yan, 2013
Sinong Lin, 2013
Zhixiang Jia, 2013
Christopher Scholz, 2013
Xinze Lu, 2013
Alysa Segato, 2013
Former Research Staff
Sarah McCaugherty, 2020-2021
Dr. Liyan Xing, 2015-2017
Former Undergraduate Co-op Students and Research Assistants
Annika Kjerulf, 2021 (co-op, NSERC USRA)
Johnathan Clarke, 2020 and 2021 (co-op)
Gavin MacDougall, 2020 (co-op)
Isabella Bowman, 2019 (research assistant)
Michelle Wong, 2016 (co-op)
Alex Sheen, 2013 (NSERC USRA)
