Dr. Olena Volik, M.Sc., M.Ed., Ph.D (E-mail)
Olena’s research focus is on carbon uptake and long-term storage along a salinity gradient within a saline, boreal, peat-forming wetland that represents an adequate model for wetlands reclamation in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region. Specific questions of interest include: reconstruction of temporal salinity change within the wetland using diatom-based transfer function and assessment of the main controls on salinity fluctuation over time; examination of the main controls on organic matter accumulation rate in open-water areas within the wetland over time; evaluation of degree of variability in long-term carbon accumulation rates within terrestrial areas of the wetland and assessment the main drivers of this variability; assessment of the main controls on recent carbon uptake along a salinity gradient. Olena’s study will endeavour to improve our understanding of carbon sequestration in natural saline fens that is useful for advancing fen construction in the region.
Dr. Myroslava Khomik, Ph.D (E-mail)
Myroslava is a biogeochemist with experience in terrestrial carbon cycling. In her work, she uses chamber and eddy covariance based methods to measure various components of ecosystem carbon fluxes and relates these to different environmental drivers using empirical modelling and statistics. She works closely with ecosystem modellers, providing them empirical data for model development and validation, and in turn uses their feedback to inform new experiments. She also works with colleagues who are experts in remote sensing, to find ways to improve our ability to estimate carbon emissions from remotely sensed data.
Myroslava’s research interests include improving our understanding of the impacts of land management practices and extreme weather events on soil and ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions. She is also interested in improving our understanding of various drivers of soil carbon emissions and in using that knowledge to improve process-based models of carbon turnover and remote-sensing-based models of carbon emissions. She has worked in boreal, temperate and oceanic climate zones.
Brandon Van Huizen, Ph.D (E-mail) _____________
Natasa Popovic, B.Sc., M.Sc., M.CC, Ph.D (E-mail)
Yi (Abby) Wang, Ph.D (E-mail)
Abby holds a MSc in Environmental Sciences from University of British Columbia (Okanagan). Her PhD research focuses on the hydrological connectivity between upland forests and wetlands along the elevational gradients. She will also study how changes in connectivity of upland forests and wetlands affect the carbon emission in different elevational zones on the Kananaskis Mountain Water Futures project.
Lei Zhang, Ph.D, Visiting Researcher (E-mail)
Lei Zhang is currently a visiting scholar working with Dr. Richard Petrone. Dr Zhang is a professor at North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, specializing in water conservancy and hydroelectric engineering. His primary research areas include water-saving irrigation theories and technologies, water resource management and efficient utilization, and smart irrigation systems.
Academic Achievements
He has led and participated in six research projects funded by organizations such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Henan Provincial Key R&D and Promotion Program. Zhang holds seven authorized invention patents and has published 21 academic papers in reputable research journals.
Editorial and Review Roles
Zhang serves as a reviewer for several prestigious international journals, including, Agricultural Water Management, Frontiers in Plant Science, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, etc. Through his extensive research and professional contributions, Dr. Zhang continues to advance the fields of irrigation and water resource management.
