Working as a summer research assistant with a faculty member in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at UTSC can be a wonderful way to gain experience, knowledge and insight into what students might expect if they choose to pursue graduate studies. The CRESS summer research program started in 2021. Here's what some previous research assistants have said about their experiences:
My summer at UTSC's CRESS was a defining period in my academic journey. Engaging in scientific research for the first time, I found myself surrounded by a diverse group of undergrads and graduates from various disciplines, each bringing their unique perspectives to complex problems. Collaborating with these brilliant minds was both fruitful and unforgettable. With Prof. Heron, our project focused on the nature of crustal intraplate earthquakes—those occurring far from tectonic boundaries. Our particular interest lay in whether deep-seated events in the crust could trigger those nearer to the surface. The geographical scope of our research spanned from the seismic zones of northern Germany to western Quebec and central China. The outcome of our intense four months of research was the development of python-based software that automatically analyzes a vast amount of USGS seismic profiles and visualizes post-processed data by interactive and interconnected plots. I truly appreciate that this research position endowed me with invaluable transferable skills that have since become indispensable in my studies and career pursuits.
- Congyi Wan
As a summer research assistant at CRESS, I had the invaluable opportunity to develop a set of skills that cannot be taught in a conventional classroom environment. Under the guidance of Professor Lowman and his research group, I learned the process of submitting numerical mantle convection models to the Digital Alliance of Canada’s highperformance computers, as well as how to post-process and visualize the output data. In addition, I contributed to a scientific manuscript by developing Python code to perform calculations and create publication quality figures. Working at CRESS was the perfect opportunity to apply some of the foundational knowledge I had acquired in my first few years at UTSC, further explore my research interests, and obtain the research experience required to pursue and succeed in graduate studies.
- Chad Fairservice
Applications and Projects for 2024
The following research projects are available for the summer of 2024. The associated pay is $7500 for a 12 week period of 35 hours per week. The start and end dates are to be determined by the project supervisors as are any break periods. The 12 working weeks must fall in the May-August period.
Applications should be submitted by email to: cress.utsc@utoronto.ca by March 27th, 2024.
Applications should include an attached student transcript, a statement of interest clarifying the project being applied for, why the applicant is interested in this particular project and why the applicant is qualified to undertake the described project and a resume. Statements are limited to a single page. Applications for more than one project are welcome but each project will require a separate (e-mail) application. All submitted files should be in pdf or .docx format.
Inquiries may be sent to Professor Julian Lowman at cress.utsc@utoronto.ca and should include "inquiry regarding CRESS summer project" in the subject heading.
| Modelling the ancient climate of the dinosaurs in the time of supercontinent Pangea
There are many numerical models that exist to simulate the climate of today and attempt to predict the climate of tomorrow. However, what are the numerical models available to study ancient climates? What was the climate like during the time of the dinosaurs? Was it much different from today? A key parameter for how climate evolves over time is related to the configuration of continents and mountains, which impact atmospheric circulation. The age of the dinosaurs included the formation and breakup of supercontinent Pangea, which may have had a significant global impact on Earth’s climate. In this project, our group is looking for a summer researcher to learn about different numerical models related to ancient climates and test the fundamental properties of these simulations. The work will be working with numerical codes doing configuration and testing. A successful candidate will spend time with our scientifically diverse Environmental Geophysics group, where we will also provide training in best practices for code usage, development, and application, as well as training in the fundamental properties of science communication. Supervised by Prof. Phil Heron. |
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LiDAR mapping of Georgian bay Georgian Bay is the sixth Great Lake in North America lying astride the southern edge of the Canadian Shield and flanking Paleozoic strata. It is a widely recognized area of outstanding and largely pristine Great Lake landscapes and geology that spans the last 2.5 billion years of Earth history. Its geocultural heritage involving indigenous peoples, Metis and European settlers created a unique cultural mix and help forge a distinct Canadian identity after the Fur Trade in the eighteenth century. In recognition of this importance to Canada some 48,000 km2 has been designated as an Aspiring Georgian Bay UNESCO Geopark. Full status will likely be designated in 2026 making it the largest UNESCO Geopark in Canada, one of five to date, and the world. Its rock record is of international significance spanning the growth and breakup of at least four supercontinents, oxygenation of the atmosphere, the world’s oldest known glaciation at 2.4 billion, Himalayan-type mountains after 1 billion whose eroded roots expose rocks formed at 40 km depth affording unique insights into deep crustal processes, and after 500 million years ago, the growth of vast inland seas with a highly diverse record of early marine life, together with the successive growth and decay of, multi-kilometre thick continental ice sheets in the recent 2.7 million years. We seek a motivated student to assist in the summer of 2024 with employing new geophysical mapping technology (LIDAR: Light Detection and Ranging) to support geological research and conservation planning for the UNESCO Geopark in Georgian Bay. We are using drone and satellite-based LiDAR with indigenous partners and funded by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society to map cultural sites from the last 13,000 years, hitherto poorly known. We are uncovering new details of ice sheet history and lake level changes and bedrock geology hitherto hidden by forest cover or not visible on existing low resolution remote sensing data sets. We now wish to consolidate this activity and integrate it with other data both on land and offshore, to produce a set of paleogeographic maps of the Bay at 1000 year intervals over the past 20,000 years; this will be unique in Canada and form the basis for new educational opportunities and long term park management and sustainable development and geotourism. This project is unique in Canada, will generate a model for other Great Lake basins and moreover allow predictive models to be developed to assess the direction and impact of future environmental change arising from climate and urbanization. The successful candidate must be well motivated with a background in GIS, environmental geoscience or geophysics and will be trained in data management, LiDAR processing, analysis, visualization and interpretation of processed data, fieldwork and writing up results. We are actively seeking potential graduate students and this position may be a springboard for further work. Supervised by Prof. Nick Eyles.
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| The impact on global heat loss of heterogeneous chemistry in the Earth's deep interior
Plate tectonics, and its many manifestations, is a surface expression of convection in the Earth's mantle. For several decades, seismic tomography has been accumulating evidence that the deep mantle is not compositionally homogeneous. This project shall investigate the feedback between a compositionally anomalous and intrinsically dense component in the deep mantle and surface heat loss (relative to core heat loss), using a state-of-the-art parallelized numerical model of mantle convection. The project will be entirely computational in nature and will require running simulations on the Digital Alliance Canada's high performance computers in consultation with the Principal Investigator, Prof. J. Lowman. Student responsibility will entail the submission of job scripts and the post-processing of data. Interested applicants should be enrolled in a Physics or Geoscience Program and have a strong interest in Earth and Planetary Science and some knowledge of a programming language like Python, or an equivalent tool. |
| Research opportunities in Earth Science at Academia Sinica |