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The Team
Director · Principal Investigator
Dr. Alina Shchepetkina
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Western University · Ph.D. University of Alberta, 2016
Telephone: (519) 661-2111 x.84432
Email: ashchep@uwo.ca
Office: BGS 1078
Dr. Shchepetkina’s research spans sedimentary and environmental geology, combining detailed fieldwork with laboratory and experimental methods across modern and ancient settings, from marginal-marine and coastal systems to shallow- and deep-marine deposits.
Research Interest/Specialization
Her work refines facies models for the rock record and reconstructs past depositional environments using a wide range of proxies, including sedimentological and ichnological observation, optical microscopy, CT and X-ray core scanning, SEM, XRD, XRF, hyperspectral imagery, and diatom analysis. In modern studies, she focuses on animal–sediment relationships and the environmental stresses that shape benthic communities and their trace fossils. Research themes: Environmental & coastal sedimentology, Neoichnology & trace fossils, Fluvio-tidal transition zones, Paleoenvironmental reconstruction, Climate change in coastal systems, Petrography & core analysis
Dr. Shchepetkina’s research spans sedimentary and environmental geology, combining detailed fieldwork with laboratory and experimental methods across modern and ancient settings, from marginal-marine and coastal systems to shallow- and deep-marine deposits.
Current Students
Zeerak S. — Work-Study Student
Completing a Bachelor of Management & Organizational Studies at Western (Finance specialization). Joining the lab as a Work-Study Student in summer 2026, focusing on expanding the lab's visibility and client base: developing the lab website, building a social media presence, conducting market analyses, and creating a strategic marketing plan.
Tess Gates-Flaherty — MSc Candidate
BSc with Honours from Acadia University; now a thesis-based MSc student at Western. Recipient of OGS (2025–2026), NSERC Masters Scholarship, QEII, and MITACS GRA. Researching the sedimentological and ichnological response of subtropical and temperate tidal flats to anthropogenic climate forcing.
Kayci Street — MSc Candidate
BSc with Honours in Earth and Environmental Sciences from McMaster University; joined the ESL Lab in 2025 as a project-based MSc student. Researching the sedimentological and ichnological characterization of the Alma Delta in the Bay of Fundy.
Martina Duarte — MSc Candidate
BSc from the National University of La Plata (Argentina); thesis-based MSc student, awarded the IAS Judith McKenzie Fieldwork Award (2025). Researching deep-sea trace fossil communities' response to abrupt climate change during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Bahaaeldin Adam — MSc Candidate
BSc from Alexandria University (Egypt), former VP of the SEG Student Chapter. Project-based MSc investigating deep-sea trace fossil communities in the South Atlantic Ocean during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum and Climatic Transition, integrating ichnological and XRF geochemical data.
Danijela Boras — Undergraduate Researcher
BSc student in Geology at Western; President of the Western University Croatia Club. ESL Lab volunteer since 2024, completed a USRI in 2025 and joined an all-female fieldwork campaign in the Bay of Fundy. Researching carbonate and terrigenous sortable silt in the South Atlantic during the Eocene–Oligocene Transition.
Yuxuan Fan — Undergraduate Research Assistant
BSc student in General Science at Western, majoring in Chemistry with plans to pursue a Geology major. Assists graduate students with granulometric and calcium carbonate content analyses during summer 2026.
Yang Zhao — Volunteer · Website Assistant
BSc Mechatronic Systems Engineering student at Western with an interest in Geology. Joined the ESL Lab as a volunteer in summer 2026, helping with granulometric and calcium carbonate analyses and serving as a lab website development assistant.
Jacob Koski — Lab Volunteer
BSc student in Earth Sciences at Western. Joined the ESL Lab as a volunteer in January 2026 and was awarded a USRI scholarship for summer 2026, developing expertise in calcium carbonate analysis and assisting an MSc student with Bay of Fundy sediment analyses.
Araminta Neog Bharali — MSc Student (Project-based)
Araminta Neog Bharali holds a BSc from Cotton University (India) and a Tech MSc from the Indian Institute of Technology (India). She is currently completing a Project-based MSc at the Environmental Sedimentology and Ichnology Lab at Western, where her research focuses on characterizing sediment distribution and ichnology within the fluvio-tidal zone of the Upper Salmon River, NB, Canada. Her work aims to determine how climate change may have influenced this small fluvial system within the macrotidal environment of the Bay of Fundy.
Fieldwork on the Bay of Fundy
ESI Lab members surveying a sand dune and cliff face during a Bay of Fundy fieldwork expedition.
Surveying the Tidal Flats
ESI Lab members conducting a coastal fieldwork survey along the tidal flats of the Bay of Fundy.
Alumni
Santiago Diaz-Hoyos — Former MSc Student
Completed a project-based MSc in 2025, researching the sedimentology and diagenesis of Albian glauconitic sandstones from Mangyshlak, Kazakhstan. Now Mineralogy Manager at Actlabs, Ontario.
Edmond Duong Honbing — Former MITACS Globalink Research Intern
Completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in 2025–2026 focused on automated ichnofabric analysis with deep learning for marine core research, before returning to Queen Mary University of London to complete his PhD.
Mauricio Toffani — Former ELAP Research Scholar
PhD student at Universidad Nacional de Río Negro, Argentina. As an ELAP scholarship recipient, worked on coastal dune dynamics along Lake Huron and received an IAS grant to present this research at the 38th IAS Meeting in 2025.
David Armstrong — Former MSc Student
Completed his thesis-based MSc in December 2025, researching the Basal Cambrian Sandstone in SW Ontario and its relevance to carbon capture and storage. Received the Best Presentation by an MSc Student award at CEGA 2025; registered as a Geologist-in-Training in Ontario.
Eric Gair — Former USRA Student
Completed a USRA in summer 2024 and an Honours Bachelor's Thesis in May 2025, researching trace fossil records from the South Atlantic Ocean across major climate transitions. Later completed a Master of Management of Applied Science at Western; now working in industry.
Poppy Wynter — Former MITACS Globalink Research Intern
Completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in summer 2024, researching trace fossils as proxies for the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum in the South Atlantic Gyre. Presented a poster at GAC-MAC 2025; now pursuing an MSc at Durham University.
Georgina Espinosa Martinez — Former MITACS Globalink Research Intern
Completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in summer 2024, researching Cambrian CO₂ repository potential in SW Ontario and the suitability of Cambrian formations for carbon capture and storage. Now pursuing an MSc at the University of Granada.
Erika Labonte — Former Lab Volunteer
Worked as a laboratory volunteer in 2024–2025 and supported a Bay of Fundy field campaign in August 2025, contributing to sample collection and drone imagery acquisition. Currently an exploration geology intern at Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
Daniel Mbithi Musembi — Former Global Affairs Canada Intern
Completed a 4-month Global Affairs Canada internship in 2025 before returning to Kenyatta University to complete his BSc. Explored how research institutions in different national contexts address climate adaptation challenges.
Autumn Hirst — Former Lab Volunteer
Holds a BSc from Western University with a specialization in Environmental Science and a minor in Geology. Worked as a lab volunteer in 2025–2026, conducting granulometric and calcium carbonate content analyses. Accepted to the Environment and Sustainability master's program at Western starting September 2026.
Shu Ma — Former Undergraduate Research Student
Completed her BSc final project in the lab, comparing methods for extracting high-resolution carbonate records for paleoclimate determination in the South Atlantic Ocean. Pursued an MSc in Environment and Sustainability at Western.
Maisie Murdoch — Former Lab Volunteer
Worked as a volunteer in 2024–2025, assisting with sand sample processing, sieving, data entry, mineralogical descriptions, and calcium carbonate analyses. Completing her BSc in Earth Sciences (Honours Specialization in Geology); next President of the Outcrop Club.