NEWS SPOTLIGHT

Read the UBC Science article here: Bacterial fingerprints in soil show where copper is buried

Copper is vital to various industries, including manufacturing, construction and transportation, and Canada holds nearly 900 million tonnes of copper. According to a recent study in Geology, researchers from UBC departments of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), Microbiology and Immunology (MBIM), and Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) have developed a new technique to detect buried copper deposits using microbial DNA in the surface soil as ‘biological fingerprints’. 

The team introduced copper to soil microbes from two locations in Canada – tundra from the Northwest Territories and a known porphyry copper deposit in Deerhorn, B.C—and looked at shifts in microbial composition and abundance through DNA sequencing.

“We took those changed communities of microbes as indicators for the presence of copper—essentially a biological fingerprint made up of many individual species,” said first author and Ph.D. Candidate Bianca Iulianella Phillips. “We then analyzed the soil from Deerhorn, and found that from that fingerprint, 29 species of microbes are present above the mineral deposit. This demonstrates that there is a predictive capability with our technique, showing where copper deposits are buried.”

“Our approach offers a new dimension to mineral exploration—enhancing discovery success and helping reduce costs with more precise targeting,” said senior author Dr. Sean Crowe, professor in UBC EOAS and MBIM. “As the industry adopts this approach more broadly, not only will it become more cost-effective and accessible, but the increasing volume of data will also make the technique more robust, accelerating learning and refinement.”

Read about previous work of the team in detecting kimberlite, diamond-containing rocks: Biological fingerprints in soil show where diamond-containing ore is buried

Last week, researchers from the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research (PCIGR) showcased their work at the Goldschmidt Conference, the premiere international meeting on geochemistry. 

This year’s conference featured a special session in honor of Dr. Dominique Weis (Director of PCIGR, Professor at UBC EOAS) and Dr. Catherine Chauvel (Research Director of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) in recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to mantle geochemistry.

Dr. Weis was also interviewed by the European Association of Geochemistry during the event, where she reflected on receiving this honor and her insights on the future of mantle geochemistry. Read the blog here: What do we know about the composition of the mantle (Part 1)? An Interview with Dominique Weis

Ahead of the conference, PCIGR was invited by Targeted Films to produce a behind-the-scenes video highlighting the cutting-edge research and facilities at the center and in partnership with the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) at UBC. Watch the video below and stay tuned for more content to come!

Read more here: 
PCIGR at Goldschmidt 2025!

Robert (Bob) Ellis, a long-time member of the Geophysics group in our Department, and its predecessors, passed away peacefully in the early morning of Sunday, June 22. He was 89. Bob received degrees in mathematics and physics from, first, the University of Western Ontario and then his PhD from the University of Alberta. He joined the (then) Department of Geophysics and Astronomy in 1966 and remained as Professor until his retirement in 2001. Bob’s research interests focused on earthquake and explosion seismology and their application to earthquake activity and the structure and evolution of the lithosphere, particularly in B.C. He mentored many graduate students who went on to successful careers in industry, academia and government service. 

Bob also contributed in a major way to the administration and collegiality of geophysical colleagues and other Earth science groups. In 1991, he became Head of Geophysics and Astronomy and effectively guided that department for the next 5 years. This was not an easy period as discussions concerning the creation of an amalgamated department (geology, oceanography and geophysics) took place throughout. On April 1, 1996 the new Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences was created from those groups while the astronomy group was joined with Physics. Bob was appointed Head of the new department. With perseverance and equanimity, he provided excellent leadership of the three groups, housed in four buildings, for 5 years until his retirement. Upon taking up this leadership role, Bob had this to say about the merger: “There has been a gradual convergence due to the complexity of problems in earth and ocean sciences, problems which can best be solved through close collaboration among experts from a number of sub-disciplines within the broad field. There is no doubt that it is the needs of the science and a contemporary teaching program in the science that has brought us together.” His statement is just as relevant today. 

On the personal side, Bob was quiet and thoughtful. He played a mean game of badminton and was a regular with a group of badminton players at UBC. He was also an avid cyclist. Bob and his loving wife, Wendy Drysdale, have literally cycled all over the world. Bob lived and worked a good life. 

For me, he was a wonderful mentor, colleague and friend. Thank you, Bob. 

…contributed by Ron Clowes, Emeritus Professor, EOAS

Bob at his retirement in 2001 

Bob in his cycling gear in 2016

Bob at the EOAS 25th Anniversary Gala

We are excited to share that Dr. Susan Allen has been named a Fellow of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS). This honor recognizes her “…outstanding scientific contributions to Canadian Marine Science as well as exceptional long-term service to CMOS and CNC-SCOR”. 

The CMOS Fellowship is awarded to members who have provided exceptional long-term service and support to the Society, and/or who have made outstanding contributions to the scientific, professional, educational, forecasting or broadcasting fields in atmospheric or ocean sciences in Canada. CMOS is the national society of individuals and organisations dedicated to advancing atmospheric and oceanic sciences and related environmental disciplines in Canada. The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) is the leading international non-governmental organization for the promotion and coordination of international oceanographic activities, and the Canadian National Committee (CNC) - SCOR is the senior non-governmental oceanographic coordinating committee in Canada. 

Dr. Allen is a Professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Her research spans atmospheric science, climate science, environmental science, and oceanography. As a physical oceanographer, Dr. Allen is known for her expertise in fluid mechanics, including scaling, analytics, laboratory and numerical modeling, with applications in coastal oceanography, mesoscale meteorology and biogeochemical-physical interactions in the ocean. Some of her research projects include: 1) understanding flow over and around topography and particularly canyons, and the resulting impacts on cross-shelf exchange, 2) biological-physical interactions and in particular the impact of surface processes on the timing of the phytoplankton spring bloom, and 3) atmosphere buoyancy driven flows in the mountains. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Allen on this well-deserved recognition.

To learn more, visit here: QES scholarship furthers pivotal research exchange with Chile on marine hazards and resource stewardship

The UBC Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) and Go Global are leading PROTÉGÉ, a multi-year graduate student exchange program in partnership with Chile., which focuses on marine hazards and resource stewardship in the context of rapid climate change. PROTÉGÉ has been awarded $300,000 through the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship (QES) program administered by Universities Canada, with additional matching funds from UBC bringing the total budget to $434,000. QES supports projects focusing on adaptation, response and resilience to climate change—including biodiversity, community resilience and ecosystems—with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. A key aim is to amplify the impact of young leaders on local and global communities.

“It’s a pretty spectacular opportunity to bring researchers from both countries together, exploring how we might work together to address common ocean problems,” says Dr. Philippe Tortell, Professor of EOAS. “I’m excited about the opportunity to build this relationship between students and research professors, and to see students come alive with the realization that there is a whole other context, half a world away, where they can conduct research in a different, yet oddly similar, manner.”

The PROTÉGÉ program builds on the success of PRODIGY (Pacific Rim Ocean Data Mobilization and Technology), an NSERC (National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)-funded graduate training initiative now in its fifth year. Like PROTÉGÉ, PRODIGY emphasizes Canada–Chile collaboration in ocean research and brings together students from diverse disciplines, such as oceanography, statistics, and computer science, to explore state-of-the-art methods for the collection, analysis and communication of ocean data. 

Check out our previous articles on PRODIGY:

• First installment of the PRODIGY field school
• PRODIGY wraps up two weeks of field school in Northern Patagonia
• Third annual PRODIGY field school takes place on Vancouver Island

Dr. Ali Ameli, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of the HydroGeoScience For Watershed Management Lab at the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, has received the Young Scientist Award by the Canadian Geophysical Union (CGU) – the highest honor of CGU for early-career scientists, awarded to only one recipient each year. 

This prestigious Union-Level senior award recognizes outstanding research contributions to Geophysics, including Biogeosciences, Hydrological Sciences, Geodesy, and Solid Earth, by an early-career scientist (within 10 years of obtaining a Ph.D.). At the award ceremony, CGU President highlighted Dr. Ameli’s work as follows: 

"Since completing his PhD, Dr. Ameli has continued to push the frontiers of hydrology through deep theoretical insights, creative modeling approaches, and a strong commitment to addressing real-world water challenges. His research bridges gaps between theory, observation, modeling, and large-sample synthesis—producing tools and frameworks that quantify streamflow generation mechanisms, water storage dynamics, and hydrologic connectivity across a wide range of landscapes. Importantly, his work has advanced a new hydrologic theory of both stormflow and baseflow generation, with major implications for understanding flow processes in ungauged basins. These contributions extend beyond the hillslope-dominated landscapes that have long underpinned hydrologic theory to include wetland-rich systems, where a mechanistic understanding remains limited but is urgently needed.

Dr. Ameli’s research has laid the foundation for interdisciplinary work at the interface of hydrology, geochemistry, and watershed management. His ability to bridge theoretical and applied hydrology has made him a valued collaborator among international scientists and policymakers. He has addressed critical challenges related to land use, forestry, and agricultural impacts on water quality, and his work has informed environmental policy related to flood and drought risk. He is also helping lead the field into the era of big data—developing new statistical and machine-learning tools to identify and generalize hydrologic processes across scales, thereby advancing efforts to build a more transferable hydrologic science. Despite being extremely deliberate and rigorous in ensuring the quality, originality, and impact of his research, Ali has far exceeded expectations in terms of productivity—publishing 30 peer-reviewed articles to date, leading 20 of them, including eight in Water Resources Research, the flagship journal of our discipline. His trainees have received prestigious scholarships, and many have gone on to pursue advanced research and academic careers at leading institutions, including Stanford, Columbia, Caltech, and Harvard. His remarkable record of achievement, leadership, and mentorship at this early stage of his career makes him a truly deserving recipient of the Canadian Geophysical Union’s Young Scientist Award.”

To learn more about Dr. Ameli's research, please click here: HydroGeoScience For Watershed Management Laboratory

Congrats, Dr. Ameli!