| Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Lecturer

EOS-South 154

(604) 827-0795

faculty

Lucy's primary research focus is the volcanology of low viscosity magmas. This has included the volcanology of kimberlite pipes, which are the roots of old volcanoes and are the primary deposits for diamonds, as well as projects on basaltic eruptions in Hawaii. Her main field area is in the Northwest Territories where she studies several of the kimberlite pipes of the Lac de Gras field. As a volcanologist, as well as an economic geologist, Lucy is also interested in many aspects of physical volcanology and has visited several active volcanoes around the world, both for research and just for fun!
Lucy is currently involved in several teaching initiatives and is interested in research into the scholarship of teaching and learning in the Earth Sciences, in particular in field based courses. She completed a Universal Design for Learning Fellowship Program in 2023, and has been modifying and updating courses to be more inclusive and accessible.

Lucy teaches a variety of undergraduate courses, focusing on large first year geoscience classes and field based courses. Lucy was part of the teaching team for the EOAS contribution to the Vancouver Summer Program, a one month long intensive program for international undergraduate students from universities around the world. In her role as part of the UBC team collaborating with the University of Central Asia (UCA), she helped to build the curriculum and several courses for the UCA Earth and Environmental Sciences undergraduate degree. She completed the UBC International Program for the Scholarship of Educational Leadership: UBC Certificate on Curriculum and Pedagogy in Higher Education in 2017, and is committed to using and developing research informed teaching practices. In 2023 she completed a Universal Design for Learning Fellowship Program, and is committed to creating inclusive and accessible courses for all learners.

Lucy has a background in applied geology and has been involved in both regional and mine site exploration for gold and diamonds. She completed her PhD at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia in 2008, where she studied the volcanology of several kimberlites from the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Lac de Gras field (NWT, Canada). She came to UBC in September 2009 with a Commonwealth Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to continue her research on kimberlite volcanology focusing on the A418 kimberlite of the Diavik Diamond Mine, also in the Lac de Gras field. She then held a European Union Marie Curie Research Fellowship, and worked at UBC in conjunction with researchers at Bristol University, UK, to study the fragmentation behaviour of low viscosity magmas, including Hawaiian basalts, carbonatites and kimberlites. Lucy is currently a Lecturer teaching a variety of EOSC courses including EOSC 110, 114, 223, 323, and is still affiliated with the Volcanology and Petrology Laboratory at UBC .

2023

Unwin, Tuffen, Wadsworth, Phillips, Foster, Kolzenburg, Castro and Porritt (2023). The exposed Mule Creek vent deposits record the structure of a volcanic conduit during a hybrid explosive-effusive eruption. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY, Vol. 85, article number 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01638-z

2021

Russell, J.K., Edwards, B.R, Turnbull, M., Porritt, L.A. (2021) Englacial lake dynamics within a Pleistocene cordilleran ice sheet at Kima’Kho tuya (British Columbia, Canada). QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS, 273 (107247) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107247

2018

S. Moss, L. Porritt, K. Pollock, G. Fomradas, M. Stubley, D. Eichenberg, J. Cutts (2018) Geology, Mineral Chemistry, and Structure of the Kimberlites at Diavik Diamond Mine: Indicators of Cluster-Scale Cross-Fertilization, Mantle Provenance, and Pipe Morphology In Geoscience and Exploration of the Argyle, Daivik and Murowa Diamond Deposits, SEG SPECIAL PUBLICATION No. 20

2016

Campbell ME, Porritt L, Russell JK. 2016. Forensic recovery of transient eruption parameters for the 2360 BP fall deposit, Mount Meager, British Columbia. JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH. 312:11-25.

2015

Ryan AG, Russell JK, Nichols ARL, Hess K-U, Porritt L. 2015. Experiments and models on H2O retrograde solubility in volcanic systems. AMERICAN MINERALOGIST. 100:774-786.

2014

Russell JK, Edwards B.R, Porritt L, Ryane C.. 2014. Tuyas: a descriptive genetic classification. QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS. 87:70-81.

Afanasyev A.A, Melnik O., Porritt L, Schumacher J.C, Sparks R.SJ. 2014. Hydrothermal alteration of kimberlite by convective flows of external water. CONTRIBUTIONS TO MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY. 168

Jones T.J, Russell JK, Porritt L, Brown R.J. 2014. Morphology and surface features of olivine in kimberlite: implications for ascent processes. SOLID EARTH. 5:313-326.

2013

Campbell ME, Russell JK, Porritt L. 2013. Thermomechanical milling of accessory lithics in volcanic conduits. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS. 377:276-286.

Russell JK, Edwards BR, Porritt L. 2013. Pyroclastic passage zones in glaciovolcanic sequences. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 4

2012

Trofimovs J., Foster C., Sparks R.SJ, Loughlin S., Le Friant A., Deplus C., Porritt L, Christopher T., Luckett R., Talling P.J et al.. 2012. Submarine pyroclastic deposits formed during the 20th May 2006 dome collapse of the SoufriSre Hills Volcano, Montserrat. BULLETIN OF VOLCANOLOGY. 74:391-405.

Porritt L, Russell JK, Quane S.L. 2012. Pele's tears and spheres: Examples from Kilauea Iki. EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS. 333:171-180.

Porritt L, Cas RAF, Schaefer B, McKnight SW. 2012. TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF STRONGLY ALTERED KIMBERLITE: EXAMPLES FROM THE EKATI DIAMOND MINE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA. CANADIAN MINERALOGIST. 50:625-641.

Russell JK, Porritt L, Lavallee Y, Dingwell DB. 2012. Kimberlite ascent by assimilation-fuelled buoyancy. NATURE. 481:352-U133.

Porritt L, Russell J.K. 2012. Kimberlite ash: Fact or fiction. PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH. 45-46:24-32.

Lucy Porritt