Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research
Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences,
The University of British Columbia

PCIGR researchers interviewed about lead in honey after 2019 Notre-Dame fire

July 29, 2020

PCIGR researchers PhD candidate Kate Smith and supervisor Dominique Weis talk to UBC Science, UBC News, and The New York Times about their latest research.

Smith_Weis-EST2020

Kate and Dominique used sensitive mass-spectrometer techniques to determine that the average concentration of lead in honey collected downwind of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, three months after the devastating April 2019 fire, was around four times higher than lead levels in honey collected from the countryside and about three-and-a-half times higher than the urban honey collected before the fire. The research was published last week in Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

Despite these lead levels, all the honey collected for this study in and around Paris following the fire are still within the European Union’s safe levels for consumption.

PCIGR student Rhy McMillan successfully defends PhD

February 27, 2020

Rhy successfully defended his dissertation, entitled “Micro-Analytical Geochemical and Spectroscopic Investigations of the Original Context and Condition of Archaeological Biominerals and Mineraloids,” supervised by Dominique Weis. Congratulations on an excellent defence, Dr. McMillan!

Rhy with Marg (left) and Dominique (right) after the defence.
Rhy receives congrats (and beer) at the post-defence after party.

PhD candidate Evelyn Freres’ research profile featured in Geochemical Society news

February 24, 2020

PCIGR student Evelyn Freres, a PhD candidate with Dominique Weis, is featured in this week’s Meet The Scientist segment of the Geochemical Society’s news page. In this Q & A session, Evelyn provides insight into her work on the multi-collector ICP-MS and why she finds her research so fascinating.

Evelyn working meticulously in the lab.

Access the article here.
View Evelyn’s profile here.