Position: Professor
Office: B248 P
Phone: 403.440.6643
Fax: 403.440.6744
E-mail: jcpollock@mtroyal.ca
Instructor Profile:
I joined Mount Royal University in 2008 after completing my postdoctoral work at The University of Edinburgh. I obtained my PhD at North Carolina State University, and my BSc (Hons) and MSc in Geology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. At Mount Royal I teach courses in field geology, mineralogy and geochemistry, igneous and metamorphic petrology, and regional tectonics.
Research Interests:
I'm an isotope geochemist whose research focuses on the evolution and tectonic history of mountain belts as well as the chemical evolution of Earth's crust-mantle system. I am particularly interested in topical problems in geochronology, structural geology, and isotope geochemistry and work to understand the rates of geological processes associated with the tectonic evolution of the Earth's crust. I’ve studied rocks in the Appalachian Mountains, the deserts of southern Africa, the Torngat Mountains of Labrador, and most recently in Newfoundland examining the world-famous Bay of Islands ophiolite. My goal is to tell the stories of Earth history that help to reconstruct paleoenvironments and the tectonic history of our planet. In addition to my work on the solid earth geochemical cycle, I study issues related to climate change throughout Earth’s history, including carbon capture and storage, and geodynamic and orbital controls on climate.