Picture of Dr. Joyce McBeth

Dr. Joyce McBeth Adjunct Professor

About Me

I have recently transferred to the University of Regina, where I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology. I continue to serve as an Adjunct Professor at USask, where I have four MSc students completing their programs. These projects are focussed on research on microbial interactions with the geosphere. We are specifically interested in metal(loid) and hydrocarbon contaminant remediation and metal transformations mediated by microbes in mine wastes. My projects included studies of uranium mine tailings and ores, oil sands tailings, groundwater treatment for elevated concentrations of Mn and Fe, saline/freshwater gradient microbiology, and metals in trace fossils and archaeaological samples.

Scientific Interests

  • redox transformations of metal(loids) in the environment
  • relationships of microorganisms to metal(loid) environmental transformations
  • iron-oxidizing and iron-reducing bacteria
  • using synchrotron methods to image and characterize the chemistry of materials such as microbial mats, contaminated sediments, mine wastes, and archaeological materials
  • environmental microbiology and the cycling of iron, sulfur, toxic metals, and other elements in environments such as mine-impacted environments, uranium mine tailings, oil sands tailings, wastewater, hydrocarbon contaminated sites, constructed wetland treatment systems, salt marshes, and marine sediments
  • microbiology of steel corrosion
  • microbial ecology of microbial mats
  • fossilized microbes and microbial biosignatures in the rock record

Specialties

  • Geomicrobiology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Geochemistry
  • Soil and Groundwater Bioremediation
  • Microbiology
  • Bacteriology
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Use of synchrotron tools for applications in the Earth sciences

Education

  • B.Sc. 1999 Geological Sciences, University of British Columbia
  • M.Sc. 2003 Geology, University of Missouri-Columbia
  • Ph.D. 2007 Geology, The University of Manchester

Work Experience

  • 2015-present Assistant Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan
  • 2013-2015 Adjunct Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan
  • 2012-2015 Staff Scientist, Canadian Light Source, Saskatoon, SK http://www.lightsource.ca/
  • 2008-2012 Postdoctoral Researcher, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine, USA https://www.bigelow.org/
  • 2007-2008 Part Time Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Manchester, UK
  • 2000-2001 Geoscientist-in-Training, Klohn Crippen Berger, BC, Canada
  • 1999-2000 Geoscientist-in-Training, O'Connor Associates Environmental Inc., Alberta, Canada   

Professional Affiliations

  • Association of Professional Geoscientists and Engineers of Saskatchewan (APEGS)
  • American Geophysical Union (AGU, USA)
  • Geochemical Society (USA)
  • Royal Society of Chemistry (UK)
  • National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT)

Courses I Teach

  • GEOL 108/121: Earth and How it Works/Earth Processes
  • GEOL 315: Geomicrobiology
  • GEOL 350: Organic Geochemistry
  • GEOL 898: Advanced Geomicrobiology
  • GEOL 898: Advanced Organic Geochemistry
  • GEOL 408: Field School Crystalline Rocks
  • GEOL 308: Field School Sedimentary Rocks