Scaling mountainous terrain or keeping an eye out for grizzly bears and moose while wading through the flowing rivers of the Yukon may not seem typical of academic work. But these were only some of the many challenging conditions McGill researchers endured while conducting a recent study looking at oxygen[Read More…]
Tag: geology
Taking a virtual tour of McGill’s stones and fossils
The earliest forms of life on Earth date back approximately 4 billion years. In an attempt to uncover the events leading to the development of life, scientists study sedimentary rocks and the fossils contained within them to uncover and map the history of living organisms through the ages. In Montreal,[Read More…]
Solving the mysteries of Earth’s Cryogenian ice age
Typically, one wouldn’t think to ask a geologist about the most pressing issues in evolutionary biology. Yet, for some biologists, rock formations and fossil records—which have only gained the attention of natural scientists in the last 50 years—provide a plentiful source of untapped information about the history of life on[Read More…]
Revolutionary developments by McGill researchers in the past year
Quebec-based researchers publish over 16,000 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals on an annual basis. For the past 26 years, the magazine Quebec Science has taken on the difficult endeavour of choosing which of these thousands of discoveries deserves to be honoured for both their methodology and impact on the scientific[Read More…]
The Willy Trip: A student initiative to learn about rocks
In many programs at McGill, experiential learning opportunities are difficult to access. A student group with a passion for geology has found their own solution to this frustrating barrier. Every year, students from the earth and planetary science department organize a reading week field trip to a geologically-rich region of[Read More…]
Ask a Geologist: How do islands form?
Earth’s surface is constantly changing due to a number of natural processes: Rivers transport sediment, glaciers carve valleys, and colliding tectonic plates build mountains. One of the planet’s most impressive talents, however, is the formation of islands. In recent decades, various new islands have popped up. The island of Nishinoshima[Read More…]
