CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
DR. PAUL SZPAK
Principal Investigator
Ph.D. Western University, 2013
B.A. (Honours) McMaster University, 2007
Paul Szpak is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Canada Research Chair in Archaeological Science at Trent University. As an undergraduate Paul worked at the Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry Laboratory at McMaster University and performed isotopic research on Pleistocene mammoths and marine fauna from British Columbia. Paul completed his doctoral studies in the Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science at Western University in 2013. His dissertation involved isotopic applications in the Andean region, specifically related to plant ecology, controlled studies examining fertilizers, and animal management practices. Paul held SSHRC, Killam and NSERC Banting postdoctoral fellowships in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia from 2013-2016 using isotopic analysis to investigate the palaeoecology of Arctic marine ecosystems. Paul has worked at Trent University since 2016 and became Director of the Trent Water Quality Centre in 2021.
Paul directs a diverse research program centered on stable isotope analysis, supported by several major grants from the Tri-Council, which includes a SSHRC Insight Grant to investigate agricultural intensification and animal management practices in the Andes (2019-2024), an NSERC Discovery Grant supporting research into long term variation in Arctic marine ecosystems (2020-2025), and a SSHRC Insight Development Grant to advance our understanding of the diet and mobility of the ancestors of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes in the American Plains (2020-2022). These projects correspond to Paul’s broader research focus on applying chemical analyses to archaeological materials to better understand the interactions between humans, animals, plants, and their environments. He is involved in isotopic research all over the world, but presently focuses on two geographical areas: the Andean regions of northern Peru and Chile and the North American Arctic (Canada, Alaska, Greenland).
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2017 Lowest δ13C Value
🏆 2017 Highest δ13C Value
🏆 2017 People's Choice Award (Sample of the Year)
🏆 2018 Lowest δ15N Value
🏆 2018 Highest δ15N Value
🏆 2018 Lowest δ13C Value
🏆 2018 Highest δ13C Value
🏆 2018 People's Choice Award (Sample of the Year)
🥈 2021 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Parafilm Shot Put
🥈 2021 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Microbalance Speed
🥇 2021 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Pipette transfer
🥇 2022 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Pipette transfer
DR. MATHEW TEETER
Postdoctoral Fellow (2019-)
Ph.D. Western University, 2017
M.A. Western University, 2010
B.Sc. (Honours) Laurentian University, 2005
TEAL Publications
Dolphin AE, Teeter MA, Szpak P, 2023. The role of status, diets, and mobility in understanding the impacts of urbanization in early medieval Bergen, Norway (St. Mary's Church): Insights from stable isotope analyses. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. doi: 10.1002/oa.3216. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
Matt’s academic journey began at Laurentian University, where he completed a B.Sc. (Honours) in Biology, specializing in Forensic Science. For his M.A at Western University, Matt performed uHPLC analysis of Adult Human teeth evaluating aspartic acid racemization as a means for determining age-at-death of an Individual. He also completed his doctoral studies at Western, carrying out for his dissertation on micro-CT (µCT) analysis and metric measurements of the first metatarsal to evaluate changes in bone density with increasing age of an ancient skeletal population from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt; this research aimed to be a straightforward method for diagnosing osteoporosis prevalence in ancient skeletal populations. Presently, Matt is starting his fourth year as a postdoctoral fellow at TEAL and his third year as a course instructor in forensics and anthropology at Trent. His current projects involve stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses on bone collagen, tooth dentine, and hair of human remains from Baja, Mexico; Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia; and a monastery in Gurat, France. He is also investigating the diet and mobility of modern sheep from Mongolia, using carbon, nitrogen, and strontium isotopes. Recently, Matt started a new role as the Business Manager of the Water Quality Center. As a senior member of the TEAL team, Matt has begun the task of bringing the younger generation up-to-speed on essential pop culture references: All 40 seasons of The Simpsons, the Dumb and Dumber movies, pre-2000s action movies, and Ghostbusters. At the 2021 lab awards, Matt won Sample of the Year for analyzing a 42,000 year-old blue wildebeest - proving that he does in fact have the tools and talent. Matt despises cats and for that reason, he adopted his basset hound/beagle mix Winston. Winston has aspirations of joining the team as a junior lab mascot and helping Matt get over his aversion to cats. Bio by Nicole Hultquist.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2020 Lowest δ15N Value
🥇 2021 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Parafilm Shot Put
🥇 2021 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Microbalance Accuracy
🏆 2021 Sample of the Year
🥉 2022 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Reagent Weighing
🥈 2022 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Parafilm Shot Put
🏆 2022 Corrie Hyland Award for Productivity
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Pipette Transfer Speed
🥇 2023 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Bone Cutting
🥇 2023 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Spigot Control
DR. ERIC GUIRY
SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-20), Postdoctoral Fellow (2023-)
Ph.D. The University of British Columbia, 2016
M.A. Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2012
B.Sc. (Honours) Lakehead University, 2009
Project: Historical ecology of the Lake Ontario Watershed.
Select Publications
-
Guiry EJ, Orchard TJ, Needs-Howarth S, Szpak P, 2022. Freshwater wetland–driven variation in sulfur isotope compositions: Implications for human paleodiet and ecological research. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Guiry EJ, Kennedy JR, O’Connell MT, Gray DR, Grant C, Szpak P, 2021. Early evidence for historical overfishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Science Advances 7, eabh2525. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abh2525. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Guiry E, Orchard TJ, Needs-Howarth S, Szpak P, 2021. Isotopic Evidence for Garden Hunting and Resource Depression in the Late Woodland of Northeastern North America. American Antiquity 86, 90-110. doi:10.1017/aaq.2020.86. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Guiry EJ, Szpak P, 2021. Improved quality control criteria for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of ancient bone collagen. Journal of Archaeological Science 132, 105416. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2021.105416.[DOWNLOAD .pdf]
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2019 Lowest δ13C Value
🏆 2019 Highest δ13C Value
🏆 2020 Lowest δ13C Value
🏆 2019, 2020 Highest δ13C Value
🏆 2020 People's Choice Award (Sample of the Year)
Eric Guiry came to Trent as a SSHRC Banting postdoctoral fellow in 2018. He previously completed a SSHRC posdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia where he also earned his PhD in 2016. He has a diverse range of research interests, but primarily focuses on applying stable isotope analyses to animal remains from archaeological sites. His previous research has emphasized dogs, rats, and pigs, and how isotopic data can be used to better understand human behaviour in the past. More recently, his research has focused on the historical ecology of the Great Lakes watershed and the application of isotopic techniques to modern, historic, and ancient fish remains. Eric is an impressively prolific writer and he has published extensively on a diverse range of subjects where stable isotopes, archaeology, and animals intersect. Eric was first runner up in the 2019 end of the year axe throwing party and is the current champ for number of samples analyzed in the lab. He made a strong showing at the 2019 lab awards with the highest and lowest δ13C values recorded in the calendar year: a sheepshead at −5.67 ‰ (TEAL-7334) and a yellow perch at −29.45 ‰ (TEAL-5420). Eric returned to the group as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023.
KATE DOUGHERTY
Environmental & Life Sciences Ph.D. Candidate (2016-)
M.A. Western University, 2003
B.Sc. (Honours) Trent University, 2000
Project: Organic Residues in Middle to Early-Late Woodland Ceramics in the Kawartha Lakes Region.
Kate is a founding member of the TEAL Lab and a PhD candidate in the Environmental and Life Sciences graduate program. Her doctoral research involves the analysis of organic residues in ceramics, to explore if they correspond with the food history of a vessel, and ultimately to analyse the diet and food practices in the Great Lakes region in the Middle Woodland to Early Late Woodland transition. Kate completed her M.A. at Western University, with a project that re-analysed the demographics and mortuary patterning of a Middle Woodland burial mound located on Rice Lake. She has a long time relationship with the Anthropology Department at Trent and holds the position of Curator and Demonstrator/Technician. In her free time, Kate is a keen crafter and a dabbler at heart. Some of her hobbies include sewing, knitting, gardening, and playing D&D, although she is constantly on the search for new pastimes. She is also a very talented baker, indulging all the TEAL members with delicious cakes and good tasting vegan treats (that takes A LOT of skill!). Her love for cats lead her to create an exclusive side-group within the lab called "TEAL Cat Chat", making the dog people clench their teeth in jealousy. Bio by Anahi Maturana.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2021 Best Analytical Session (Shared with Jen Routledge)
🎖️ 2021 Special Recognition for Achievement in Social Media (Lab Coat of Arms)
JENNIFER ROUTLEDGE
Environmental & Life Sciences Ph.D. Student (2020-)
M.A. Student (2018-20)
M.A. Trent University, 2020
B.Sc. (Honours) Trent University, 2018
TEAL Publications
-
Routledge J, Sonne C, Letcher RJ, Dietz R, Szpak P, 2023. Unprecedented shift in Canadian High Arctic polar bear food web unsettles four millennia of stability. Anthropocene 43, 100397. doi: 10.1016/j.ancene.2023.100397. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Hyland C, Scott MB, Routledge J, Szpak P, 2021. Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Variability of Bone Collagen to Determine the Number of Isotopically Distinct Specimens. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. doi:10.1007/s10816-021-09533-7. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Louis M, Routledge J, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Szpak P, Lorenzen ED, 2022. Sex and size matter: foraging ecology of offshore harbour porpoises in waters around Greenland. Marine Biology 169, 140. doi:10.1007/s00227-022-04123-x. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]
-
Rey-Iglesia A, Wilson T, Routledge J, Skovrind M, Garde E, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Szpak P, Lorenzen ED, 2022. Combining δ13C and δ15N from bone and dentine in marine mammal palaeoecological research: insights from toothed whales. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, 1-12. doi:10.1080/10256016.2022.2145285.
Project: Sulfur isotopes in Arctic marine ecosystems.
Jen is a third year PhD candidate in the Environmental and Life Sciences program. She has a B.Sc. (Honours) and M.A. in Anthropology from Trent University. As an undergraduate student, Jen was involved in research using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to examine the effects of changing sea ice conditions on polar bear ecology in Lancaster Sound (Canadian High Arctic). Her MA thesis used stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope analysis of ostrich eggshells to research the range, commodification, and local extinction of Asian ostriches from the Far Eastern Steppe. Presently, Jen studies spatial, temporal, and inter-species variation in sulfur isotopes in Arctic marine environments. Her research also seeks to refine the quality control criteria for stable sulfur isotope measurements of ancient bone collagen. In her free time, Jen enjoys glamping (not camping), travelling, and watching comedy. Jen is the reigning axe throwing champion, having defeated Eric Guiry in the finals of the 2019 competition. Fun fact: Jen has never been convicted of a criminal offence for which a pardon has not been granted. Bio by Alex Derian.
TEAL Awards and Honours
2019 Lowest δ15N Value
🥇 2021 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Bone Cutting
🏆 2021 Matt Teeter Award for Most Glassware Broken
🏆 2021 Best Analytical Session (Shared with Kate Dougherty)
🏆 2022 Best Sample Replicate
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Reagent Weighing
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Bone Cutting
ALEX DERIAN
Environmental & Life Sciences Ph.D. Student (2022-)
B.A. Simon Fraser University, 2020; M.A. Simon Fraser University, 2022
Project: Historical and Palaeoecology of Arctic Fox
Alex is currently in her first year of the Environmental and Life Sciences Ph.D. program. She completed her B.A. and M.A. in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. For her Master's research, Alex conducted zooarchaeological analyses of faunal assemblages from archaeological sites in the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, exploring land use and subsistence practices through the Holocene. Alex's Ph.D. project will use stable isotope analysis to examine the diets and life histories of Arctic foxes in the Inuit Nunangat (Inuit Traditional Territory). The goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between Arctic foxes and humans in the region over the last 2,000 years. Alex studied acting before becoming an archaeologist, and has been case in a number of plays and independent films - she even has an IMDB page! Outside of the lab, Alex enjoys physical activities like rock climbing and hiking, and also loves to cook and read. Bio by Brooke Driscoll.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🥈 2023 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Bone Cutting
BROOKE DRISCOLL
Anthropology M.A. Student (2021-)
B.Sc., Trent University, 2021
Project: Palaeodiet of Arctic Canids
Brooke is entering their second year of their M.A. in Anthropology at Trent. As an undergraduate student at Trent, they completed a BSc in Archaeology with a minor in Biology. Their current research is investigating the diet and life histories of canids from a number of sites in the North American Arctic to better understand human-animal-environment interactions over time. When not analyzing arctic dogs and wolves, they play on the varsity women’s volleyball team and are starting their 6th year on the team as an assistant coach. Less athletic endeavors include embroidering, listening to true crime podcasts, and reveling in the fact that both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette wish they could have them. Bio by Alexis Rausch.
Listen to Brooke talk about their thesis research here on the Trent Radio/DISSertation Track podcast hosted by Egan Henderson.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🎖️ 2021 Special Recognition for Social Media (Lab TikTok, Shared with 2021-22 MA Students)
🥈 2022 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Bone Cutting
🏆 2022 Eric Guiry Award (1,530 samples analyzed for δ13C and δ15N)
🏆 2022 Sample of the Year Award
🏆 2022 Best Analytical Session (September 23, 2022)
🏆 2022 Lowest δ15N Value (Shared with 2021-22 Graduate Class)
🥈 2023 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Pipette Transfer
🥈 2023 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Microbalance Accuracy
NICOLE HULTQUIST
Anthropology M.Sc. Student (2021-)
B.Sc., University of Maryland, 2021
Project: Strontium Isotopes and the Geographic Origins of Ritually Sacrificed Llamas from northern Peru
TEAL's early bird (hello 4am EA-IRMS starts!) Nicole got her wish of experiencing a true Canadian winter and is now in the second year of her MSc. Her anthropology and chemistry undergraduate degrees at the University of Maryland combined with her love of learning new things has led her to become the TEAL team lead on strontium isotope analysis using the MC-ICP-MS. Her strontium isotope data will be used to explore the geographic origins of llamas sacrificed at three sites on the north coast of Peru (Huaca Santa Clara, Huaca Gallinazo, and Huancaco), and by extension allow her to address questions about the economic foundations of early states especially in the Early Intermediate Period through the Late Middle Horizon. In her spare time, she is a devoted servant to her cats Decaf and (London) Fog. Past hobbies she has enjoyed include pottery, furniture upcycling, piano, and quilting, but she is currently learning how to crochet. One of the greatest triumphs of her time in TEAL to date is getting Paul and Matt to not only watch Twilight, but to intently and vehemently discuss it for almost sixty minutes during lab meeting. Bio by Kate Dougherty.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🎖️ 2021 Special Recognition for Social Media (Lab TikTok, Shared with 2021-22 MA Students)
🏆 2022 Lowest δ15N Value (Shared with 2021-22 Graduate Class)
🏆 2022 Eric Guiry Award (576 δ13C and δ15N analyses, 607 Sr isotope analyses)
🎖️ 2022 Special Recognition for Social Media (Shared with Julia McCuaig)
ANAHI MATURANA-FERNANDEZ
Anthropology M.Sc. Student (2021-)
B.A., Universidad de Chile, 2012
Project: Isotopic Perspectives on Agricultural Practices at San Pedro de Atacama
Originally from Chile, Anahi is now in the second year of her master’s degree here in Canada, and has been working on her thesis involving stable isotope analysis of plant remains from the Middle Period and Late Intermediate Period from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Prior to undertaking her master’s, Anahi received her B.A. in Physical Anthropology from the University of Chile. She has also worked in various archaeology-related fields, including museum work, cultural resource management, and bioarchaeological research in the Atacama Desert. Outside of research, Anahi spends a lot of time knitting (like, a lot of time), as well as learning new languages. Currently she speaks English, Spanish, and German fluently, and is working towards learning Italian. With an impressive streak of over 600 days on the language learning app Duolingo, it would be no surprise for her to be fluent in Italian before her degree is done! Bio by Olivia Hall.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🎖️ 2021 Special Recognition for Social Media (Lab TikTok, Shared with 2021-22 MA Students)
🥉 2022 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Microbalance Accuracy
🏆 2022 Lowest δ15N Value (Shared with 2021-22 Graduate Class)
🏆 2022 Highest δ13C Value
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Microbalance Speed
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Microbalance Accuracy
JULIA McCUAIG
Anthropology M.Sc. Student (2022-)
B.Sc. Thesis Student (2021-22)
B.Sc. Trent University, 2022
Project: Agricultural Intensification at Galindo, Moche Valley
Julia is working on her MSc in Anthropology and is excited to return to the lab. She holds an Honours BSc in Anthropology with a minor in Biology. Julia previously worked with Dr. Szpak and the TEAL crew when completing her undergraduate thesis on reconstructing camelid management practices at the archaeological site of Cerro de Oro in the Cañete Valley, Peru. She hopes to make connections in the lab to collaborate on more projects and is aiming to complete a PhD. In her free time, Julia loves to crochet and she recently adopted an adorable cat named Gimli. Bio by Jenna Milner.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2021 Corrie Hyland Award for Positivity
🥇 2021 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Microbalance Speed
🥇 2022 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Microbalance Speed
🥈 2022 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Pipette Transfer
🏆 2022 Lowest δ13C Value
🏆 2022 Special Recognition in Social Media Award (Shared with Nicole Hulquist)
🥇 2022 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Pipette Transfer
🥇 2023 Lab Olympics Gold Medal: Microbalance Speed
OLIVIA HALL
Anthropology M.Sc. Student (2022-)
B.Sc. Thesis Student (2021-22)
B.Sc. Trent University, 2022
Project: Quantifying variation in bone collagen turnover rates among species and skeletal elements using bomb curve dating
Originally from King City, Ontario, Olivia completed her honours degree in Anthropology in 2022. Olivia’s capstone research project involved the dietary reconstruction, through stable isotope analysis, of archaeological dog remains from Cerro de Oro, Peru – some of which were ritually sacrificed! Olivia really enjoys listening to music and attending concerts, but there is one rule… ABC (Anything But Country). As far as movies are concerned, Olivia has recently been loving the horror genre, specifically movies and shorts by Ari Aster. Not one to let their mind idle, Olivia spends unsettling amounts of time learning fun facts about serial killers, monster lore, and ghost stories. Olivia started her Master’s degree with TEAL in the Fall of 2022, and will be looking to solve a long-standing archaeological problem… What is the turnover rate of bone within, and among different, skeletal elements? Olivia will be using a novel approach involving radiocarbon dating and atomic bomb-pulse data to answer this very important question. When not in the lab this year, Olivia will be playing squash, painting, gardening, and baking, and of course, picking up fun tidbits about everyone’s favourite mass murderers. Bio by Matt Teeter.
TEAL Awards and Honours
🏆 2022 Best New Taxon
🥉 2022 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Bone Cutting
🏆 2022 Highest δ15N Value
🥈 2023 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Microbalance Speed
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Parafilm Shotput
🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Spigot Control
.jpg)
JOY
Lab Mascot (2017-)
No known degrees
Project: Diet-tissue discrimination factors for canids provisioned with a wide range of meats and cheeses.
Joy's past is shrouded in mystery but she joined the group from Istanbul, Turkey in 2017. She has a cauliflower ear and a friendly disposition. Her favourite piece of anthropological literature is "How Dogs Dream" by Eduardo Kohn, although she admits that she doesn't really understand it. Her primary research interests include the anthropology of sleeping and laziness, experimental archaeology focusing on the taphonomy of large mammal bones exposed to carnivore gnawing, and the behavioural ecology of squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits. Her main contribution to the lab is the initial processing of animals bones that are used in methodological studies such as the VIP and DATA graduate class projects.
