Project: Sulfur Isotope Variability in Arctic Ecosystems & Quality Control for Ancient Bone Samples.

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​Bio

Jen is a PhD candidate who can often be found around TEAL sporting a unique brooch and an ascot from her classic collection of accessories. Despite Jen’s love for archaeology beginning when she saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in school, she took an important side quest working as an executive administrative assistant before coming to Trent University. Jen enjoyed taking the environmental archaeology course during her BSc, and continued by taking a reading course before completing her master's with TEAL. She also has a certificate in art history associated with Sorbonne University. When asked to summarize her PhD work in 15 words or less, she provided “It’s for me to know… It’s a secret for me.”

All right, Jen. Keep your secrets.

Jen has an abundance of hobbies and interests, from the fibre arts to adventuring, and many things in between. The in between includes forest bathing, collecting stamps from fallen dictatorships, visiting saunas (pronounced SOW-nah), and watching movies. She has a list of movies that make the re-watch list, but her all-time favourite is Joe Versus the Volcano to get her through “the best of times and the disgruntled of times.” Jen is trying to learn French; however, she no longer wishes to retire in the South of France (it’s too hot). One of Jen’s proudest accomplishments is a pair of fingerless mittens with a cherry pattern. Jen also has strong feelings about the characteristics of wool, but she denies it. Jen is always a delight to talk to, and she always has something new and interesting that she is dabbling in. Bio by Katherine Dolan. 

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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]

• Routledge J, Szpak P. 2026. Variation in Marine Mammal Sulfur Stable Isotope Compositions (ẟ34S) is Driven by Sources of Primary Production not Trophic Position. Marine Ecology Progress Series 782:meps15102. doi: 10.3354/meps15102. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]

• Aiken M, Szpak P, McCarthy ML, Routledge J, Bănaru D, Das K, Gladilina E, Gol’din P, Olsen MT (2026) A 4000-year record of parallel collapse in the ecological niche of Black Sea top predators. The Science of the Total Environment 1055, 182331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.182331. [DOWNLOAD .pdf]

• Louis M, Rey-Iglesia A, Routledge J, de Jager D, Skovrind M, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Kaiser TM, Kovacs KM, Lydersen C, Rosing-Asvid A, Szpak P, Lorenzen ED. 2025 Impact of Tusk Anomalies on the Long-Term Foraging Ecology of Narwhals. Ecology and Evolution 15, e72376. doi: 101002/ece372376. [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.

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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 Highest δ13C Value

🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Reagent Weighing

🥉 2023 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Bone Cutting

🥉 2024 Lab Olympics Bronze Medal: Microbalance Speed

🥈 2024 Lab Olympics Silver Medal: Microbalance Accuracy

🏆 2024 Tess Wilson Award