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. He has been the director of the Anthropology Graduate Program at Trent since 2023.

Paul directs a diverse research program centered on stable isotope analysis, supported by several major grants from the Tri-Council (SSHRC and NSERC). 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, with a focus on two geographical areas: the Andean regions of northern Peru and Chile and the North American Arctic (Canada, Alaska, Greenland).