William Shotyk

Professor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Renewable Resources Dept

Contact Overview Courses Publications

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Renewable Resources Dept

Email: shotyk@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 492-7155
Address: 348b South Academic Building
11328 - 89 Ave NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2J7

Overview

About

Biographical Sketch: I completed my B.Sc. (Agr.) at the University of Guelph (Soil Science and Chemistry) in 1981, and my Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario (Geochemistry) in 1986. After postdoctoral research at the University of California, Riverside (1987) and at the University of Western Ontario (1988-1989), I joined the Geological Institute at the University of Berne, Switzerland, as Oberassistent. I completed my Habilitation (Geochemistry) at the University of Berne in 1995. In October of 2000, I joined the University of Heidelberg as Professor, becoming Director of the Institute of Environmental Geochemistry.

Since October 2011, I hold the position of Bocock Chair in Agriculture and Environment at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, in the Department of Renewable Resources. I am also a participant in the Land Reclamation International Graduate School (LRIGS) program sponsored by NSERC CREATE.

Awards

Philippe Duchaufour Medal of the European Geosciences Union (2012)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2018)
Geochemistry Fellow - Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry (2019)

Research

Major Responsibilities / Research Interests:

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

Geochemistry of the Soil Environment: Cycling of trace metals (Pb, Sb, As, Cd, Ag, Tl and Hg) at the interface between lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere; fractionation of elements during chemical weathering; soils as a source of trace metals to the atmosphere; soils as sources and sinks for trace metals to and from natural waters

Archives of Environmental Change: Reconstructing natural and anthropogenic sources of trace metals to the atmosphere using sphagnum moss, peat bogs and polar ice; variations with climate change during the Holocene

Isotope Geochemistry: Application of radiogenic isotopes (Pb, Sr) for studying chemical weathering, evolution of natural waters, and tracing natural and anthropogenic aerosols; fallout radionuclides (137Cs, 210Pb, 241Am) for dating of peat cores from bogs

Analytical Geochemistry: Environmental applications of ICP sector-field mass spectrometry (ICP-SMS)

Sedimentary Geochemistry: pH and redox chemistry of soil solutions and sediment pore waters; understanding natural enrichments of trace elements (As, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, U, V) in wetlands

APPLIED RESEARCH

Agriculture and the Environment: Application of the fundamental research topics listed above to understand the impacts of agricultural systems on the environment, and the effects of environmental change on agriculture, at local, regional, and global scales

Courses

REN R 360 - Soil and Water Conservation

Global soil and water resources and their current rates of degradation. The main processes of degradation (erosion, loss of organic matter, salinization, pollution) and their causes. Consequences of degradation and conservation of resources through improved land use practices. Prerequisite: REN R 210.

Winter Term 2026

REN R 418 - Trace Elements in the Environment

Abundance, distribution, behaviour, and geochemical cycling of trace elements in the environment, including micronutrients essential to plants and animals, and potentially toxic heavy metals; geochemical behaviour of trace elements in the hydrosphere-biosphere-atmosphere system and the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic contributions to the cycling of these elements.

Fall Term 2025

REN R 518 - Trace Elements in the Environment

Fall Term 2025

REN R 605 - Advanced Research Skills

Prepares PhD students to function in a research environment. Focuses on research management, best practices in scientific research, and ethics and philosophy of science. The grade is credit/no credit.

Winter Term 2026

REN R 750 - Soil and Water Conservation

Winter Term 2026

Browse more courses taught by William Shotyk

Featured Publications

Trace elements in Labrador Tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum): How predominant sources to the plants impact the chemical composition of hot water extracts

Environmental Research. 2020 January; 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109272

Trace elements in wild berries from reclaimed lands: biomonitors of contamination by atmospheric dust.

Shotyk, W.

Ecological Indicators March 2020, 105960.. 2020 January;

A geochemical perspective on the natural abundance of trace elements in cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus) from remote bogs in the Boreal Zone of northern Alberta.

Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I. and Stachiw, S.

Science of the Total Environment 650, Part 1, pp. 1652-1663. 2019 January;

Trace elements in berries collected near upgraders and open pit mines in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands Region (ABSR): distinguishing atmospheric dust deposition from plant uptake.

Stachiw, S., Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I., Noernberg, T. and Shotyk, W.

Science of the Total Environment 670: 849-864. 2019 January; ((Special Issue on Atmospheric Deposition and Forest Health).)

The effect of major ions and DOM on toxicity of dissolved thallium to Daphnia magna.

Nagel, A.H., Cuss, C.W., Goss, G.G., Shotyk, W. And Glover, C.N.

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 38:2472-2479.. 2019 January;

Contemporary and historical atmospheric deposition of arsenic and selenium in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands Region.

Donner, M.W., Bicalho, B., Noernberg, T. and Shotyk, W.

Environmental Science and Technology 53:14,020-14,028.. 2019 January;

Bioaccumulation of Tl in otoliths of Trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) from the Athabasca River, upstream and downstream of bitumen mining and upgrading.

Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I, Noernberg, T., Poesch, M, and Sinnatamby, N.R.

Science of the Total Environment 650, Part 2, pp. 2559-2566.. 2019 January;

A geochemical perspective on the ecological relevance of total, dissolved, and dissolved species of trace elements in large boreal rivers: review, case studies, and implications for water quality guidelines.

Cuss, C.W., Glover, C.N., Javed, M.B., Nagel, A. and Shotyk, W.

Environmental Reviews (published online).. 2019 January;

A geochemical perspective on the natural abundance trace elements in liver and kidney of beaver (Castor canadensis) from an agricultural region of southern Ontario, Canada.

Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Dergousoff, M., Grant-Weaver, I., Hood, G., Lund, K. and Noernberg, T.

Science of the Total Environment 672:40-50.. 2019 January;

A spatial assessment of elemental concentrations from trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) otoliths from the Lower Athabasca Region

Sinnatamby, R.N., Loewen, T.N., Luo, Y., Pearson, G.D., Bicalho, B, Grant-Weaver, I. , Cuss, C.W. Poesch, M., and Shotyk, W.

Science of the Total Environment 655:363-373.. 2019 January;

Atmospheric Hg accumulation rates estimated using in Sphagnum moss from ombrotrophic (rain-fed) bogs in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region of northern Alberta.

Shotyk, W. and Cuss, C.W.

Ecological Indicators 107:105626.. 2019 January;

Measuring the distribution of trace elements amongst dissolved colloidal species as a fingerprint for the contribution of tributaries to large boreal rivers

Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Donner, M.W., Noernberg, T., Sinnatamby, R.N., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W

Science of the Total Environment. 2018 January; 642

Selenium in surface waters of the lower Athabasca River: chemical speciation and implications for aquatic life.

Donner, M.W., Cuss, C.W., Poesch, M., Sinnatamby, R.N., Siddique, T. and Shotyk, W.

Environmental Pollution 243:1343-1351.. 2018 January;

Selenium and Sulphur in Athabasca bituminous sands mineral and bitumen fractions

Donner, M. W., Bicalho, B., Sinn, C., Shotyk, W

Fuel. 2018 January; 224

Trace metals in soils of the bituminous sands mining region of Alberta: a critical, geochemical perspective of the study (2018). Critical Comment on the paper by C. Boutin and D.J. Carpenter (2017) entitled“Assessment of wetland/upland vegetation communities and evaluation of soil‐plant contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace metals in regions near oil sands mining in Alberta”

Shotyk, W

Science of the Total Environment. 2018 January; 618

Methylated arsenic species throughout a 4-m deep core from a free-floating peat island

Zaccone, C., Lobianco, D., Raber, G., D’Orazio, V., Shotyk, W., Miano, T.M., Francesconi, K

Science of the Total Environment. 2018 January; 621

Impact of Little Ice Age and 20th century climate change on peatland vegetation dynamics using a multi-proxy approach and high-resolution peat chronologies

Magnan, G., van Bellen, S., Davies, L.J., Froese, D.G., Garneau, M., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Shotyk, W., Zaccone, C

Quaternary Science Reviews. 2018 January; 185

High-resolution age modelling of ombrotrophic peat bog profiles from northern Alberta, Canada, using pre- and post-bomb 14C, 210Pb and historical tephra

Davies, L.J., Froese, D.G., Appleby, P.G., van Bellen, S., Jensen, B., Magnan, G., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Noernberg, T., Shotyk, W., and Zaccone, C

Quaternary Geochronology 47:138-162.. 2018 January;

Estimating bioaccessibility of trace metals in particles suspended in the Athabasca River using sequential extraction

Javed, M.B. and Shotyk, W

Environmental Pollution. 2018 January; 240

Determination of peat humification: advances since Achard

Zaccone, C., Plaza, C., Ciavatta, C., Miano, T.M. and Shotyk, W.

Earth-Science Reviews 185:163-178.. 2018 January;

Testate amoebae indicate widespread 20th century drying in ombrotrophic peatlands of northern Alberta, Canada. Global Change Biology

van Bellen, S., Magnan, G., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Davies, L., Froese, D., Zaccone, C., Garneau, M., Shotyk, W

Global Change Biology. 2018 January;

Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene Series: Where and how to look for potential candidates

Waters, C.N., Zalasiewicz, J., Summerhayes, C., Fairchild, I.J., Rose, N.L., Loader, N., Shotyk, W., Cearreta, A., Head, M.J., Syvitski, J.P.M., Williams, M., Wagreich, M., Barnosky, A.D., Zhisheng, A., Leinfelder, R., Jeandel, C., Galuszka, A., Ivar do Sul, J.A., Gradstein, F., Steffen, W., McNeill, J.R., Poirier, C., Edgeworth, M

Earth-Science Reviews. 2018 January; 178

Disentangling the seasonal and source-based variation of dissolved organic matter quality in a large river and its source waters using EEM-PARAFAC-SOM.

Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Donner, M.W., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R. and Shotyk, W.

Environmental Chemistry DO - 10.1071/EN19016.. 2018 January;

Reconstructing past rates of atmospheric dust deposition in the Athabasca bituminous sands region using peat cores from bogs

Mullan-Boudreau, G., Davies, L., Froese, D., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W

Land Degradation and Development. 2017 January; 28

Arsenic speciation in the lower Athabasca River watershed: a geochemical investigation of the dissolved and particulate phases

Donner, M. W., Javed, M.B., Shotyk, W., Francesconi, K. A., Siddique, T.

Environmental Pollution. 2017 January; 224

AF4-ICPMS with the 300 Dalton membrane to resolve metal-bearing 'colloids' < 1 kDa: optimization, fractogram deconvolution, and advanced quality control

Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Shotyk, W

Analytical Chemistry. 2017 January;

Sphagnum moss as an indicator of contemporary rates of atmospheric dust deposition in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region

Mullan-Boudreau, G., Belland, R., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W

Environmental Science and Technology. 2017 January; 51 (13):7422-7431

Size-resolved Pb distribution in the Athabasca River shows snowmelt in the bituminous sands region an insignificant source of dissolved Pb

Javed, M.B, Cuss, C.W., Shotyk, W

Scientific Reports. 2017 January; 7 (43622):1-11

Determination of ultratrace (<0.1 mg/kg) elements in Athabasca Bituminous Sands mineral and bitumen fractions using inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS)

Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I., Sinn, C., Donner, M.W., Woodland, S., Pearson, G., Larter, S., Duke, M.J.M., Shotyk, W

Fuel. 2017 January; 206

Peat bogs document decades of declining atmospheric contamination by trace metals in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region

Shotyk, W., Appleby, P.G., Bicalho, B., Davies, L.J., Froese, D., Grant-Weaver, I., Magnan, G., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shannon, B, van Bellen, S., and Zaccone, C.

Environmental Science and Technology. 2017 January; 51 (11):6237-6249

Major and trace elements in Sphagnum moss from four southern German bogs, and comparison with available moss monitoring data

Kempter, H., Krachler, M., Shotyk, W., Zaccone. C.

Ecological Indicators. 2017 January; 78

Highly anomalous accumulation rates of C and N recorded by a relic, free-floating peatland in Central Italy

Zaccone , C., Lobianco, D., Shotyk , W., Ciavatta, C., Appleby, P.G., Brugiapaglia, E., Miano, T.M., and D’Orazio, V

Scientific Reports. 2017 January; 7 (43040):1-10

Peat bogs in northern Alberta, Canada reveal decades of declining atmospheric Pb contamination

Shotyk, W., Appleby, P. G., Bicalho, B., Davies, L., Froese, D., Grant-Weaver, I., Krachler, M., Magnan, G., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shannon, B., van Bellen, S., Zaccone, C.

Geological Research Letters. 2016 January; 43 (18):9964-9974

Seabird transfer of nutrients and trace elements from the North Water polynya to land during the mid-Holocene warm period, Carey Islands, north-west Greenland

Goodsite, M. E., Outridge, P. M., Bennike, O., Rausch, N., Shotyk, W.

Arctic. 2016 January; 69 (3):252-265

Dust is the dominant source of “heavy metals” to peat moss (Sphagnum fuscum) in the bogs of the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region of northern Alberta

Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Cuss, C. W., Duke, M. J. M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Steinnes, E., Zaccone, C.

Environ. Int.. 2016 January; 2016 (92-93):494–506

Isotopic evolution of atmospheric Pb from metallurgical processing in Flin Flon, Manitoba: Retrospective analysis using peat cores from bogs

Shotyk, W., Rausch, N., Outridge, P. M., Krachler, M.

Environmental Pollution. 2016 January; 218

Isotopic composition of Pb in peat and porewaters from three contrasting ombrotrophic bogs in Finland: evidence of chemical diagenesis in response to acidification

Shotyk, W., Rausch, N., Nieminen, T. M., Ukonmaanaho, L. L., Krachler, M.

Environmental Science and Technology. 2016 January; 50

Airborne petcoke dust is a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Athabasca oil sands region

Zhang, Y., Shotyk, W., Zaccone, C., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Bicalho, B., Froese, D., Davies, L., Martin, J. W.

Environmental Science and Technology. 2016 January; (4):1711-20

Trace metals in the dissolved fraction (<0.45 µm) of the lower Athabasca River: analytical challenges and environmental implications

Shotyk, W., Bicalho, Cuss, C. W. Donner, M.W. Grant-Weaver, I. Haas-Neill, S. Javed, M.B. Krachler, M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R. Zaccone, C.

Science of the Total Environment. 2016 January; 580

Stable (206Pb, 207Pb, 208Pb) and radioactive (210Pb) lead isotopes in one year of growth of Sphagnum moss from four ombrotrophic bogs in southern Germany: geochemical significance and environmental implications

Shotyk, W., Kempter, H., Krachler, M. and Zaccone, C.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 2015 January; 163

et al. Response to Comment on “Sphagnum mosses from 21 ombrotrophic bogs in the Athabasca bituminous sands region show no significant atmospheric contamination of ‘heavy metals’”

Shotyk, W., Belland, R., Duke, J., Kempter, H., Krachler, M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Vile, M. A., Wieder, K., Zaccone, C.

Environ. Sci. Technol.. 2015 January; 49 (10):6354–6357

Sphagnum mosses from twenty-one ombrotrophic bogs in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region show no significant atmospheric contamination of “heavy metals”

Shotyk, W., Belland, R., Duke, M.J., Kempter, H., Krachler, M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Vile, M.A., Wieder, K., Zaccone, C., and Zhang, S.

Environmental Science and Technology. 2014 January; 48

Changes in bacterial and archaeal community assemblages along an ombrotrophic peat bog profile

Puglisi, E., Zaccone, C., Cappa, F., Cocconcelli, P.S., Shotyk, W., Trevisan, M., and Miano, T.M.

Puglisi, E., Zaccone, C., Cappa, F., Cocconcelli, P.S., Shotyk, W., Trevisan, M., and Miano, T.M.. 2014 January; Biology and Fertility of Soils (50):815–826

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