William Shotyk
Professor & Bocock Chair, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Renewable Resources Dept
Contact
Professor & Bocock Chair, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sci - Renewable Resources Dept
- shotyk@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 492-7155
- Address
-
348b South Academic Building
11328 - 89 Ave NWEdmonton ABT6G 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.
REN R 501 - Topics in Renewable Resources
Directed study in the multiple aspects of renewable resources. Open to fourth year or graduate students upon consent of instructor.
REN R 750 - 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. Not to be taken if credit received for REN R 360.
Publications
Trace elements in wild berries from reclaimed lands: biomonitors of contamination by atmospheric dust.
Author(s): Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2020
Publication: Ecological Indicators March 2020, 105960.
A geochemical perspective on the natural abundance of trace elements in cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccus) from remote bogs in the Boreal Zone of northern Alberta.
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I. and Stachiw, S.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Science of the Total Environment 650, Part 1, pp. 1652-1663
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.
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Dergousoff, M., Grant-Weaver, I., Hood, G., Lund, K. and Noernberg, T.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Science of the Total Environment 672:40-50.
A spatial assessment of elemental concentrations from trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) otoliths from the Lower Athabasca Region
Author(s): Sinnatamby, R.N., Loewen, T.N., Luo, Y., Pearson, G.D., Bicalho, B, Grant-Weaver, I. , Cuss, C.W. Poesch, M., and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Science of the Total Environment 655:363-373.
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.
Author(s): Stachiw, S., Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I., Noernberg, T. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Science of the Total Environment 670: 849-864
Issue: (Special Issue on Atmospheric Deposition and Forest Health).
The effect of major ions and DOM on toxicity of dissolved thallium to Daphnia magna.
Author(s): Nagel, A.H., Cuss, C.W., Goss, G.G., Shotyk, W. And Glover, C.N.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 38:2472-2479.
Atmospheric Hg accumulation rates estimated using in Sphagnum moss from ombrotrophic (rain-fed) bogs in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region of northern Alberta.
Author(s): Shotyk, W. and Cuss, C.W.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Ecological Indicators 107:105626.
Bioaccumulation of Tl in otoliths of Trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) from the Athabasca River, upstream and downstream of bitumen mining and upgrading.
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I, Noernberg, T., Poesch, M, and Sinnatamby, N.R.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Science of the Total Environment 650, Part 2, pp. 2559-2566.
Contemporary and historical atmospheric deposition of arsenic and selenium in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands Region.
Author(s): Donner, M.W., Bicalho, B., Noernberg, T. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology 53:14,020-14,028.
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.
Author(s): Cuss, C.W., Glover, C.N., Javed, M.B., Nagel, A. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2019
Publication: Environmental Reviews (published online).
Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene Series: Where and how to look for potential candidates
Author(s): 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
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Earth-Science Reviews
Volume: 178
Page Numbers: 379-429
External Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.016
Impact of Little Ice Age and 20th century climate change on peatland vegetation dynamics using a multi-proxy approach and high-resolution peat chronologies
Author(s): Magnan, G., van Bellen, S., Davies, L.J., Froese, D.G., Garneau, M., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Shotyk, W., Zaccone, C
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Quaternary Science Reviews
Volume: 185
Page Numbers: 230-243
External Link: DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.01.015
High-resolution age modelling of ombrotrophic peat bog profiles from northern Alberta, Canada, using pre- and post-bomb 14C, 210Pb and historical tephra
Author(s): 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
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Quaternary Geochronology 47:138-162.
Measuring the distribution of trace elements amongst dissolved colloidal species as a fingerprint for the contribution of tributaries to large boreal rivers
Author(s): Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Donner, M.W., Noernberg, T., Sinnatamby, R.N., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Science of the Total Environment
Volume: 642
Page Numbers: 1242-1251
Methylated arsenic species throughout a 4-m deep core from a free-floating peat island
Author(s): Zaccone, C., Lobianco, D., Raber, G., D’Orazio, V., Shotyk, W., Miano, T.M., Francesconi, K
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Science of the Total Environment
Volume: 621
Page Numbers: 67-74
External Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.152
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”
Author(s): Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Science of the Total Environment
Volume: 618
Page Numbers: 866-869
Selenium and Sulphur in Athabasca bituminous sands mineral and bitumen fractions
Author(s): Donner, M. W., Bicalho, B., Sinn, C., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Fuel
Volume: 224
Page Numbers: 718-725
External Link: DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.03.093
Selenium in surface waters of the lower Athabasca River: chemical speciation and implications for aquatic life.
Author(s): Donner, M.W., Cuss, C.W., Poesch, M., Sinnatamby, R.N., Siddique, T. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Environmental Pollution 243:1343-1351.
Estimating bioaccessibility of trace metals in particles suspended in the Athabasca River using sequential extraction
Author(s): Javed, M.B. and Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Environmental Pollution
Volume: 240
Page Numbers: 466-474
External Link: DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.131
Testate amoebae indicate widespread 20th century drying in ombrotrophic peatlands of northern Alberta, Canada. Global Change Biology
Author(s): van Bellen, S., Magnan, G., Mullan-Boudreau, G., Davies, L., Froese, D., Zaccone, C., Garneau, M., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Global Change Biology
External Link: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14143
Determination of peat humification: advances since Achard
Author(s): Zaccone, C., Plaza, C., Ciavatta, C., Miano, T.M. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Earth-Science Reviews 185:163-178.
Disentangling the seasonal and source-based variation of dissolved organic matter quality in a large river and its source waters using EEM-PARAFAC-SOM.
Author(s): Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Donner, M.W., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R. and Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2018
Publication: Environmental Chemistry DO - 10.1071/EN19016.
Highly anomalous accumulation rates of C and N recorded by a relic, free-floating peatland in Central Italy
Author(s): Zaccone , C., Lobianco, D., Shotyk , W., Ciavatta, C., Appleby, P.G., Brugiapaglia, E., Miano, T.M., and D’Orazio, V
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Scientific Reports
Volume: 7
Issue: 43040
Page Numbers: 1-10
AF4-ICPMS with the 300 Dalton membrane to resolve metal-bearing 'colloids' < 1 kDa: optimization, fractogram deconvolution, and advanced quality control
Author(s): Cuss, C.W., Grant-Weaver, I., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Analytical Chemistry
Arsenic speciation in the lower Athabasca River watershed: a geochemical investigation of the dissolved and particulate phases
Author(s): Donner, M. W., Javed, M.B., Shotyk, W., Francesconi, K. A., Siddique, T.
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Environmental Pollution
Volume: 224
Page Numbers: 265-274
Sphagnum moss as an indicator of contemporary rates of atmospheric dust deposition in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region
Author(s): Mullan-Boudreau, G., Belland, R., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
Volume: 51
Issue: 13
Page Numbers: 7422-7431
Size-resolved Pb distribution in the Athabasca River shows snowmelt in the bituminous sands region an insignificant source of dissolved Pb
Author(s): Javed, M.B, Cuss, C.W., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Scientific Reports
Volume: 7
Issue: 43622
Page Numbers: 1-11
Reconstructing past rates of atmospheric dust deposition in the Athabasca bituminous sands region using peat cores from bogs
Author(s): Mullan-Boudreau, G., Davies, L., Froese, D., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Land Degradation and Development
Volume: 28
Page Numbers: 2468-2481
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)
Author(s): Bicalho, B., Grant-Weaver, I., Sinn, C., Donner, M.W., Woodland, S., Pearson, G., Larter, S., Duke, M.J.M., Shotyk, W
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Fuel
Volume: 206
Page Numbers: 248-257
Peat bogs document decades of declining atmospheric contamination by trace metals in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region
Author(s): 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.
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
Volume: 51
Issue: 11
Page Numbers: 6237-6249
Major and trace elements in Sphagnum moss from four southern German bogs, and comparison with available moss monitoring data
Author(s): Kempter, H., Krachler, M., Shotyk, W., Zaccone. C.
Publication Date:
2017
Publication: Ecological Indicators
Volume: 78
Page Numbers: 19-25
Peat bogs in northern Alberta, Canada reveal decades of declining atmospheric Pb contamination
Author(s): 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.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Geological Research Letters
Volume: 43
Issue: 18
Page Numbers: 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
Author(s): Goodsite, M. E., Outridge, P. M., Bennike, O., Rausch, N., Shotyk, W.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Arctic
Volume: 69
Issue: 3
Page Numbers: 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
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Bicalho, B., Cuss, C. W., Duke, M. J. M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Steinnes, E., Zaccone, C.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Environ. Int.
Volume: 2016
Issue: 92-93
Page Numbers: 494–506
Isotopic evolution of atmospheric Pb from metallurgical processing in Flin Flon, Manitoba: Retrospective analysis using peat cores from bogs
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Rausch, N., Outridge, P. M., Krachler, M.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Environmental Pollution
Volume: 218
Page Numbers: 338-348
Isotopic composition of Pb in peat and porewaters from three contrasting ombrotrophic bogs in Finland: evidence of chemical diagenesis in response to acidification
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Rausch, N., Nieminen, T. M., Ukonmaanaho, L. L., Krachler, M.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
Volume: 50
Page Numbers: 9932-9951
Airborne petcoke dust is a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Athabasca oil sands region
Author(s): Zhang, Y., Shotyk, W., Zaccone, C., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Bicalho, B., Froese, D., Davies, L., Martin, J. W.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
Issue: 4
Page Numbers: 1711-20
Trace metals in the dissolved fraction (<0.45 µm) of the lower Athabasca River: analytical challenges and environmental implications
Author(s): 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.
Publication Date:
2016
Publication: Science of the Total Environment
Volume: 580
Page Numbers: 660-669
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
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Kempter, H., Krachler, M. and Zaccone, C.
Publication Date:
2015
Publication: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Volume: 163
Page Numbers: 101-125
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’”
Author(s): Shotyk, W., Belland, R., Duke, J., Kempter, H., Krachler, M., Noernberg, T., Pelletier, R., Vile, M. A., Wieder, K., Zaccone, C.
Publication Date:
2015
Publication: Environ. Sci. Technol.
Volume: 49
Issue: 10
Page Numbers: 6354–6357
Changes in bacterial and archaeal community assemblages along an ombrotrophic peat bog profile
Author(s): Puglisi, E., Zaccone, C., Cappa, F., Cocconcelli, P.S., Shotyk, W., Trevisan, M., and Miano, T.M.
Publication Date:
2014
Publication: Puglisi, E., Zaccone, C., Cappa, F., Cocconcelli, P.S., Shotyk, W., Trevisan, M., and Miano, T.M.
Volume: Biology and Fertility of Soils
Issue: 50
Page Numbers: 815–826
Sphagnum mosses from twenty-one ombrotrophic bogs in the Athabasca Bituminous Sands region show no significant atmospheric contamination of “heavy metals”
Author(s): 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.
Publication Date:
2014
Publication: Environmental Science and Technology
Volume: 48
Page Numbers: 12603-12611