Fred Longstaffe
Encyclopedia
Fred J. Longstaffe Ph.D.
, FRSC is the Provost
and Vice-President (Academic) at The University of Western Ontario. He is a highly regarded leader in Earth Science
research. His current focus is on applying knowledge of stable isotope
s to various fields of study.
Longstaffe earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Windsor
and a PhD in Geology
from McMaster University
. In 1978, he was a researcher at the University of Alberta
as a Killam Post-Doctoral Scholar. After that he joined that university’s Department of Geology faculty. In 1987, Longstaffe moved to the Western as a full professor in Geology and opened the Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science. The labs principal research areas are environmental
geochemistry
and clastic
diagenesis
, with special emphasis on the application of stable isotope
s and other biogeochemical
methods to studies of the environment and climate change
. The Departments of Geology and Geophysics were merged in 1993. He became the Chair of the newly formed Department of Earth Sciences. Dr. Longstaffe gave up that position in 1999 to take on the larger role of Dean of the Faculty of Science. In July 2005, Longstaffe became the university’s Provost and VP Academic.
Longstaffe’s research has attracted substantial funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
, Social Science and Humanities Research Council
and Canada Foundation for Innovation
. His current research focuses on the use of stable isotopes to study earth and environmental science, ecosystems, oil sands
, and anthropology
.
Longstaffe has served as President of the Geological Association of Canada
. He has frequently served on Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Royal Society of Canada
committees.
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
, FRSC is the Provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
and Vice-President (Academic) at The University of Western Ontario. He is a highly regarded leader in Earth Science
Earth science
Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
research. His current focus is on applying knowledge of stable isotope
Stable isotope
Stable isotopes are chemical isotopes that may or may not be radioactive, but if radioactive, have half-lives too long to be measured.Only 90 nuclides from the first 40 elements are energetically stable to any kind of decay save proton decay, in theory...
s to various fields of study.
Longstaffe earned a BSc (Hons) from the University of Windsor
University of Windsor
The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...
and a PhD in Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
from McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
. In 1978, he was a researcher at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
as a Killam Post-Doctoral Scholar. After that he joined that university’s Department of Geology faculty. In 1987, Longstaffe moved to the Western as a full professor in Geology and opened the Laboratory for Stable Isotope Science. The labs principal research areas are environmental
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
geochemistry
Geochemistry
The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks, water, and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space, and...
and clastic
Clastic rocks
Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing rock. Geologists use the term clastic with reference to sedimentary rocks as well as to particles in sediment transport whether in suspension or as bed load, and in sediment deposits.- Clastic metamorphic and igneous rocks :Clastic...
diagenesis
Diagenesis
In geology and oceanography, diagenesis is any chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition and during and after its lithification, exclusive of surface alteration and metamorphism. These changes happen at relatively low temperatures and pressures...
, with special emphasis on the application of stable isotope
Stable isotope
Stable isotopes are chemical isotopes that may or may not be radioactive, but if radioactive, have half-lives too long to be measured.Only 90 nuclides from the first 40 elements are energetically stable to any kind of decay save proton decay, in theory...
s and other biogeochemical
Biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment...
methods to studies of the environment and climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. The Departments of Geology and Geophysics were merged in 1993. He became the Chair of the newly formed Department of Earth Sciences. Dr. Longstaffe gave up that position in 1999 to take on the larger role of Dean of the Faculty of Science. In July 2005, Longstaffe became the university’s Provost and VP Academic.
Longstaffe’s research has attracted substantial funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is a Canadian government agency that provides grants for research in the natural sciences and in engineering. Its mandate is to promote and assist research....
, Social Science and Humanities Research Council
Social Science and Humanities Research Council
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is an arm of the Canadian federal funding agency. SSHRC supports a wide range of research and scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. The current president of the Council is Chad Gaffield.- History :SSHRC was formally...
and Canada Foundation for Innovation
Canada Foundation for Innovation
Created by the Government of Canada in 1997, the Canada Foundation for Innovation strives to build our nation’s capacity to undertake world-class research and technology development to benefit Canadians...
. His current research focuses on the use of stable isotopes to study earth and environmental science, ecosystems, oil sands
Tar sands
Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen...
, and anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
.
Longstaffe has served as President of the Geological Association of Canada
Geological Association of Canada
The Geological Association of Canada promotes and develops the geological sciences in Canada. The organization holds conferences, meetings and exhibitions for the discussion of geological problems and the exchange of views in matters related to geology...
. He has frequently served on Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
committees.
Awards
- 1993- Awarded Past President’s Award by Geological Association of Canada for outstanding research by a younger scientist
- 1994- Named Distinguished Fellow of the Geological Association of Canada
- Between 1995 and 2005- Named to the University Students’ Council Teaching Honor Role six times
- 1997- Named Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
- 1998- Awarded the Mineralogical Association of Canada‘s Past-President’s Medal for Research
- 2003- Awarded Geological Association of Canada’s highest honor, the Logan MedalLogan MedalThe Logan Medal is the highest award of the Geological Association of Canada. Named after Sir William Edmond Logan, noted 19th century Canadian geologist. It is presented annually to an individual for sustained distinguished achievement in Canadian earth science.-References:*...
Select Publications
- Bennett, P.J., Longstaffe, F.J. and Rowe, R.K. (2000) The stability of dolomite in landfill leachate collection systems. The Canadian Geotechnical Journal, v. 37, p. 371-378.
- Barriga, F.J.A.S., Mateus, A., Ribeiro, A., Fyfe, W.S. and Longstaffe, F.J. (1995) Metallogenetic potential of the Vilariça strike-slip fault at Quintela de Lampaças (Bragança, Portugal). In: IV Congresso Nacional de Geologia (Porto, Dexembro 95), Memória n°4, Univ. Porto - Fac. Ciências, Museu e Lab. Min. e Geol., F. Sodré Borges & M.M. Marques, eds., p. 527-532.
- de Caritat, P., Bloch, J., Hutcheon, I., Longstaffe, F.J. and Abercrombie, H.J. (1997) Comparison of the mineralogical and chemical composition of 2 shales from the western Canada sedimentary basin and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Clays and Clay Minerals, v.45, p. 327-332.
- Ensign, K.L., Webb, E.A. and Longstaffe F.J. (in press) Microenvironmental variations in soil-water content of the unsaturated zone of a sand dune system at Pinery Provincial Park. Submitted to Geoderma, January 2005, revised May 2006.
- Hornibrook, E.R.C., Longstaffe, F.J. and Fyfe, W.S. (2000) Factors influencing stable-isotope ratios in CH4 and CO2 within subenvironments of freshwater wetlands: implications for d-signatures of emissions. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies, v. 36, p. 151-176.
- Léveillé, R. J., Fyfe, W.S. and Longstaffe, F.J. (2000) Unusual secondary Ca-Mg carbonate-kerolite deposits in basaltic caves, Kauai, Hawaii. Journal of Geology, v. 108, p. 613-621.
- Longstaffe, F.J., Calvo, R., Ayalon, A. and Donaldson W.S. (2003) Stable isotope evidence for multiple fluid regimes during carbonate cementation of the Upper Tertiary Hazeva Formation, Dead Sea Graben, southern Israel. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 4114, p. 1-20.
- Longstaffe, F.J. (2000) Chapter 6. An introduction to stable oxygen and hydrogen isotopes and their use as fluid tracers in sedimentary systems. In: Fluids and Basin Evolution. Edited by T.K. Kyser. Mineralogical Association of Canada Short Course Series, v. 28, p. 115-162.
- McKay, J. and Longstaffe, F.J. (2003) Sulphur isotope geochemistry of pyrite from the Upper Cretaceous Marshybank Formation, Western Interior Basin. Sedimentary Geology, v. 157, p. 175-195.
- Owen, J.V., Longstaffe, F.J. and Greenough, J.D. (2003) Petrology of sapphirine granulite and associated sodic gneisses from the Indian Head Range, Newfoundland. Lithos, v. 68, p. 91-114.
- Rowe, R.K., Fleming, I.R., Rittman, B.R., Longstaffe, F.J., Cullimore, D.R., McIsaac, R., Bennet, P., Cooke, A.J., Armstrong, M.D. and VanGulck, J. (2000) Multidisciplinary study of clogging of leachate drains. Sixth Canadian Environmental engineering Specialty conference, London, Jun 2000, p. 57-65.
- Webb, E.A. and Longstaffe, F.J. (2002) Climatic influences on the oxygen isotopic composition of biogenic silica deposited in prairie grass. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 66, p. 1891-1904.
- Webb, E.A. and Longstaffe, F.J. (2000) The oxygen isotopic compositions of silica phytoliths and plant water in grasses: implications for the study of paleoclimate. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 64, p. 767-780.
- White, C.D., Longstaffe, F.J. and Law, K.R. (2001) Revisiting the Teotihuacan connection at Altun Ha: Oxygen-isotope analysis of Tomb F-8/1. Ancient Mesoamerica, p. 65-72.
- Ziegler, K. and Longstaffe, F.J. (2000) Clay mineral authigenesis along a mid-continental scale fluid-conduit in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks from southern Ontario, Canada. Clay Minerals, v. 35, p. 243-264.