NSERC USRA (Undergraduate Student Research Award)/UTEA (University of Toronto Excellence Awards in the Natural Sciences and Engineering)
You can boost your CV by being involved in summer research with a professor, and you can get funding to do so. NSERC (the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) offers several prestigious awards to undergraduate students, including the NSERC USRA (Undergraduate Student Research Award) Program to which students apply via a faculty member supervising the project. A GPA of B+ is expected, and the award provides a stipend for the four summer months. An equivalent program is the UTEA (University of Toronto Excellence Award) with funding coming from the UofT Vice-President, Research and Innovation.
Research Opportunity Program (ESS299Y1)
Through the Research Opportunity Program, students early in their academic careers have an opportunity to become involved in original research. They can expect to learn research methods and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge while earning course credit toward their degree and program requirements. Also, students develop continuing relationships with faculty members who can act as mentors during their undergraduate years and assist them in applications to graduate schools or professional faculties. Professors benefit from the help and enthusiasm of specifically selected students.To apply, select a project in which you would like to work and fill in an ROP application form. Deposit the completed form(s) in the Research Opportunity Program Office, Room 1067, Sidney Smith Hall by March 12.
Directed Studies (ESS391H1/ESS392Y1)
An individual study program chosen by the student with the advice, and under the supervision, of a faculty member. Such work may involve obtaining data in the field or lab and analyzing it, an interdisciplinary research project, and supervised readings. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. Complete this form, 
Directed Studies.docx, with your supervisor and submit it to the Undergradate Administrator.
Independent Experiential Study Project (ESS398H0/398Y0)
An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. The practical component can take the form of research under the supervision of a faculty member in archives, laboratories, libraries, or in a field camp. Visit the Faculty of Arts & Science Research Excursions Program web page for more information.
Fourth Year Research Project (ESS491H1/ ESS492Y)
Laboratory research emphasizing methods and experimental techniques applicable to geology. Students must obtain the consent of an instructor and register with the Undergraduate Coordinator before enrolling and are urged to do so toward the end of their third year. Students are required to give an oral presentation of research results to an open meeting of the Department. Complete the appropriate form with your supervisor and submit it to the Undegraduate Administrator:
- Undergraduate Research Registration form ESS491H — fall term
- Undergraduate Research Registration form ESS491H — winter term
- Undergraduate Research Registration form ESS492Y — full year
Student Research Projects
- Geochemical Indicators of magnetite crystallised from magmatic salts vs magmatic silicates (Alexandre Guillerez - Supervisor: Corliss Sio)
Exploring the Effect of Rare Earth Element Cations on the Properties of KNO3- NaNO3 Mixtures: A Modified “Solar Salt”
Katherine Bormann (Bennett)
Barite Dissolution Kinetics
Sausann Omran (Wortmann)
The alteration mineralization near veins at the Lonestar deposit, Yukon Territory
Andrea Caratsch (Gregory)
The REDOX setting of the strata bound V mineralization at the Van property, Northwest Territories
Chelsey Merrick (Gregory)
Source Tracing of metal in aerosols in an urban environment using Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr
Fannie Yu (Bergquist)
Exploring the role of volcanism in the PETM using Hg and Hg stable isotopes
Kathryn Cheng (Bergquist)
Using pollen assemblages in buried soils of the Toronto Portlands to inform wetland restoration
Mrinmayee Sengupta (Finkelstein)
Geophysical and biogeochemical investigations of subsurface structures and carbon content for select wetlands near Long Point and Deep River, Ontario
Isadora Falkson (Finkelstein/Bank)
Formational Influences on Submarine Canyon Morphology
Morgan Wolfe (Anderson)
The Effect of Continental Shelf Pyrite Oxidation on the Marine Carbon System
Tina Tsan (Wortmann)
Alteration mineralogy and geochemistry of the submarine Volcano AG, Lau Basin, Tonga
Alexander Copeland (Anderson)
The REDOX setting of the stratabound Vanadium mineralization at the Rod property, Yukon Territory
Daixi Zhang (Gregory)
Pyrite Chemistry of the Drogo Prospect Nunavut
Nicole Freij (Gregory)
Estimations of the Thermal State of the Rocky Planets Using Deep Learning Algorithm
Bobby Chen (Pysklywec/Shahnas)
A Tale of Two Magnetites: An LA-ICP-MS study of massive and disseminated magnetite from the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa
Daryll Concepcion (Gregory)
Local rapid exhumation and fast cooling in a long-lived Paleoproterozoic orogeny
Xuefei Fan (Chu)
Working With Remanent Magnetization in Magnetic Data: A Comparison of Two Processing Techniques on Two Data Sets
Daniel Khan (Bank)
Remote-predictive geologic mapping of the Reykjanes Ridge: Implications for the volcanic and structural evolution of a slow-spreading Mid-Ocean Ridge
Sofia Panasiuk (Anderson)
Uncovering the Structural History of the Bathurst Deposit in New Brunswick: A 3D Model
Jessica Patterson (Gregory/Milkereit)
Examining Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic Over the Past 40 Years through Coralline Algae
Alessio Scurci (Halfar)
Wetland carbon: A comparison between swamp and marsh settings
Dean Hiler (Finkelstein)
Mass Balance Changes of Tropical Glaciers from 2000 to Present
Dana Haneberg (Wortmann)
Application of seismic refraction to identify the extent of archaeologically significant subsurface layers between excavation sites in Kathu Pan, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
Matthew Belanger (Bank)
Mineral Investigation of a New Carbonaceous Chondrite
Christian Beros (Tait)
Evaluating Efficiency of Ground-penetrating Radar on Waterbodies
Yufei Chen (Bank)
Sources and implications of decreased sulfate concentrations in Ogilvie Lake, Deep River ON
Alondra Villacres (Ferris)
Assessing the Seasonal Variability of Atmospheric Mercury in the Arctic
Domenica Lee (Bergquist)
Applying machine learning methods to predict geology using soil sample geochemistry
Timothy Lui (Gregory/Cowling)
Plants and the terrestrial mercury cycle
Nathaniel Spicer (Bergquist)
Biochar's Effect over Albedo and Implications for Green Roofs in Urban Heat Islands
Courtney Stevens (Cowling)
An investigation into the causes of U-Pb fractionation during zircon analysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS): Implications for the improvement of age determinations
Muhammad Nur Aflah Ahmad Zul Kamal (Davis)
Unraveling the Geological History of the Fenelon Gold Property and the Relative Timing of Gold Mineralization
Joy Carter (Gregory)
Suitability of Magnetometry in Detecting Clandestine Buried Weapons
Elijah Deng (Bank)
The Solubility and Partitioning of Pd and Au in Chloride Bearing Magmatic Fluids
Jason Hinde (Zajacz)
Using Highly Siderophile Elements in Ureilites to Better Understand Asteroid Formation Processes
Stephen Korchinos (Tait)
Removal of Severe Noise from Airborne Time-Domain Electromagnetic Data Acquired in New Brunswick, Canada
Alzbeta Ondercova (Milkereit)
Enhanced subglacial quarrying by a hard-bedded ice stream crossing the ShieldPaleozoic boundary in Southern Ontario
Colin Roth (Eyles)
Distinguishing Glacio-Fluvial Sediments in a Canadian Shield Aquifer by Combined S and P-Wave Refraction
Nathan Stoikopoulos (Bank)
Geological Evolution of the Chicobi Basin, Quebec: A U-Pb Geochronological Analysis
Naoimi Welt (Hamilton)
Estimating the Depth to Magnetic Source in Basement or Bedrock in Nash Creek, New Brunswick, Canada
Song Ye
Source Mechanism Inversion of Earthquake Induced by Wastewater Injection in Oklahoma, US.
Jia Chong (Liu)
Relative Tectonic Activity Assessment of the West Panay Fault System
Ariam Aferwerki (Schoenbohm)