Dr. Alina Shchepetkina
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Western University · Ph.D. University of Alberta, 2016
Dr. Shchepetkina’s research spans sedimentary and environmental geology, combining detailed fieldwork with laboratory and experimental methods across modern and ancient settings, from marginal-marine and coastal systems to shallow- and deep-marine deposits.
Her work refines facies models for the rock record and reconstructs past depositional environments using a wide range of proxies, including sedimentological and ichnological observation, optical microscopy, CT and X-ray core scanning, SEM, XRD, XRF, hyperspectral imagery, and diatom analysis. In modern studies, she focuses on animal–sediment relationships and the environmental stresses that shape benthic communities and their trace fossils.
CURRENT STUDENTS
Graduate & undergraduate researchers
The students currently working in the lab, across graduate research, undergraduate projects, and work-study roles.
Zeerak S. is completing a Bachelor of Management & Organizational Studies at Western with a specialization in Finance. He is joining the lab as a Work-Study Student during summer 2026, focusing on expanding the lab’s visibility and client base. He develops the lab website, establishes a social media presence, conducts market analyses, and creates a strategic marketing plan to promote the lab’s research capabilities and analytical services.
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Tess Gates-Flaherty received her BSc with Honours at Acadia University before joining a thesis-based MSc at Western. She is a recipient of the OGS (2025–2026), NSERC Masters Scholarship, QEII, and MITACS GRA. Her research focuses on the sedimentological and ichnological response of subtropical and temperate tidal flats to anthropogenic climate forcing. Summer 2026 fieldwork is in the Venice Lagoon, Italy.
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Kayci Street completed her BSc with Honours in Earth and Environmental Sciences at McMaster University and joined the ESL Lab in 2025 as a project-based MSc student. Her research focuses on the sedimentological and ichnological characterization of the Alma Delta in the Bay of Fundy, and on assessing the impacts of recent climate change on macrotidal deltaic environments.
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Martina Duarte completed her BSc at the National University of La Plata (Argentina) before joining the ESL Lab as a thesis-based MSc student. She was awarded the IAS Judith McKenzie Fieldwork Award in 2025. Her research focuses on the response of deep-sea trace fossil communities to abrupt climate change during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum in the South Atlantic Ocean. She will conduct summer 2026 fieldwork in the Venice Lagoon, Italy (MITACS GRA).
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Bahaaeldin Adam earned a BSc from Alexandria University (Egypt), where he served as VP of the SEG Student Chapter. His project-based MSc at Western investigates deep-sea trace fossil communities in the South Atlantic Ocean during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum and Climatic Transition, integrating ichnological analyses with XRF geochemical data.
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Danijela Boras is a BSc student in Geology at Western, serving as President of the Western University Croatia Club and Undergraduate Student Representative in the Department of Earth Sciences. A volunteer in the ESL Lab since 2024, she completed a USRI in summer 2025 and took part in an all-female fieldwork campaign in the Bay of Fundy. Her research focuses on carbonate and terrigenous sortable silt analyses in the South Atlantic Ocean during the Eocene–Oligocene Transition.
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Yuxuan Fan is a BSc student in General Science at Western, majoring in Chemistry with plans to pursue a Geology major. She assists graduate students with granulometric and calcium carbonate content analyses during summer 2026.
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Yang Zhao is a BSc Mechatronic Systems Engineering student at Western with an interest in Geology. She joined the ESL Lab as a volunteer in summer 2026, helping with granulometric and calcium carbonate analyses and serving as a lab website development assistant.
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Jacob Koski is a BSc student in Earth Sciences at Western. He joined the ESL Lab as a volunteer in January 2026 and was awarded a USRI scholarship for summer 2026, conducting research in both the ESL Lab and the Paleontological Lab. He has developed expertise in calcium carbonate analysis and currently assists an MSc student with Bay of Fundy sediment analyses.
LinkedIn →ALUMNI
Former Lab Members
Past students, interns, and volunteers of the Environmental Sedimentology and Ichnology Lab.
Santiago completed a project-based MSc in 2025. His research focused on the sedimentology and diagenesis of Albian glauconitic sandstones from Mangyshlak, Kazakhstan. He is currently employed as Mineralogy Manager at Actlabs in Ontario, Canada.
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Edmond completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in 2025–2026 before returning to Queen Mary University of London to complete his PhD. His work focused on automated ichnofabric analysis with deep learning for marine core research.
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Mauricio is a PhD student at Universidad Nacional de Río Negro in Argentina. As an ELAP scholarship recipient, he worked on coastal dune dynamics along Lake Huron and received an IAS grant to present this research at the 38th IAS Meeting in 2025.
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David completed his thesis-based MSc in December 2025. His research focused on the Basal Cambrian Sandstone in SW Ontario and its relevance to carbon capture and storage. He received the Best Presentation by an MSc Student award at CEGA 2025 and is registered as a Geologist-in-Training in Ontario.
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Eric completed a USRA in summer 2024 and an Honours Bachelor’s Thesis in May 2025. His research focused on trace fossil records from the South Atlantic Ocean across major climate transitions. He has since completed a Master of Management of Applied Science at Western and is now working in industry.
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Poppy completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in summer 2024. Her research focused on trace fossils as proxies for the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum in the South Atlantic Gyre. She later presented a poster at GAC-MAC 2025 and is now pursuing an MSc at Durham University.
Georgina completed a 4-month MITACS Globalink Research Award internship in summer 2024. Her research focused on Cambrian CO₂ repository potential in SW Ontario and the suitability of Cambrian formations for carbon capture and storage. She is now pursuing an MSc at the University of Granada.
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Erika worked as a laboratory volunteer in 2024–2025 and supported a Bay of Fundy field campaign in August 2025, contributing to sample collection and drone imagery acquisition. She is currently employed as an exploration geology intern at Agnico Eagle Mines Limited.
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Daniel completed a 4-month Global Affairs Canada internship in 2025 before returning to Kenyatta University to complete his BSc. His work explored how research institutions in different national contexts address climate adaptation challenges.
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Autumn holds a BSc from Western University with a specialization in Environmental Science and a minor in Geology. She worked as a lab volunteer in 2025–2026, conducting granulometric and calcium carbonate content analyses. She has been accepted to the Environment and Sustainability master’s program at Western starting September 2026.
LinkedIn →Shu completed her BSc final project in the lab, comparing methods for extracting high-resolution carbonate records for paleoclimate determination in the South Atlantic Ocean. Following her undergraduate studies, she pursued an MSc in Environment and Sustainability at Western.
Maisie worked as a volunteer in 2024–2025, assisting with sand sample processing, sieving, data entry, mineralogical descriptions, and calcium carbonate analyses. She is completing her BSc in Earth Sciences with an Honours Specialization in Geology and has been selected as the next President of the Outcrop Club.
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