Conferences | DERTS

International Diamond School - February 20-25, 2023

IDS2023

DERTS students and researchers attended the 5th International Diamond School in Bressanone, Italy between February 20 and 25, 2023. The Diamond School was organized by Fabrizio Nestola and Martha Pamato (Department of Geosciences, University of Padua) in collaboration with Graham Pearson and Thomas Stachel (DERTS program, University of Alberta), Steve Shirey (Carnegie Institution), Suzette Timmerman (University of Bern) and Karen Smit (University of Witwatersrand).

The IDS included internationally acclaimed, invited speakers from across industry and academia including presentations by DERTS researchers G. Pearson, T. Stachel, M. Kopylova and DERTS collaborators: J. Armstrong (Lucara Diamond), H. Grütter (SRK Consulting), J.W. Harris, Suzette Timmerman and Steve Shirey. DERTS students Andrea Pezzera, Amy Mailey, Melissa Bowerman, and Qiwei Zhang presented on their research at the meeting. Four pratical sessions were run that covered Inlcusions in diamonds, interpretation of EBSD and X-ray diffraction data,micro-raman spectroscopy and FTIR analyses. Students had ample opportunity to meet with a discuss their research with world renowned scientists from academia and industry and forge new collaborations. International Diamond School - DERTS participants

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American Geophsyical Union Fall Meeting - December 12-16, 2022

Kristina Kublik attended the AGU Fall meeting in Chicago in December 2022 and presented her work on:

Evaluating the Rheological Controls on Topography Development During Craton Formation: Objective Approaches to Evaluating Geodynamic Models

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Yellowknife Geoscience Forum - November 15-17, 2022

Qiwei Zhang attended the Geoscience Forum in Yellowknife, NWT in November 2022 to connect and interact with industry professionals from he exploration andmining industry. Qiwei presented his work on:

Super-deep and lithospheric diamonds inter DO-27 kimberlite, Northwest Territories - geochemistry age and origin.

Goldschmidt - July 11- 15, 2022

Sarah Milne attended the Goldschmidt meeting in Hawaii in June 2022 and presented her work on:

 Mesoproterozoic diamond formation in the root of the Sask craton: A link to the MacKenzie large igneous event?

DERTS Day 2021 - February 24, 2021

On February 21, 2021 all DERTS students and faculty met virtually online for the Annual DERTS meeting. It was disappointing not to be able to gather but we made the best of connecting virtually throughout the day. The students prepared excellent presentaions ontheir internship experience from 2020. In 2020 DERTS students completed internships with 9 DERTS partners. Internship experience varied from desktop geological studies to intensive field rotations on various exploration projects. Additionally student presented uodate on the progress of their research porgrams.


American Geophsyical Union Fall Meeting 2020 - December 1 -17, 2020

With everyone getting into the groove of virtually connecting and conferencing Nikita presented a virtual poster on his research at the AGU fall meeting.


AME Roundup Conference 2020 - January 20-23, 2020

DERTS students from both the U of A and UBC attended the AME Roundup conference in January 2020. We had a booth at the tradeshow to facilitate interaction between students, faculty and our industry partners. Gabrielle Jones and Brody Myers both presented posters on their research projects. In partnership with the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) we hosted the EAS alumni night on Monday January 21. It was great to catch up with our DERTS and EAS Alumni as well as all our industry DERTS partners.


DERTS Annual Meeting — November 1, 2019

On November 1, 2019 all DERTS students and faculty gathered in Edmonton for the Annual DERTS meeting. The focus of DERTS Day was to introduce and integrate our 14 new students from U of A and UBC. The day was the perfect occasion for the new cohort of U of A and UBC students to meet and interact with the entire DERTS faculty and the previous student cohorts. The new recruits got to hear first-hand about the program through presentations by senior students about their internship experiences and research progress. The visiting UBC students enjoyed lab tours at the university of Alberta and collaborating with senior researchers to further their research goals. DERTS Day 2019


Diamond Conference - July, 2019

The DeBeers sponsored Diamond Conference is held annually in July at the University of Warwick, UK. The conference brings together scientists and industry professionals with a focus on the physical properties of diamonds. Margo Regier presented on her research relating to boron-bearing blue diamonds.


GAC-MAC-IAH Conference - May, 2019

Christian Veglio attended, and presented at, the GAC-MAC-IAH meeting in Quebec City in May.  GAC-MAC is Canada’s largest geoscience conference and gave Christian to the opportunity to interact with renowned Canadian and international geoscientists.  


PDAC Convention - March, 2019

Christian Veglio attended and presented at the PDAC Convention in March a. The PDAC Convention is the most-attended event for the world's mineral exploration and mining sector and allowed Christian to interact with industry professionals.


AME Roundup Conference 2019 - January 28-31, 2019

DERTS students from both the U of A and UBC attended the AME Roundup conference in January 2019. We had a booth at the tradeshow to facilitate interaction between students, faculty and our industry partners. Marina Karaevnagelou  and David Sasse both presented posters on their research projects.


DERTS Annual Meeting — November 5, 2018

On November 5, 2018 all DERTS students and faculty gathered in Edmonton for the Annual DERTS meeting. The morning was filled with presentations and tutorial seminars from invited speakers. The day started with a presentation from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) on role of professional bodies in regulation of the geoscience professions. Technical presentations by our own Matt Hardman on an Introduction to R - a statistical software suite ,and visiting speaker Dan Howell on FTIR data processing rounded out the morning session. Michael Seller from DeBeers Group joined us for the days' events. Mike's presentation on "Indicator Mineral Provence Studies Using Ilmenite" highlighted the application of geo-statistics in exploration targeting. During the afternoon the students talked, in general terms, about their internship experiences and the progress of their research projects. Overall a very informative and constructive day!


International Diamond School — 2018: January 29 – February 2

Bressanone, Italy

DERTS students attended the 4th International Diamond School in Bressanone, Italy between January 29th and February 2nd, 2018. The Diamond School was organized and supported by the Indimedea research team (Department of Geosciences, University of Padua) along with Graham Pearson (University of Alberta), Steven Shirey (Carnegie Institution), Matteo Alvaro (University of Pavia) and Wuyi Wang (Gemological Institute of America). The GIA was the education sponsor of the conference.

The IDS included internationally acclaimed, invited speakers from across industry and academia including presentations by DERTS researchers G. Pearson and T. Stachel, and DERTS collaborators: J. Armstrong (Lucara Diamond), M. Breeding (GIA), H. Grütter (Peregrine Diamonds), J.W. Harris, B. Kjarsgaard (GSC), and W. Wang (GIA). DERTS students Marina Karaevangelou, Margo Regier and David Sasse presented on their research at the meeting. The small format of the meetingfacilitated an ideal environment for discussions and networking between the students and other attendees.


International Diamond School — 2016: June 8th – 10th

University of Alberta

The Diamonds and Mantle Geodynamics of Carbon Consortium hosted an International Diamond School on Diamonds and their cratonic mantle hosts at the University of Alberta, Edmonton including a pre- workshop 2 day field trip to Yellowknife and a day trip to Ekati or the Diavik mine

2016 International Diamond School


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