Jennifer Kissinger
I am a PhD student at the University of Ottawa Department of Biology, specializing in Chemical and Environmental Toxicology, under the supervision of Dr. Jules Blais. I completed my undergraduate education at Indiana University, USA, and graduated with a degree in Forensic Pathology. I have a research background in neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and in the start-up sphere finding unique solutions to problems in biology and medicine. As a forensic investigator in a previous life, I am interested in finding novel ways in which methods can be used to resolve issues of legal and historical significance from an interdisciplinary perspective. My research is focused on reconstructing environments temporally through chemical biomarkers in sediment which can remain stable for hundreds of years to centuries. By utilizing paleolimnological techniques, biomarkers can be used to create a unique ‘fingerprint’ of sediment nutrients which can, in conjunction with a host of independent lines of evidence, provide past and present snap-shots of anthropogenic impact to environmental states and provide clarity on its significance to ecology and society.