Graduate Students/PostDocs/Undergrads

Post-doctoral Fellows

  • Tobias Bolch
  • Western Canadian Cryospheric Network
  • work number: (250) 960-5899
  • email: bolch@unbc.ca


    • I completed my PhD in the Institute for Geography at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. My dissertation project examined first the use of digital terrain models and remote sensing for glacier mapping and second analysed the glacier and climate changes in Tien Shan (Central Asia) in comparison with the Swiss Alps (Bernina-Group). During this time I had also a full-time position at the Humboldt-University of Berlin coordinating the e-learning project (GeoVis - Geography and Visualisation). My first post-doctoral position was within the Institute for Cartography at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany. I focused on developing an automated mapping method for the debris-covered glaciers at Mt. Everest/Nepal. My current task in my new position at UNBC is to create a glacier inventory of BC and Western Alberta based on space imagery.

    PhD Students

  • Matt Beedle (PhD candidate)
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • email: beedlem@unbc.ca



    • I am a PhD student at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program. My current work focuses on glacier change in British Columbia and relations to climate variability, which is part of the larger research effort of the Western Canadian Cryospheric Network.
    My previous work has centered on glacier change in southeast Alaska while at the University of Colorado - Boulder, with the Global Land Ice Measurements from Space group at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, and with the Juneau Icefield Research Program.

    MSc Students

  • Melanie Grubb
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • BSc Geography (UNBC 2005)
  • work: (250) 960-5899
  • email:grubbm@unbc.ca


    • I completed my BSc in Geography, with a focus in Geomorphology in 2005. I then decided to continue on with a Masters project at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Natural Resources and Environment Studies program under the supervision of Dr. Menounos. The objective of my thesis is to research sedimentary and geomorphic processes responsible for sediment yield in the Kitsumkalum Lake watershed, north of Terrace BC (54 deg 28 min N, 128 deg 35 min W). As glaciers retreat, more sediment is available for transport by water in large storm events, represented as distinct visible layers in sediment cores. Changes in glacier cover in the upper reaches of the Kitsumkalum lake watershed have changed the availability of sediment available for transport into the lake. The significance of the project is to demonstrate how sediment yield records can be used to determine past climate conditions and sedimentary processes.

  • Courtney Jermyn
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • BSc (honours) Earth Science/Geography, University of Waterloo, 2004
  • Current address: Geological Survey of Canada, Vancouver
  • work: 604-666-2572
  • email: courtney.jermyn@gmail.com


    • The objective of my thesis is to create a methodology for landslide inventory and susceptibility studies in large remote regions that have limited data sets. I will evaluate which geological and topographical conditions are associated with the generation of landslides found in the South Nahanni watershed. Results will be used to derive a susceptibility map for the watershed. My study will be useful to those conducting similar studies in Northern Canada and developing countries where remote regions are inaccessible or a full landslide assessment can not be afforded. This research will have immediate applications for land-use and development planning in the South Nahanni watershed and in similar areas in northern Canada. My other research interests include international development in natural disaster reduction, active tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and permafrost.

  • Kara Przeczek
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • BSc (honours) Ecology, University of Calgary
  • work: (250) 960-6700
  • email: przeczek@unbc.ca


    • I started my M.Sc. in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at UNBC in January 2007 under the co-supervision of Brian Menounos and Stephen Dery. The first part of my project will be a field study looking at radiative controls on snowmelt and to use this information to help determine the optimal model complexity that should be employed for runoff modeling. The second part of my project will be a modeling study looking at the effects of climate change on runoff from a glaciated basin in central BC.



  • Amanda Spendiff
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • BSc Geography (UNBC 2006)


  • Christina Tennant
  • Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program
  • BSc Geography (UNBC 2006)


    • Undergraduate Research Assistants

  • Laura Thomson
  • Research Intern for the Western Canadian Cryospheric Network
  • BSc candidate, Geophysics, University of Western Ontario
  • Current address: University of Northern BC, Prince George
  • email: bc.laura@gmail.com


    • Brian Menounos
    Last modified: Sun Nov 18 21:37:59 PST 2007