Looking behind the scope

A photographic narrative of the next generation of scientist

By Brian Zurek

When we hear the word scientist we often think of stuffy 'poindexters' in lab coats peering down the end of a microscope and mixing chemicals in beakers, today we go behind the curtain at a Thermochronology lab at the University of Calgary to get a peak at who the next generation of scientist are and the diverse set of personalities that exist behind the lab coat.

The Thermochronology group led by Dr Eva Enkelmann (2nd from left) is composed of diverse group of undergraduates, graduate students and post-docs.

The lab focuses on earth science and how the landscape evolves over millions of years through tectonic evolution. It does this by dating the thermal history of the grains within rocks, which can be used to model the burial history and uplift the layers with the earth over tectonic timescales.

Before the grains can be dated they need to be isolated from their host rock, a process that involves crushing, sorting and identifying individual grains suitable for analysis from sample rocks gathered in the field.

Doug, a PhD student, hammer in hand, looks for suitable rock specimens along the Elbow River, Kananaskis, Alberta

Once the rocks are collected they are brought into the lab where they are crushed and grains are sorted

Joshua an undergraduate student uses a magnetic separator.

Akeek a Postdoc sifts crushed rocks on a shaker table to help sort out different density grains

Joel, a PhD candidate looks through the microscope to identify a Zircon grain to be used in his study of development of Canadian Rocky mountains.

After they have been identified the grains are prepared to be dated using a laser to identify parent-daughter isotope ratios to derive a thermal date

Tegan an undergraduate preps a grain to be dated

After preparation the samples are finally brought into the laser ablation room and the isotopes are measured to derive a date

Julia the manager of the lab records the results from a sample run

It's clear to identify these individuals within the context of this story: scientists in lab coats, focused on peering through microscopes and diligently recording results in their lab notebooks. Yet beyond the stereotypical narrative lies a deeper reality—they are a diverse array of unique personalities, each distinct beneath their lab coat. Here, we offer a brief glimpse into the individuals who collectively comprise this laboratory, captured in candid black and white portraits.