I am currently a post doctoral researcher at the University of Padova (Department of Geosciences). I am part of the ERC INHERIT research project which aims to characterize hydrogen in diamond to elucidate the origin of water on Earth. I am currently studying hydrogen-, nitrogen- and vacancy-related point-defects in diamond in an effort to understand how they form and diffuse in diamond. I am particularly interested in understanding if hydrogen re-equilibrates in diamond during long residence periods in the mantle and if diamonds are capable of capturing and preserving hydrogen from primordial mantle reservoirs. 

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I completed my PhD at the University of Manitoba. This theoretical research involved developing structure hierarchies for silicate minerals using the geometrical and topological properties of the strongly bonded silicate structural unit.

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I am also interested in understanding the controls on the stability and abundance of specific arrangements of Si-tetrahedra. Potential controls evaluated thus far include bond valence constraints such as Lewis acidity/basicity , bond topology and bond geometry.

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I have worked on many experimental projects such as long- and short-range order in amphiboles, heating and dehydroxylation of amphiboles, and the chemical and structural characterization of several new mineral species. Involvement in such projects has allowed me to collaborate and publish with colleagues from around the world and has forced me to become proficient with SEM, EMP, SCXD, XRD and FTIR instrumentation and experimental techniques.