July 17, 2012
Kathryn Gillis is a Professor in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences and an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria. She received her B.Sc. in Geology from Queen’s University (1981) and her PhD in Geological Oceanography from Dalhousie University (1987). She then held a NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Université de Montréal before joining the scientific staff of the Marine Geology and Geophysics Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 1989. During her tenure at WHOI she sailed as co-chief scientist on Ocean Drilling Project Leg 147 and as a participant in several other cruises. Dr. Gillis moved to the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria in 1994 and served as the director of the school for seven years.
Dr. Gillis is a marine geologist and geochemist whose research examines ocean-lithosphere interaction, with a focus on geochemical cycles that bear on broad issues, such as the long-term carbon cycle and ore-forming processes at mid-ocean ridges. This research involves seagoing and land-based fieldwork, geochemical analysis and modelling. In 2012 she will co-lead the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 345 to recover several sections of deep oceanic crustal rocks.
Dr. Gillis has represented Canada and her research discipline on numerous national and international panels related to the international ocean drilling program and, more recently, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). She founded the Canadian Consortium for Ocean Drilling, composed of 12 Canadian universities and government agencies, which facilitates Canada’s participation in IODP and represents Canadian interests internationally. She has also served on the Science Advisory Committee for NEPTUNE Canada, the US National Science Foundation Ridge Steering Committee, and the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area Management Committee, amongst others. In 2006, she was awarded the Michael Keen Medal by the Geological Association of Canada for her contributions to marine geology.