Bernhard Mayer named interim dean, Faculty of Science

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Bernhard Mayer, head of the Department of Geoscience, has been appointed interim dean, Faculty of Science, effective  June1, 2020. Dr. Mayer has agreed to serve in this important transitional role until June 30, 2021.

Dr. Mayer is a nationally and internationally known isotope geochemist. He received his PhD in geochemistry in 1993 from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich and after 18 months as a postdoctoral fellow at UCalgary’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, he returned to Germany as an assistant professor in the Department of Sedimentary and Isotope Geology at the Ruhr-University Bochum. In September 1997, Dr. Mayer returned to UCalgary as an associate professor.

Dr. Mayer was named department head of geoscience in 2016. Previously, he has served as assistant scientific director of Carbon Management Canada Inc. (2009-2013) and was appointed to a national scientific review panel on shale gas extraction co-ordinated by the Council of Canadian Academies (2012-14). Dr. Mayer was awarded an Annual Killam Professorship in 2017-2018.

His research during the last two decades on a wide variety of geochemical topics has contributed to various provincial, national, and international research programs, including the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Research (AICWR), the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for In Situ Energy (AICISE), the Canadian Water Networks (CWN) Centres of Excellence (NCE), the STUDIUM Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Studies (France), and the United Nations SCOPE Nitrogen group. Dr. Mayer has successfully obtained research funds from a wide range of international, federal and provincial peer-reviewed granting agencies (NSERC, CFI, NRCan, Environment Canada, Alberta Innovates, Alberta Environment and Parks, and more) and from a number of industry partners.

An advisory search committee for a new dean of the Faculty of Science will be struck and a search will commence early in the fall semester.

Please join me in thanking Bernhard for assuming this important leadership role.

Dr. Dru Marshall
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)