Michael Pisaric

Professor, Earth Sciences

Office: Mackenzie Chown C318
905 688 5550 x6152
mpisaric@brocku.ca

  • 2016-present: Adjunct Professor.  School of Geography & Earth Sciences, McMaster University.

  • 2015-present: Professor. Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University.

  • 2013-present: Associate member. Departments of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences, Brock University.

  • 2013-present: Adjunct Research Professor.  Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University.

  • 2013-2015: Associate Professor. Department of Geography, Brock University.

  • 2012-2013: Assistant Professor.  Department of Geography, Brock University.

  • 2007-2012: Associate Professor. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University.

  • 2007-2012: Member. Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre, Carleton University.

  • 2003-2012: Member. Carleton Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University.

  • 2002-2007: Assistant Professor. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Carleton University.

  • 2001-2002: Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Big Sky Institute, Montana State University.

  • 2001-2001: Instructor. Department of Geography, Brock University

  • 1990-1994 BSc Physical Geography, Brock University

  • 1994-1996 MSc Physical Geography, McMaster University

  • 1996-2001 PhD Physical Geography, Queen’s University (Kingston)

  • 2001-2002 Postdoctoral Fellow, Montana State University (Bozeman, Montana)

  • 2013-2016 Brock Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence

  • GEOG 1F91 – Principles of Physical Geography

  • GEOG 3P09 – Principles of Biogeography

  • GEOG 4P26 – Stream Form and Function

  • GEOG 4P80 – Dendrochronology

Dr. Pisaric studies the impacts of climate and environmental change in subarctic and alpine regions of western Canada.  He uses dendrochronology (the study of tree ring growth records) and paleolimnology (the study of subfossils preserved in the sediment at the bottom of lakes) to conduct his research.  Dr. Pisaric has conducted research throughout subarctic regions of northwest Canada and northern Russia.  He has also carried out research in alpine environments throughout British Columba and Alberta and down into Montana in the northern United States.  Currently, much of his research is focused along the Mackenzie Valley in northwest Canada, spanning the area from Yellowknife in the southern Northwest Territories to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk at Canada’s far northwest coast.

Research student supervision:

  • Jean-Philippe Martin (Postdoctoral fellow, Brock University)
  • Zachary Harmer (M.S. student, Brock University)
  • Dana Harris (M.S. student, Brock University)
  • Caitlin Garner (M.S. student, Brock University)
  • Rebecca Gunter (M.Sc. student, Brock University)
  • Tyler Prince (M.S. student, Brock University)
  • Emily Ham (B.Sc. student, Brock University)

Korosi, J., Thienpont, J.R., Pisaric, M.F.J., Perreault, J.T., deMontigny, P., Armstrong, T., Kokelj, S.V., Blais, J.M. and Smol, J.P. 2017. Tracking extensive lake expansion into critical wood bison habitat of the southern Northwest Territories, Canada using remote sensing and lake sediments. Nature Communications. doi:10.1038/ncomms14510.

Davis, E.L., Courtney Mustaphi, C.J., Pisaric, M.F.J., Vermaire, J., and Moser, K.A.  2016. Determinants of fire activity at the wildland-urban interface of Jasper, Alberta over the last 3500 years. Quaternary Research. 86(3): 247-259.

Mullan, DJ., Swindles, G.T., Patterson, TR., Galloway, J., Macumber, AL., Falck, H., Crossley, LH., Chen, J., Pisaric, MFJ. 2016. Climate Change and the Long-term Viability of the World’s Busiest Heavy-haul Ice Road. Theoretical and Applied Climatology. doi:10.1007/s00704-016-1830-x.

Dick, M., Porter, T.J., Pisaric, M.F.J., Wertheimer, È., deMontigny, P., Perreault, J.T. and Robillard, K-L.  2014.  A multi-century eastern white pine tree-ring chronology developed from salvaged river logs and its utility for dating heritage structures in Canada’s National Capital Region.  Dendrochronologia. 32(2):120–126.

Courtney Mustaphi, C.J. and Pisaric, M.F.J.  2013. Varying influence of climate and aspect as controls of montane forest fire regimes during the late Holocene, south-eastern British Columbia, Canada.  Journal of Biogeography. 40(10):1983–1996.

Pisaric, M.F.J., Thienpont, J., Kokelj, S.V., Nesbitt, H., Lantz, T., Solomon, S., and Smol, J.P.  2011. Impacts of a recent storm surge on an Arctic ecosystem examined within a millennial timescale.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108(22): 8960-8965.