Photo of Dr. Nawaf Nasser, Ph.D. 2019

Dr. Nawaf Nasser, Ph.D. 2019

Current: Research Associate, CCERG

Degrees:B.Sc. (Kuwait University); M.Sc. (Carleton University); Ph.D. (Carleton University); Post-doctoral Fellowship(Carleton University)
Email:nawafnasser@cunet.carleton.ca
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Nawaf Nasser is a Research Associate specializing in micropaleontology, contaminant geochemistry, and multivariate statistics. His research focuses on utilizing various proxies (e.g. micropaleontological, geochemical, and sedimentological) to assess the impact of environmental contamination and the success of remediation efforts in northern lakes. Nasser has a B.Sc. in Geology (with marine science minor) from Kuwait University, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from Carleton University, where he investigated the spatial response of Arcellinida, a group of shelled benthic protists, to mining-related contamination in lakes in the area of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Nasser’s Ph.D. research work was focused on further developing Arcellinida a geoscience tool for environmental monitoring and risk assessment by:

  1. Identifying environmental controls on the spatio-temporal distribution of Arcellinida (testate loboese amoebae) in lakes impact by anthropogenic contamination in regions of high natural resource potential (e.g. gold mining across the prospective Great Slave Geological Province, Northwest Territories, Canada.
  2. Understand how Arcellinida taxa interact with elements of environmental concern, particularly focusing on arsenic.
  3. Quantifying the tolerance limits of different Arcellinida taxa to varying levels of arsenic contamination in impacted lakes in the Canadian sub-Arctic.
  4. Developing novel Arcellinida sample-preparation protocols enhancing the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of micropaleontological analysis.

 

PUBLISHED ARTICLES

  • Cockburn, C.F., et al., Gregory, B.R., Nasser, N.A. and Patterson, R.T., 2020. Intra-Lake Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) Response to Winter De-icing Contamination in an Eastern Canada Road-Side “Salt Belt” Lake. Microbial ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-020-01513-w
  • Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Galloway, J.M. and Falck, H., 2020. Intra-lake response of Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) to gold mining-derived arsenic contamination in northern Canada: Implications for environmental monitoring. PeerJ, 8, p.e9054. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9054
  • Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M., Galloway, J.M., Falck, H. and Sanei, H., 2020. Use of Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) arsenic tolerance limits as a novel tool for biomonitoring arsenic contamination in lakes. Ecological Indicators, 113, p.106177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106177
  • Steele, R.E., Patterson, R.T., Paul B. Hamilton, P.B., Nasser, N.A., Roe, H.M. 2020. Assessment of FlowCam technology as a potential tool for rapid semi-automatic analysis of lacustrine Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae). Environmental Technology & Innovation. 17 (February). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2019.100580.
  • Nasser, N.A., Gregory, B.R., Steele, R.E., Patterson, R.T. and Galloway, J.M. 2019. Behind the Organic Veil: Assessing the Impact of Chemical Deflocculation on Organic Content Reduction and Lacustrine Arcellinida (Testate Amoebae) Analysis. Microbial ecology, pp.1–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-019-01429-0
  • Nasser, N.A., Cullen, J., Patterson, C.W., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M. and Galloway, J.M. 2019. Inter-annual Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) assemblage dynamics within lacustrine environments. Limnologica, 76, pp.60–71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2019.03.006 
  • Patterson, R.T., Nasser, N.A., Gregory, B.R., Gavel, M.J., Menard, E., Galloway, J.M. and Roe, H.M. 2019. Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) as Sensitive Bioindicators of Arsenic Contamination in Lakes. In Exploring the Nexus of Geoecology, Geography, Geoarcheology and Geotourism: Advances and Applications for Sustainable Development in Environmental Sciences and Agroforestry Research (pp. 71-73). Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01683-8_15 
  • Miller, C.B., Parsons, M.B., Jamieson, H.E., Swindles, G.T., Nasser, N.A. and Galloway, J.M. 2019. Lake-specific controls on the long-term stability of mining-related, legacy arsenic contamination and geochemical baselines in a changing northern environment, Tundra Mine, Northwest Territories, Canada. Applied Geochemistry, 109, p.104403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2019.104403 
  • Hutchinson, S.J., Hamilton, P.B., Patterson, R.T., Galloway, J.M., Nasser, N.A., Spence, C. and Falck, H. 2019. Diatom ecological response to deposition of the 833-850 CE White River Ash (east lobe) ashfall in a small subarctic Canadian lake. PeerJ, 7, p.e6269. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6269 
  • Steele R.E., Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Gregory B.R.B., Roe H.M., Reinhardt E.G. 2018. An Assessment of Sub-Meter Scale Spatial Variability of Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) Assemblages in a Temperate Lake: Implications for Limnological Studies. Microbial ecology, 76: 680–694. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-018-1157-5 
  • Menard, E., Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Galloway, J.M., Cott, P.A., Hanna, B.W. and Falck, H. 2019. Sub-bottom acoustic profiling as a remediation assessment tool for contaminated lakes. SN Applied Sciences, 1(6), p.572. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-0588-z 
  • Gavel MJ, Patterson RT, Nasser NA, Galloway JM, Hanna BW, Cott PA, Roe H.M., Falck H. (2018) What killed Frame Lake? A precautionary tale for urban planners. PeerJ 6:e4850. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4850
  • Gregory B.R.B., Reinhardt E.G., Macumber A.L., Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Kovacs S.E., Galloway J.M. 2017. Sequential sample reservoirs for Itrax-XRF analysis of discrete samples. Journal of Paleolimnology, 57: 287–293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-017-9944-4 
  • Patterson R.T., Crann C.A., Cutts J.A., Mustaphi C.J.C., Nasser N.A., Macumber A.L., Galloway J.M., Swindles G.T. and Falck H. 2017. New occurrences of the White River Ash (east lobe) in Subarctic Canada and utility for estimating freshwater reservoir effect in lake sediment archives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 477: 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.03.031 
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M., Galloway, J.M, Falck, H., Palmer, M.J., Spence, C., Sanei, H., Macumber, A.L. and Neville, L.A. 2016. Lacustrine Arcellinina (Testate Amoebae) as Bioindicators of Arsenic Contamination. Journal of Microbial Ecology, 72: 130–149. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-016-0752-6  (Awarded best student publication for 2016-2018 interval by the International Society for Testate Amoeba Research at the International Seminar on Testate Amoeba (ISTA 10) meeting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, September 2018)
  • Nasser, N.A­. and Patterson, R.T. 2015. Conicocassis, a new genus of Arcellinina (testate lobose amoebae). Palaeontologia Electronica 18.3.46A: 11 pp, 4.3MB, palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1323-new-genus-of-arcellinina
  • Patterson, R.T., Huckerby, G., Kelly, T.J., Swindles, G.T., Nasser, N.A. 2015. Hydroecology of Amazonian lacustrine Arcellinida (testate amoebae): A case study from Lake Quistococha, Peru. European journal of Protistology, 51: 460–469. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2015.06.009 

 

PEER REVIEWED OPEN FILE REPORTS

  • Galloway, J.M., Palmer, M., Jamieson, H.E., Patterson, R.T., Nasser, N., Falck, H., Macumber, A.L., Goldsmith, S.A., Sanei, H., Normandeau, P. and Hadlari, T. 2015. Geochemistry of lakes across ecozones in the Northwest Territories and implications for the distribution of arsenic in the Yellowknife region. In Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7908 (p. 1).

IN REVIEW

  • Hutchinson, S.J., Hamilton. P.B., Patterson, R,T, Galloway, J.M., Nasser, N.A., Spence, C., and Falck, H. (Submitted) .A Diatom Based Paleolimnological Reconstruction of a Small, Subarctic Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. Global and Planetary Change.
  • Mazzella, V., Patterson, R.T., Macumber, A.L., Gregory, B.R.B., Roe, H.M., Galloway, J.M., Nasser, N.A. (Submitted). A novel geomatics protocol for mapping the spatial distribution of lake depositional and resuspension areas: implications for paleolimnological research. PeerJ

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS

  • Nasser, N, Patterson, R.T, Falck, H, Galloway, J.M, Kokelj, S.V, Macumber, A.L. and Crann, C. (2013, May). An assessment of arsenic and heavy metal contamination and paleoclimatic change in Pocket Lake, Baker Creek Watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada. Poster presented at the Quebec-Ontario Paleolimnology Symposium (PALS), Ottawa, Canada. BEST POSTER PRESENTATION AWARD.
  • Nasser, N. Patterson, R.T., Neville, L.A., Macumber, A.L., Galloway, J.M., Falck, H., Roe, H.M. and, Kokelj, S.V. (2013, November). Arcellaceans (testate lobose amoeba) as proxies for arsenic and heavy metal contamination in the Baker Creek Watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral presentation presented at the Annual Geoscience Forum, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
  • Nasser, N., Patterson, R.T., Macumber, A.L., Neville, L.A. Falck, H., Galloway, J.M., Kokelj, S.V., Roe, H.M. (2014, March). Arcellaceans (Testate Lobose Amoebae) As Proxies for Arsenic and Heavy Metal Contamination in the Baker Creek Watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral Presentation presented at the Advances in Earth Sciences Research Conference (AESRC), Ottawa, Canada.
  • Nasser, N., Patterson, R.T., Macumber, A.L., Neville, L.A. Falck, H., Galloway, J.M., Kokelj, S.V., Roe, H.M. (2014, August). Arcellaceans (Testate Lobose Amoebae) As Proxies for Arsenic and Heavy Metal Contamination in the Baker Creek Watershed Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral Presentation presented at Partner Working Meeting: Understanding the Nature, Extent and Fate of Legacy Contamination Near Yellowknife, NWT, Ottawa, Canada, p. 2.
  • Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Macumber, A.L., Galloway, J.M., Roe, H.M. (2014, November). Utility of arcellaceans (shelled protists) as a tool for monitoring arsenic and heavy metal contamination. The Science of Groundwater. Latornell Geoscience Day, Alliston, Ontario, Canada.
  • Nawaf A. Nasser, R. Timothy Patterson, Helen M. Roe, Jennifer M. Galloway, Hendrick Falck, Michael J. Palmer, Steve V. Kokelj, Hamed Sanei, Andrew L. Macumber, Lisa A. Neville. (2015, March). Arcellaceans (Testate Lobose Amoeba) as Bio-Indicators of Arsenic Contamination in the  Yellowknife Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral presentation presented at the Ottawa- Carleton Student Northern Research Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario. BEST ORAL PRESENTATION AWARD.
  • Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M., Galloway, J.M., Falck, H, Palmer, M.J., Kokelj, S.V., Sanei H, Macumber, A.L., Neville, L.A. (2015, March). Arcellaceans (Testate Amoeba) As Bio-Indicators of Arsenic Contamination in Lakes within the Yellowknife Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral Presentation presented at the Advances in Earth Sciences Research Conference (AESRC), Kingston, Ontario, Canada. BEST ORAL PRESENTATION AWARD.
  • Nasser, N.A., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M., Galloway, J.M., Falck, H, Palmer, M.J., Kokelj, S.V., Sanei H, Christopher, S., Macumber, A.L., Neville, L.A. (2015, May). Lake Arcellacea (Testate Amoeba) as Bio-Indicators of Arsenic Contamination in the Yellowknife Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oral Presentation presented at the Paleolimnology Symposium (PALS), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Gregory B.R.B., Macumber A.L., Galloway J.M., Palmer M., Falck H. (2015, November). High Spatio-Temporal Resolution Assessment of Arcellinina (Testate Amoebae) as Bio-Indicators of Legacy Mine Contamination in the Canadian Subarctic: Implications for Environmental Monitoring. Oral presentation presented at the Annual Geoscience Forum, Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Macumber A.L., Gregory B.R.B., Sabourin, M., Menard, E. Galloway, J.M., Falck, H. (2015, November). Intra-Lake Assessment of the Utility of Arcellinina (Testate Amoebae) as Bio-Monitors of Lacustrine System Health in Frame Lake, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Poster presentation presented at the Annual Geoscience Forum, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Gregory B.R.B., Macumber A.L., Galloway J.M., Palmer M., Falck H. (2016, November). High Resolution Inter-Lake Assessment of Environmental Controls over the Distribution of the Bioindicator Arcellinina (Testate Lobose Amoebae) in the Canadian Subarctic: Implications for Environmental Monitoring. Oral presentation presented at the Annual Geoscience Forum, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Galloway J.M., Gregory B.R.B., Macumber A.L., Palmer M., Falck H. (2017, March). High Resolution Inter-Lake Assessment of Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) as Bio-Indicators of Legacy Mine Contamination in the Yellowknife Region, NT, Canada. Oral presentation presented at the Ottawa- Carleton Student Northern Research Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. BEST ORAL PRESENTATION AWARD.
  • Patterson R.T., Nasser N.A. (2017, April). Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change. Oral presentation presented at the annual Carleton University Spring Conference, Ottaw, Ontation. INVITED LECTURE
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Galloway, J.M. (2018, February). Lacustrine Arcellinida (Testate Lobose Amoebae) as a Tool for Monitoring Arsenic Contamination in sub-arctic Canada. Oral presentation presented at the Geological Survey of Canada’s Monthly Environmental Geoscience Program Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Galloway J.M., Palmer M.J., Roe H.M., Falck H., Sanei H. (2018, August). Tolerance limits of arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) to lacustrine arsenic contamination in the canadian subarctic. Oral Presentation presented at the Joint Meeting of the Canadian and American Quaternary Association (Canqua-Amqua), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Nasser N.A., Patterson R.T., Galloway J.M., Palmer M.J., Roe H.M., Falck H., Sanei H. (2018, September). Quantification of arsenic-tolerance limits of lacustrine Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae): implications for environmental monitoring. Oral Presentation presented at the 9th International Symposium on Testate Amoebae (ISTA9), Belfast, UK.
  • Nasser, N.A., Cullen, J., Patterson, C.W., Patterson, R.T., Roe, H.M. and Galloway, J.M. (2018, September). Assessing temporal changes in Arcellinida (testate lobose amoebae) standing crop in homogenous lacustrine environments. Poster Presentation presented at the 9th International Symposium on Testate Amoebae (ISTA9), Belfast, UK.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

  • 2013    Dr. George A. Jeletzky Memorial Scholarship
  • 2013    Graduate Scholarship
  • 2013    Best poster presentation award at Ontario-Qubece Paleolimnology Symposium (PALS)
  • 2014    Alice E. Wilson, F.R,S.C. Scholarship in Geoscience
  • 2014    Graduate Scholarship
  • 2015    Best oral presentation award at Ottawa Carleton Student Northern Symposium 2015 (OCSNRS)
  • 2015    Dr. George A. Jeletzky Memorial Scholarship                                  
  • 2015    Best oral presentation award in the Environmental Geology session at the Advances in Earth Sciences Research Conference (AESRC)
  • 2015    The Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) Grant
  • 2016    Geological Society of America (GSA) Research Grants
  • 2016    Loeblich and Tappan Student Research Award
  • 2016    The Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) Grant
  • 2017    The Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP) Grant
  • 2017    Best oral presentation award at Ottawa Carleton Student Northern Symposium 2015 (OCSNRS)
  • 2018    Dr. George A. Jeletzky Memorial Scholarship
  • 2018    Herbert Spencer Jennings Best Student Research Publication at the ninth International Symposium on Testate Amoebae (ISTA9)
  • 2018    National Resources Canada Research Affiliation Program
  • 2020    Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement

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