nleclerc

CPS Grad Spotlight - Natasha Leclerc

Name: Natasha Leclerc

MSc or PhD Candidate: PhD Candidate

Location of Undergraduate Education: H.B.A., University of Toronto

Name of the Lab at CPS: Climate Geology Research Group in the Halfar Lab

Selected Awards: Centre for Global Climate Science Award; NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship-Doctoral

Selected Research Contributions:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2021PA004286

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.923088/full

 

Natasha, please tell us about yourself and your journey as a PhD Candidate!

 

How did you come to UTM? What interested you to join a lab here?

I was an archaeologist finishing my masters at Memorial University of Newfoundland. At a conference, I saw my PhD supervisor, Jochen Halfar, give a talk about how coralline red algae from the Arctic could be used to reconstruct past sea ice conditions. Inspiring talk! The thought came to me that this environmental archive could be applied to archaeological questions. The project we designed together aimed to reconstruct past sea ice conditions to interpret shipwreck histories in the Arctic, but… Research often takes unexpected turns. The archaeological angle of my project became unfeasible, but I still got to work on some great and important projects. 

 

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a graduate study?

It’s kind of embarrassing. I was 16. I watched the History channel a lot (back when it was actually all about history). After watching hundreds of hours of history documentaries, I started to notice that the experts that had all the evidence about ancient history were archaeologists with Dr. in front of their name. Not long after that, I promised to myself that one day I would be like them. It makes me laugh now, since here I am now not doing much archaeology anymore and focused much more on the climate change and sea ice. Looking back though, I’m super proud that I followed my curiosity and took the risk to transition into a new discipline at UTM.

 

What are your research interests? Tell us few exciting things about your research.

Human-environmental interaction was the first research topic that interested me in archaeology, and I think it will always be. Us humans have succeeded evolutionarily by adapting and thriving in so many environments and by modifying our landscapes. I saw firsthand in my archaeological research. Now that my research is working towards the goal of providing paleo-environmental data to help us and ecosystems adapt to our changing climate, I see it as an extension of that first interest.

I’m also passionate about working with Indigenous communities to provide scientific and archaeological information useful to them, and hope to continue developing collaborative projects later in my academic career.

 

What is your goal when you finish your degree?

The goal I had during my degree was to produce disseminate knowledge through publication. Now that I’ve defended, I hope to continue publishing either as a postdoc, a researcher in the public sector, or a professor. I have dreams to work in Antarctica and go back to work with the Inuit community of Arctic Bay, Nunavut.

 

What are some of your achievements you'd like to share?

Getting my PhD after 12 years of dreaming and working towards that goal is my biggest personal achievement. Learning how to SCUBA dive and being able to dive for scientific purposes was also major.

 

Do you have any advice for students considering to pursue graduate studies in research?

A wise woman once told me, never take the advice of another grad student. We all have different journeys and it’s okay to cherry pick advice that’s helpful to you. That being said, here are few lessons that have been helpful to me.

Firstly, follow your curiosity, it can often lead to unexpected and wonderful places. It allowed me to ask new questions in my research and be stubborn about finding solutions to problems.

Secondly, I would encourage students to look for a supervisor that has a group of students and to try to find ways to collaborate or try to be a part of a research community. Grad school can sometimes be lonely when you are the only one working on a project. Get together, chat, vent, edit each other’s work, look at data together. No person is an island, ask for help when you get stuck or when you need a morale boost, and be there for the people in your team.

Lastly, it can be daunting at first when you know you have a big project to complete in the next year for MSc or 4+ years for PhD. Breaking it up into small chunks, setting deadlines and starting small is an excellent way to keep chugging along. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I also recommend signup for writing or research design workshops. There are so many resources for students, make sure you take advantage of them.