Carol Ptacek, University of Waterloo

Research

biochar emerging contaminants HPLC advanced mass spectrometry mercury metalloids metals mine wastes remediation

Latest papers

Geochemical and mineralogical investigation of cemented crusts in the tailings cover at Long Lake Gold Mine, Sudbury, Canada.
Journal of hazardous materials · 2023
Aqua regia digestion cannot completely extract Hg from biochar: A synchrotron-based study.
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2020

All 2 publications

Latest funding

Critical Resource Extraction using Sustainable Techniques (CREST)
NSERC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$500,000
Application of Novel Characterization Approaches to Northern Abandoned Mine Sites
NSERC · 2023 · Co-investigator
$359,100
Passive Approaches for Long-term Management of Mine Wastes and Hazardous Substances
NSERC · 2022 · Principal investigator
$153,000

All 21 grants and awards

2 publications.

01

Geochemical and mineralogical investigation of cemented crusts in the tailings cover at Long Lake Gold Mine, Sudbury, Canada.

Sapkota B, Verbuyst B, Bain J, Ptacek C, Blowes D, Al T

Journal of hazardous materials2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131192 PMID: 36921421

02

Aqua regia digestion cannot completely extract Hg from biochar: A synchrotron-based study.

Liu W, Feng Y, Zhong H, Ptacek C, Blowes D, Liu Y, Finfrock YZ, Liu P, Wang S

Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987)2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115002 PMID: 32563950

Critical Resource Extraction using Sustainable Techniques (CREST)

Co-investigatorNSERC2023Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Gu, Frank FX

Keywords: bioremediation; circular economy; critical minerals; metal recovery; microbes; mine tailings valorization; photocatalysis; tailings

$500,000

Application of Novel Characterization Approaches to Northern Abandoned Mine Sites

Co-investigatorNSERC2023Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Blowes, David DW

Keywords: co2 flux; contaminant hydrogeology; environment; geochemistry; mine waste; mining; reactive transport; remediation; waste management; water

$359,100

Passive Approaches for Long-term Management of Mine Wastes and Hazardous Substances

Principal investigatorNSERC2022Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Ptacek, Carol

Keywords: mine wastes; mercury; remediation; metals; metalloids; emerging contaminants; synchrotron-based spectroscopy; hplc advanced mass spectrometry; biochar; waste material reuse

$153,000

Remediation Strategies for the Long-term Management of Arsenic-trioxide Roaster Waste at the Giant Mine, Northwest Territories

Co-investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Blowes, David DW

Keywords: arsenic; contaminant hydrogeology; environment; geochemistry; geotechnical engineering; mine waste; mining; remediation; waste management; water

$1,160,747

Fate of contaminants in groundwater and development of passive remediation systems

Principal investigatorNSERC2016Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Ptacek, Carol

$198,000

Automatic sample purification system for multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Co-investigatorNSERC2016Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Blowes, David

$130,000

Towards Environmentally Responsible Resource Extraction Network (NSERC-TERRE-NET)

Co-investigatorNSERC2015Strategic Network Grants Program

Principal investigators: Blowes, David

$5,500,000

Remediation of mercury contaminated sediments

Principal investigatorNSERC2015Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Principal investigators: Ptacek, Carol

$304,070

Training toward Environmentally Responsible Resource Extraction

Co-investigatorNSERC2014Collaborative Research and Training Experience

Principal investigators: Blowes, David

$1,050,000

Canadian Water Network/Réseau canadien de l'eau

Co-investigatorNSERC2012Networks of Centres of Excellence

Principal investigators: Courtenay, Simon

$11,988,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

David Blowes

Earth & Environmental Sciences

2 shared papers, latest 2023

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their NSERC grant from 2022

Subject: Prospective PhD student: biochar Dear Professor Ptacek, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Geochemical and mineralogical investigation of cemented crusts in the tailings cover at Long Lake Gold Mine, Sudbury, Canada." (2023), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your NSERC-funded project "Passive Approaches for Long-term Management of Mine Wastes and Hazardous Substances" (2022), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]