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Patricia A. Beddows

Director of the Environmental Sciences Program, Assistant Chair, and Associate Professor of Instruction

Ph.D. University of Bristol
M.Sc. McMaster University
B.A. McMaster University
Curriculum Vitae

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Research

  • Karst and caves - hydrogeology, geochemistry, geomorphology, and sedimentology
  • Paleoenvironmental records of sea level, climate change, and landscape evolution from sediments, speleothems, and fluid inclusions in speleothems
  • Applied research includes water resources, contaminant transport, and geoarcheology
  • Leadership in earth science education and program development
  • Problem-based learning (PBL) and education beyond the classroom
  • Open-source instrument hardware and software development for underwater and remote research

Teaching

EARTH 102:      Voyages of Discovery
EARTH 102:      Climate Change - The Scientific Evidence
ENVR SC 201 / CIV ENV 201: Earth - A Habitable Planet
ENVR SC 203:   Humans and the Environment
EARTH 360:       Instrumentation and Field Methods
EARTH 390:       Hydrology / Hydrogeology
EARTH 519:       Responsible Conduct of Research
Yucatan Field Trip - Experiential Field Excursion 

Selected Publications

Beddows, P.A., Mallon, E.K. (2018) Cave Pearl Data Logger - A flexible Arduino based logging platform for long-term monitoring in harsh environments. Sensors. 18, 530:1-26. DOI:10.3390/s18020530

Beddows, P.A., Mandic, M., Ford, D.C., Schwarcz, H.P. (2016) Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic variations between adjacent drips in three caves at increasing elevation in a temperate coastal rainforest, Vancouver Island, Canada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 172:370-386. DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2015.08.017

Beddows, P.A., Glover, J., Rissolo, D., Carter, A., Goodman, B., Jaijel, R., Smith D. (2016) Proyecto Costa Escondida: Recent interdisciplinary research in search of freshwater along the North Coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews – Water. 3(5):749-761. DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1161

Chatters, J.D. Kennett, D.J., Asmerom, Y., Kemp, B.M., Polyak, V., Nava Blank, A., Beddows, P.A., Reinhardt, E., Arroyo-Cabrales, J., Bolnick, D.A., Malhi, R.S., Culleton, B., Luna Erreguerena, P., Rissolo, D., Morell-Hart, S., Stafford, T.W. (2014) Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA from Mexico links Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans.  Science. 344(6185):750-754. DOI: 10.1126/science.1252619

Torres-Talamante, O., Alcocer, J., Beddows, P.A., Escobar-Briones, E., Lugo, A. (2011) The key role of the chemolimnion in meromictic cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Hydrobiologia. doi:10.1007/s10750-011-0746-9

Metcalfe, C., Beddows, P.A., Gold Bouchot, G., Metcalfe, T., Li, H., Van Lavieren, H. (2011) Contaminants in the coastal karst aquifer systems along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Environmental Pollution. 159(4):991-997.

van Hengstum, P.J., Reinhardt, E.G., Beddows, P.A., Gabriel, J. (2010) Linkages between Holocene paleoclimate and paleohydrogeology preserved in a Yucatan underwater cave. Quaternary Science Reviews. 29(19-20):2788-2798. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.034

van Hengstum, P.J., Reinhardt, E.G., Beddows, P.A., Schwarcz, H.P., Gabriel, J.J. (2009) Foraminifera and testate amoebae (thecamoebians) in an anchialine cave: Surface distributions from Aktun Ha (Carwash) cave system, Mexico. Limnology and Oceanography. doi:54: 391-396.

Gabriel, J.J., Reinhardt, E.G., Peros, M.C., Davidson, D.E., van Hengstum, P.J., Beddows, P.A.(2009) Palaeoenvironmental evolution of Cenote Aktun Ha (Carwash) on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico and its response to Holocene sea level rise. Journal of Paleolimnology. 42(2):199-213. doi:10.1007/s10933-00809271-x

Ufnar, D., Gröcke, D.R., Beddows, P.A. (2008) Paleo-evaporation rates from positive linear covariant trends in pedogenic calcite. Chemical Geology. 256(1-2):46-51, doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2008.07.022.

van Hengstum, P.J., Reinhardt, E.G., Beddows, P.A., Huang, R.J., Gabriel, J.J. (2008) Thecamoebians (testate amoebae) and foraminifera from three anchialine cenotes in Mexico: Low salinity (1.5-4.5 psu) faunal transitions. Journal of Foraminiferal Research. 38(4):305-317.

Zhang, R., Schwarcz, H.P., Ford, D.C., Serefiddin-Schroeder, F., Beddows, P.A. (2008) Absolute palaeotemperature record from 10 to 6 ka inferred from fluid inclusion D/H ratios of a stalagmite from Vancouver Island. British Columbia. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta. 72(4):1014-1026, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2007.12.002.

Beddows, P.A., Smart, P.L., Whitaker, F.F., Smith, S.L. (2007) Decoupled fresh-saline groundwater circulation of a coastal carbonate aquifer: Spatial patterns of temperature and specific electrical conductivity. Journal of Hydrology. 346(1-2): 18-32, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.08.013. 

Beddows, P.A. Blanchon, P., Escobar, E., Torres-Talamante, O. (2007) Los cenotes de la península de Yucatán. Arqueología Mexicana, 16(83):32-35 (In Spanish)

Smart, P.L., Beddows, P.A., Doerr, S., Smith, S.L., Whitaker, F.F. (2006) Cave development on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Geological Society of America Special Paper 404: Perspectives on Karst Geomorphology, Hydrology, & Geochemistry, 105-128, doi:10.1130/2006. 2404(10).

Beddows, P.A. (2003) Yucatán Phreas, Mexico. In Gunn, J. (ed) Encyclopaedia of Cave and Karst Science, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, New York, USA. 794-796.

Worthington, S., Ford, D.C. & Beddows, P.A. (2000) Porosity and permeability enhancement in unconfined carbonate aquifers as a result of solution. In Klimchouk, A. Ford, D., Palmer, A. & Dreybrodt, W.(eds) Speleogenesis: Evolution of Karst Aquifers, Cave Books, St Louis 463-471. ISBN 978-1-57958-399-6.