I am a SSHRC and Killam postdoctoral research fellow in the department of anthropology working with Dr. Michael Richards. My specialty is the application of stable isotopes to reconstruct past environments and better understand how humans interacted with these environments. My research presently focuses on the marine environment of the North America Arctic, how it has changed over the last 4,500 years and how various species of marine mammals (ringed seal, bearded seal, walrus, beluga, polar bear) have responded to these changes. I am interested in learning how these changes may have impacted human populations in the past and in using the data to create long-term ecological baselines for modern studies in the region.

Szpak, P., Longstaffe, F.J., Millaire, J.-F., White, C.D., 2014. Large variation in nitrogen isotopic composition of a fertilized legume. Journal of Archaeological Science 45, 72-79.

Szpak, P., 2014. Complexities of Nitrogen Isotope Biogeochemistry in Plant-Soil Systems: Implications for the Study of Ancient Agricultural and Animal Management Practices. Frontiers in Plant Science 5, 288.

Szpak, P., White, C.D., Longstaffe, F.J., Millaire, J.-F., Vásquez Sánchez, V.F., 2013. Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Survey of Northern Peruvian Plants: Baselines for Paleodietary and Paleoecological Studies. PLoS One 8, e53763.

Szpak, P., Orchard, T.J., Salomon, A.K., Gröcke, D.R., 2013. Regional ecological variability and impact of the maritime fur trade on nearshore ecosystems in southern Haida Gwaii (British Columbia, Canada): evidence from stable isotope analysis of rockfish (Sebastes spp.) bone collagen. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 5, 159-182.

Szpak, P., Orchard, T.J., McKechnie, I., Gröcke, D.R., 2012. Historical ecology of late Holocene sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from northern British Columbia: isotopic and zooarchaeological perspectives. Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 1553-1571.

Szpak, P., Millaire, J.-F., White, C.D., Longstaffe, F.J., 2012. Influence of seabird guano and camelid dung fertilization on the nitrogen isotopic composition of field-grown maize (Zea mays). Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 3721-3740.

Szpak, P., Longstaffe, F.J., Millaire, J.-F., White, C.D., 2012. Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry of Seabird Guano Fertilization: Results from Growth Chamber Studies with Maize (Zea mays). PLoS One 7, e33741.

Szpak, P., 2011. Fish bone chemistry and ultrastructure: implications for taphonomy and stable isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 38, 3358-3372.

Orchard, T.J., Szpak, P., 2011. Identification of salmon species from archaeological remains on the northwest coast. In: Moss, M., Cannon, A. (Eds.), The Archaeology of North Pacific Fisheries, University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, pp. 17-29.

Szpak, P., Gröcke, D.R., Debruyne, R., MacPhee, R.D.E., Guthrie, R.D., Froese, D., Zazula, G.D., Patterson, W.P., Poinar, H.N., 2010. Regional differences in bone collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of Pleistocene mammoths: Implications for paleoecology of the mammoth steppe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 286, 88-96.

Szpak, P., Orchard, T.J., Gröcke, D.R., 2009. A Late Holocene vertebrate food web from southern Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia). Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2734-2741.

Debruyne, R., Chu, G., King, C.E., Bos, K., Kuch, M., Schwarz, C., Szpak, P., Gröcke, D.R., Matheus, P., Zazula, G., Guthrie, D., Froese, D., Buigues, B., de Marliave, C., Flemming, C., Poinar, D., Fisher, D., Southon, J., Tikhonov, A.N., MacPhee, R.D.E., Poinar, H.N., 2008. Out of America: ancient DNA evidence for a New World origin of Late Quaternary woolly mammoths. Current Biology 18, 1320-1326.

Stable Isotope Analysis|Historical Ecology|Environmental Archaeology