Alix Osinchuk

Alix Osinchuk completed her B. Sc. (Hons) and M. Sc. in Geology at University of Alberta with Drs Tom Chacko and Larry Heaman. During her M. Sc she studied the petrogenesis of ferroan granitoids from Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut, in a joint project with the Geological Survey of Canada. Her M. Sc. research allowed her to focus on her passion for petrology while learning a variety of instrumentation methods in geochronology and mineral chemistry, as well as started a great appreciation for Arctic fieldwork.

In 2021, Alix started her Ph. D. with Dr Brendan Dyck at University of British Columbia Okanagan, integrating both rock deformation and metamorphic petrology as part of her research. Her research uses subgrain-size piezometry, a method that quantifies intracrystalline deformation, with phase modelling and classic geothermobarometry to estimate paleostress of metamorphic minerals. Specifically, she investigated the mineral microstructures from exhumed rocks from three different tectonic settings across the world. As the paleostress accommodated by individual minerals is an important component to bulk viscosity, that is strength, of rocks, her research allows us to investigate the primary controls of regional deformation in ductile crust. As her research evolved, her research recognized that variance in metamorphic assemblage can impact the prevalence for diffusion and thereby impact how solid-solution minerals accommodate deformation. Her research will continue to investigate the feedback between evolving metamorphic conditions and deformation, both in rocks from natural exhumed shear zones and deformation experiments.