David Turner

David Turner completed his BSc at the University of Victoria in 2003 and followed his childhood passion for gemstones into Yukon Territory exploring for emeralds. That venture led to studying the geological conditions that resulted in gem beryl mineralization at the True Blue aquamarine occurrence with Dr Lee A Groat at UBC, and completing an MSc in 2006. The following ~5 years were spent integrating mineralogical approaches to mineral exploration, with a particular focus on rare metals hosted in pegmatites, evolved granites, and carbonatites.

David returned to academia in 2010 as a PhD student to study the reflectance spectroscopy of rare earth element bearing minerals and rocks, and is co-supervised by Drs Lee A Groat (UBC) and Benoit Rivard (UofA). The research is documenting variations of the sharp and diagnostic absorption bands of lanthanides hosted in various minerals with broader goals of applying the knowledge to other aspects of hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy in geoscience, such as in aiding diamond drill core logging. David’s fascination with gemstones still continues, as he sneaks various gems into the corners of the imaging spectroscopy scenes for fun – one can never have enough pet projects!