University of Manitoba - Clayton Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources - Alumni Profile - Dr. Brent Else
Alumni Profile - Dr. Brent Else

Dr. Brent Else [Ph.D. (Geography) 2012] is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for Earth Observation Science at the University of Manitoba.

He become interested in Arctic marine research as an undergraduate student, when he was invited to participate as a research assistant on the 2003-2004 Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES).  His experiences during that project, and a subsequent project in Churchill, convinced him to start a Masters degree at the University of Calgary, which later led to a PhD at the University of Manitoba.  Brent considers himself to have been very lucky to be working in an environment rich in opportunities to do Arctic research, and many of those opportunities were directly created by researchers in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources.  For example, he participated in the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study which was led by Dr. David Barber, and involved many researchers within the faculty.  It was this particular opportunity that precipitated Brent's move to Winnipeg and this and many more opportunities like that provided a very rich graduate experience, allowing him to work closely with researchers from many different disciplines and nationalities.

Brent has worked with numerous researchers linked to the Riddell Faculty;  as an undergraduate student he took part in Arctic research with Dr. John Yackel (a Riddell Faculty alumnus), which eventually led me to an opportunity to do a PhD with Dr. Tim Papakyriakou, which then led to a postdoctoral fellowship with Søren Rysgaard - one of the newest Riddell Faculty members and Canada Excellence Research Chair. Brent uses the technical skills he acquired through his education everyday but also cites many of the "soft" skills such as writing, communication, and organization as very important. To quote Brent he particularly enjoys: "the opportunity to work with a really diverse group of people, and to be able to work in some uniquely challenging and beautiful parts of the world".



Dr. Brent Else
Ph.D. (Geography) 2012