Invited by Prof. ZHENG Wang from the Center for Advanced Science of Isotope of our department, Prof. Bridget Bergquist from the University of Toronto brought us an online seminar entitled “Applications of Mercury Stable Isotopes” on November 12th,2020. The seminar was broadcasted through Zoom internet meeting and Bilibili livestreaming. Hundreds of people attended this online seminar.
Mercury is a globally distributed heavy metal that bioaccumulates in aquatic food webs leading to dangerous exposure to humans and wildlife. Prof. Bridget Bergquist reported characters and applications of mercury stable isotopes. Mercury isotope is unique in that it exhibits many types of isotopic fractionation including conventional mass dependent fractionation (MDF) and at least three types of mass independent fractionation (MIF). Hg isotopes have already been used to successfully trace sources of Hg and quantify transformations of Hg in the environment, which have dramatically improved our understanding on Hg cycling in the environment. In this seminar, Prof. Bergquist discussed the applications of Hg isotopes in tracing Hg cycles in soils, biota and the atmosphere. The seminar was well received and the audience were very interested. After the talk, Prof. Bergquist had an in-depth discussion with participants through online meeting zoom.
Bridget Bergquist graduated with a PhD degree from MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint program. She did her postdoc at University of Michigan. She is now an associate professor at University of Toronto. Her research is focusing on the biogeochemical cycles of trace metals and the application of their isotopes, particularly Hg isotopes. She is one of the most influential people in the field of Hg isotope geochemistry, as she pioneered the research on the mass independent fractionation (MIF) of Hg isotopes. Her landmark paper about the MIF of Hg published on Science in 2007 has been cited more than 500 times. Her work opened up a new research field and was an important milestone in Hg isotope geochemistry.
