Alexandra (Sandy) Steffen

Atmospheric Mercury Specialist - Processes of mercury in and around the air

4905 Dufferin Street (Toronto, ON)

CURRENT S&T / RESEARCH - Environmental Processes relating to the transport, transformation and deposition of mercury in and around the atmosphere

• Designing research to study the transformation of mercury in and around the Arctic atmosphere
• Studying the spatial and temporal trends of mercury in Canadian and circumpolar air
• Understanding how mercury enters the Canadian Arctic from long range transport via the atmosphere from source regions
• Investigating the role that the atmosphere plays in the impact of mercury contamination in arctic ecosystems
• Communicating scientific research results and ideas to researchers, northerners and the public

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES / INTERESTS

Principle investigator for the atmospheric mercury research program for the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP), INAC; designated contributing expert for Canada, Mercury Expert Group or the international Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)

Co-principle investigator on 3 Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) programs: 1) Intercontinental Atmospheric Transport of Anthropogenic Pollutants to the Arctic (INCATPA); 2) Ocean Atmosphere Sea-Ice and Snowpack (OASIS- CANADA); 3) Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study (CFL)

Organiser of the International Interdisciplinary Workshop for research on mercury in polar regions in Toronto, Canada in 2005

Co-chair of the 10th International Conference for Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) and member of the 9th ICMGP Steering Committee

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Steffen, A., T. Douglas, M. Amyot, P. Ariya, K. Aspmo, T. Berg, J. Bottenheim, S. Brooks, F. Cobbett, A. Dastoor, A. Dommergue, R. Ebinghaus, C. Ferrari, K. Gardfeldt, M. E. Goodsite, D. Lean, A. Poulain, C. Scherz, H. Skov, J. Sommar, and C. Temme. 2008. A synthesis of atmospheric mercury depletion event chemistry in the atmosphere and snow. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 8:1445-1482.

Schroeder W.H., K.G. Anlauf, L.A. Barrie, J.Y. Lu, A. Steffen and D.R. Schneeberger. 1998. Arctic springtime depletion of mercury. Nature, 394:331-332.

Steffen, A., W.H. Schroeder, L. Poissant, and R. MacDonald, T. Bidleman, R. MacDonald, and J. Stow. eds. 2003. Mercury in the Arctic Atmosphere in the Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report II. Indian and Northern Affair Canada, Ottawa.

Temme, C, P. Blanchard, A. Steffen, S. Beauchamp, L. Poissant, R. Tordon, and Wiens, B. 2007. Trend, seasonal and multivariate analysis study of total gaseous mercury data from the Canadian Atmospheric Mercury Measurement Network (CAMNet). Atmospheric Environment. 26(41):135-153.

Steffen A., W.H. Schroeder, R. Macdonald, L. Poissant and A. Konoplev. 2005. Mercury in the arctic atmosphere: an analysis of eight years of measurements of GEM at Alert (Canada) and a comparison with observations at Amderma (Russia) and Kuujjuarapik (Canada). STOTEN. 342:185-198.

Steffen, A., W.H. Schroeder, J. Bottenheim, J. Narayan and J.D. Fuentes. 2002. Atmospheric Mercury Concentrations: Measurements and Profiles near Snow and Ice Surfaces in the Canadian Arctic during Alert 2000. Atmospheric Environment, 36: 2653-2661.