World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
William Shotyk

William Shotyk

D-Index & Metrics

Chemistry

D-Index
67
Citations
14452
World Ranking
6991
National Ranking
187

Earth Science

D-Index
75
Citations
18498
World Ranking
726
National Ranking
33

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2019 - Geochemistry Fellow Honor, Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry
  • 2018 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Science

Overview

William Shotyk is affiliated with the University of Alberta in Canada and specializes in environmental science and earth and planetary sciences. Their research portfolio encompasses a focus on the study of pollution, geochemistry and petrology, ecology, atmospheric science, and related subfields.

The scientist's primary topics of work include:

  • Heavy metals in environment
  • Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
  • Lichen and fungal ecology
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Analytical chemistry methods development
  • Coal and Its By-products
  • Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis

Among frequent co-authors found in their publications are Chad W. Cuss, Tommy Noernberg, Muhammad Javed, Iain Grant-Weaver, and Fiorella Barraza.

William Shotyk has published extensively in several venues, with notable recurring publication sites including:

  • Goldschmidt2021 abstracts
  • Environmental Research
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science
  • The Science of The Total Environment
  • Communications Earth & Environment

Recent papers by William Shotyk include:

  • "Extraordinary human energy consumption and resultant geological impacts beginning around 1950 CE initiated the proposed Anthropocene Epoch," 2020, Communications Earth & Environment
  • "The Anthropocene: Comparing Its Meaning in Geology (Chronostratigraphy) with Conceptual Approaches Arising in Other Disciplines," 2021, Earth's Future
  • "Recent climate change has driven divergent hydrological shifts in high-latitude peatlands," 2022, Nature Communications
  • "Lead immobilization processes in soils subjected to freeze-thaw cycles," 2020, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
  • "The Reading Palaeofire Database: an expanded global resource to document changes in fire regimes from sedimentary charcoal records," 2022, Earth System Science Data

The scientist has also contributed to book publications, including a title published by The Groundwater Project eBooks: "The Elmvale Groundwater Observatory: A Facility Developed to Sample Pristine Artesian Groundwater for Trace Elements," released in 2024.

William Shotyk has received professional recognition including the Geochemistry Fellow Honor awarded by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry in 2019, as well as being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2018 under the Academy of Science.

Best Publications

  • History of Atmospheric Lead Deposition Since 12,370 14C yr BP from a Peat Bog, Jura Mountains, Switzerland

    W. Shotyk;D. Weiss;P. G. Appleby;A. K. Cheburkin

  • Mercury in a spanish peat bog: archive of climate change and atmospheric metal deposition

    A. Martı́nez-Cortizas;X. Pontevedra-Pombal;E. Garcı́a-Rodeja;J. C. Nóvoa-Muñoz

  • Interdependence of peat and vegetation in a tropical peat swamp forest

    S. E. Page;J. O. Rieley;W. Shotyk;D. Weiss

  • Critical examination of trace element enrichments and depletions in soils: As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in Swiss forest soils.

    P. Blaser;S. Zimmermann;J. Luster;W. Shotyk

  • Review of the inorganic geochemistry of peats and peatland waters

    William Shotyk

  • Geochemistry of the peat bog at Etang de la Gruère, Jura Mountains, Switzerland, and its record of atmospheric Pb and lithogenic trace metals (Sc, Ti, Y, Zr, and REE) since 12,370 14 C yr BP

    W. Shotyk;D. Weiss;J.D. Kramers;R. Frei

  • Two thousand years of atmospheric arsenic, antimony, and lead deposition recorded in an ombrotrophic peat bog profile, Jura Mountains, Switzerland

    William Shotyk;Andrij K. Cheburkin;Peter G. Appleby;Andreas Fankhauser

  • 9000 years of geochemical evolution of lithogenic major and trace elements in the sediment of an alpine lake – the role of climate, vegetation, and land-use history

    Karin A. Koinig;William Shotyk;William Shotyk;André F. Lotter;André F. Lotter;Christian Ohlendorf

  • Atmospheric Pb Deposition since the Industrial Revolution Recorded by Five Swiss Peat Profiles: Enrichment Factors, Fluxes, Isotopic Composition, and Sources

    Dominik Weiss;William Shotyk;Peter G. Appleby;Jan Dirk Kramers

  • Contamination of Canadian and European bottled waters with antimony from PET containers

    William Shotyk;Michael Krachler;Bin Chen

  • Peat bog archives of atmospheric metal deposition: geochemical evaluation of peat profiles, natural variations in metal concentrations, and metal enrichment factors

    William Shotyk

  • A record of Late Pleistocene and Holocene carbon accumulation and climate change from an equatorial peat bog (Kalimantan, Indonesia): implications for past, present and future carbon dynamics

    S. E. Page;R. A. J. Wűst;D. Weiss;J. O. Rieley

  • Extraordinary human energy consumption and resultant geological impacts beginning around 1950 CE initiated the proposed Anthropocene Epoch

    Jaia Syvitski;Colin N. Waters;John Day;John D. Milliman

  • Contamination of Bottled Waters with Antimony Leaching from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Increases upon Storage

    William Shotyk;Michael Krachler

  • Anthropogenic contributions to atmospheric Hg, Pb and As accumulation recorded by peat cores from southern Greenland and Denmark dated using the 14C “bomb pulse curve”

    W. Shotyk;Michael Evan Goodsite;F. Roos-Barraclough;R. Frei

  • Characterization of solid and aqueous phases of a peat bog profile using molecular fluorescence spectroscopy, ESR and FT-IR, and comparison with physical properties

    Claudio Cocozza;Valeria D'Orazio;Teodoro Miano;W. Shotyk

  • A peat bog record of natural, pre-anthropogenic enrichments of trace elements in atmospheric aerosols since 12 370 14C yr BP, and their variation with Holocene climate change

    William Shotyk;Michael Krachler;Antonio Martinez-Cortizas;Andriy K. Cheburkin

  • A new approach for quantifying cumulative, anthropogenic, atmospheric lead deposition using peat cores from bogs: Pb in eight Swiss peat bog profiles.

    W. Shotyk;P. Blaser;A. Grünig;A.K. Cheburkin

  • Highly anomalous accumulation rates of C and N recorded by a relic, free-floating peatland in Central Italy

    Claudio Zaccone;Daniela Lobianco;William Shotyk;Claudio Ciavatta

  • An Energy-dispersive Miniprobe Multielement Analyzer (EMMA) for direct analysis of Pb and other trace elements in peats.

    Andrij K. Cheburkin;William Shotyk

  • Geochemistry, mineralogy, and geochemical mass balance on major elements in two peat bog profiles (Jura Mountains, Switzerland)

    Philipp Steinmann;William Shotyk

Frequent Co-Authors

Michael Krachler
Michael Krachler Joint Research Center
Dominik J. Weiss
Dominik J. Weiss Imperial College London
Peter G. Appleby
Peter G. Appleby University of Liverpool
David A. Fisher
David A. Fisher University of Ottawa
Duane G. Froese
Duane G. Froese University of Alberta
Jan Kramers
Jan Kramers University of Johannesburg
W.O. van der Knaap
W.O. van der Knaap University of Bern
Stephen A. Norton
Stephen A. Norton University of Maine
Robert Frei
Robert Frei University of Copenhagen
Jan Heinemeier
Jan Heinemeier Aarhus University

If you think any of the details on this page are incorrect, let us know.

Report an issue

We appreciate your kind effort to assist us to improve this page, it would be helpful providing us with as much detail as possible in the text box below:

Related Online Degrees & Career Pathways

Exploring Earth Science can open doors to a variety of interdisciplinary fields and career opportunities. For those interested in combining scientific knowledge with technical skills, pursuing an online photography degrees program may complement Earth Science studies, especially in environmental documentation and remote sensing.

Military veterans may find specialized support and tailored curricula beneficial. Programs like the best military friendly online photography degrees provide a supportive environment while developing valuable skills that align well with Earth observation and ecological research.

Language skills also enhance career prospects in Earth Science fields, promoting international collaboration and research. Students might consider pursuing an online Spanish degree to improve communication and cultural competence in global scientific communities.

Veterans interested in language learning can benefit from programs such as Spanish programs online for veterans, which provide flexible and affordable pathways to language acquisition alongside Earth Science careers.

Best Scientists Citing William Shotyk

Trending Scientists

Recently Published Articles