Rate My Professor Joel Cubley

Dr. Joel Cubley serves as Associate Professor in the Earth Sciences program at Yukon University and Head of the Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. Cubley earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Calgary in 2012, where his dissertation examined the Kettle River Fault, an Eocene normal fault bounding the Grand Forks-Kettle Dome complex in southeastern British Columbia. He investigated metamorphic pressure-temperature conditions, ages of metamorphism, depth contrasts across the fault, fault zone characteristics, and their significance in the tectonic evolution of the region. Prior to this, he obtained a B.A. in Geology from Middlebury College in 2005. A licensed professional geoscientist with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, Cubley has built a career focused on advancing geological understanding in northern Canada.

Cubley's research applies metamorphic petrology, igneous geochemistry, thermodynamic modeling, accessory phase geochronology, petrogenesis, structural geology, and economic geology to investigate tectonic processes in orogenic belts, particularly the northern Canadian Cordillera. His peer-reviewed publications include "Seismic evidence for craton chiseling and displacement of lithospheric mantle by the Tintina Fault in the Northern Canadian Cordillera" (Geology, 2020, with C. Esteve et al.), "Lithospheric S-wave velocity variations beneath the Mackenzie Mountains and Northern Canadian Cordillera" (Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2023, with D.L. Schutt et al.), "Evidence for asthenospheric flow rotation in northwest Canada: insights from shear wave splitting" (Geophysical Journal International, 2022, with A.R. Bolton et al.), "U-Pb geochronological constraints on the timing of episodic regional metamorphism and rapid high-T exhumation of the Grand Forks complex, British Columbia" (Lithos, 2013, with D.R.M. Pattison et al.), and "Thermochronological constraints on the Eocene exhumation of the Grand Forks complex, British Columbia" (Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2013, with D.R.M. Pattison et al.), among at least 14 contributions. In service, he is Faculty Representative on the Yukon University Senate (2020–present), Co-Chair of the Academic Appeals Committee (2018–present), and a member of the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer Earth Sciences Articulation Committee (2013–present), alongside roles such as Director of the Yukon Stikine Regional Science Fair (2012–present).