Ryland T. Giebelhaus, PhD

About Dr. Ryland Giebelhaus

I am an incoming Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Victoria (UVic), starting July 1st, 2025. UVic is located in beauitful Victoria, British Columbia. My research group will specalize in analytical chemistry, particularly separations (chromatography), metabolomics, and chemometrics. We will focus on (1) developing and applying comprehensive multidimensional liquid chromatography for use in metabolomics studies, and (2) developing and deploying chemometric tools for processing and interperting data from metabolomics data. I am particularly interested in using multidimensional liquid chromatography to explore plant chemistry and environmental exposures in wildlife.

I completed my PhD in Chemistry at the University of Alberta (UofA) in Dr. James Harynuk's group and The Metabolomics Innovation Centre (TMIC). During my PhD I combined bench top analysis with novel computational approaches to better use metabolomics to understand human interactions with our envrionment. Additionally, in April 2021 I was awarded the NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Masters (CGS-M), and in April 2023 I was awarded the CIHR CGS-D to support my doctoral work at the University of Alberta. In January 2024 I was awarded a Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (CGS-MSFSS), which I used to travel to the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, where I was a visiting scholar in the Analytical Chemistry laboratory headed by Dr. Jan Christensen.

Prior to starting my graduate work at UofA, I completed my undergrad, BSc (Hons.) at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan (UBC-O) campus in 2021. My interest in metabolomics was first sparked during my undergrad while researching in Dr. Susan Murch's plantSMART laboratory. I worked on targeted and untargeted LC-MS-based metabolomics approaches specifically for the analysis of phytohormones. In April 2020 I defended my Honors thesis in Chemistry at UBC-O. While at UBC-O I was awarded two NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) and an Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Award (URA). I was also the president of the Chemistry Course Union. During my tenure we hosted the 2019 Western Canadian Undergraduate Chemistry Conference (WCUCC) and received a national accolade from the Canadian Society of Chemistry (CSC).

In my spare time I enjoy hiking, cycling, camping, fishing, skiing, or playing a round of golf.