Joseph is a PhD student at the Permafrost Archives Laboratory (PACS) in the University of Alberta under the supervision of Duane Froese. He holds a BSc (Brock) and MSc (Alberta) in Earth Sciences.
His PhD research focuses on ground ice distribution and its relation to permafrost landslides in the central Mackenzie Mountain foothills, Northwest Territories. His work utilizes a suite of geological, geophysical, and remote sensing techniques to characterize the setting and mechanisms of thaw-driven slope failures. The aim of his PhD is to better understand the increasing complexity of permafrost landslides to improve assessments of future permafrost landscape change.