A Chemist who disguised as a Data Scientist and Epidemiologist

Background: I am originally from the Black Sea Port City of Sevastopol. Growing up on the Crimean Peninsula has given me a strong appreciation for the environment through spending beautiful dry summer days on the beach and hiking it’s numerous mountains. In 1998, I immigrated to Toronto and have happily remained a resident of southern Ontario to this day.

Mike Dereviankin has a BSc in Biological & Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Guelph and an MSc in Analytical Biochemistry from McMaster University. As an auditor for Labstat International, Mike gained familiarity with ASTM analytical protocols, data validation and ensuring compliance to ISO 17025 and GLP/GMP regulations. He is experienced in univariate and multivariant statistical analysis gained from graduate work developing comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) methods to monitor oil sands tailing ponds.

Mike’s family has a longstanding history of military and marine service and he initially intended to pursue marine training at United States Merchant Marine Academy. After discovering the similarities between marine service and the rigours of conducting scientific research, he actively pursued science in late high school. His attention was equally divided between the vast amount of innovation happening with genetics at the time and his immense interest in stoichiometry. As such, when university as an undergraduate he decided to pursue a general Bachelor of Science. After his first introduction to quantitative chemical analysis, he knew that chemistry would be the right pathway for his education.
His undergraduate thesis focused on the implications of synthetic inorganic chemistry in environmental remediation strategies (Publication ID: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.05.169) under the supervisor of Dr. Michael Denk. After completing his undergraduate degree, he had the privilege of participating in an internship with the Government of Canada acting as a federal inspector with the Canadian Bio-containment and Certification Program. This internship in the Public sector lead to a full-time career in the private sector as a validation specialist for an ISO 17025 testing laboratory. This analytical testing experience early in his career, exposed Mike to an array of projects with method development, validation, laboratory accreditation, internal auditing and quality assurance.

The decision to transition from implementing regulations to pursing graduate school stems from working directly with scientists who attend graduate school to meet rigorous standards of quality when designing and implementing analytical methods. Mike chose to complete his graduate education at McMaster University under the supervisor of, Dr. Gregory Slater. As a graduate student, he continued to be involved in research that is split between industry relevant to highly applied questions such as the sources and remediation of organic contaminants.

Outside of work, you’ll find him in the pool. Whether that be playing water-polo, training to make a national time standard in swimming or coaching the Special Olympics team in Dundas, Ontario. He has been actively involved in aquatics through participating on varsity teams in his undergraduate education (University of Guelph Varsity Swim Team), graduate education (McMaster University Swim & Water Polo Team), and contributing to his local community by providing swim training to athletes competing in Special Olympic events.