Newcastle University

Background

I obtained my BSc in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh in 1995. I then began my PhD studies with Prof. James Maxwell (FRS) at the University of Bristol where I carried out research into the origin and significance of a group of biomarker compounds known as steryl chlorin esters (SCEs) which are produced by zooplankton when grazing on phytoplankton.

After completion of my PhD in 1999 I moved to Newcastle University and worked as a post-doctoral research associate with Dr Paul Farrimond on three projects in the area of hopanoid geochemistry developing new analytical techniques and providing new insights into the origins, diversity and complexity of natural distributions of these important biomarkers in modern environments and Recent sediments.

I am now a Reader in Organic Geochemistry and hold a European Research Council (ERC) starting independent researcher award.  

Roles and Responsibilities

PhD Selector for Geosciences 

Qualifications

PhD Organic Geochemistry (University of Bristol, 1999)

BSc Environmental Chemistry (University of Edinburgh, 1995) 

Memberships

Member of the European Association of Organic Geochemists (EAOG)
Member of the British Mass Spectrometry Society (BMSS)

Honours and Awards

Pieter Schenck Award 2009 from the EAOG

(The Award is given every second year to a scientist who has made a major contribution in any specific area of organic geochemistry or a related field.)

Research Interests

• The importance of methane as a climate driver in modern and ancient systems
• The fate of terrestrial organic carbon at the land-ocean interface
• Understanding and developing the potential of bacteriohopanepolyols as indicators of bacterial community structure, environmental conditions and biogeochemical processes in modern and ancient environments.
• Using novel lipid biomarkers (BHPs, intact phospholipids, glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers etc.) to investigate microbial processes in soils, sediments, extreme environments etc
• Analytical method development (including  HPLC and UHPLC, MS-MS, Ion-trap) and application of Liquid Chromatography-Mass spectrometry based analytical techniques in various fields including organic geochemistry and environmental studies.

Postgraduate Supervision

Current students 

Principal supervisor

Miss Kate Osborne

Miss Charlotte Spencer-Jones 

Miss Ida Shafiee Ismail

Miss Jasmine Black 

Mr Jonathan Bradley

Mr Mohammad Alalaween 

Recently completed

Mr Martin Cooke - project title "The role of bacteriohopanepolyols as biomarkers for soil bacterial communities and soil derived organic matter"

Mr Robert Gibson – Thesis title “The distribution of bacteriohopanepolyols in terrestrial geothermal ecosystems”

Esteem Indicators

Holder of ERC Starting Independent Researcher Award

Associate Editor, Organic Geochemistry

Invited Session Chair. Gordon Research Conference August 2008 and 2010

Invited Session Chair. IMOG 2007, 2009

Invited Keynote Speaker AGU, San Francisco, Dec. 2011

Invited Keynote Speaker EGU, Vienna, April 2011

Invited Speaker Goldschmidt Geochemistry Conference, Knoxville, 2010

Convenor 14th and 19th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society (BOGS2008)

Funding

Quantifying Aerobic Methane Oxidation in the Ocean: Calibration and palaeo application of a novel proxy (AMOprox) ERC Starting Independent Researcher – 5 year project (2010-2015)

Effects of a warming climate on the key organic carbon cycle processes in the Eurasian Arctic PI. (Newcastle) NERC funded standard research grant (2011-2014). Joint project with P.I. Dr Bart van Dongen (University of Manchester, UK)

Chemosynthetically-driven ecosystems southern oceans – CHESSO Co-I NERC funded consortium grant (2008-2012)

Role of methanobactin in methane oxidation rates in the presence of mineral copper Co-I NERC funded standard research grant (2008-2012)

• van Winden JF, Talbot HM, Kip N, Reichart GJ, Pol A, McNamara NP, Jetten MSM, den Camp HJMO, Damste JSS. Bacteriohopanepolyol signatures as markers for methanotrophic bacteria in peat moss. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2012, 77, 52-61.
• Pearson EJ, Juggins S, Talbot HM, Weckström J, Rosén P, Ryves D, Roberts S, Schmidt R. A lacustrine GDGT-temperature calibration from the Scandinavian Arctic to Antarctic: Renewed potential for the application of GDGT-paleothermometry in lakes. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2011, 75, 6225-6238.
• Zhu C, Talbot HM, Wagner T, Pan JM, Pancost RD. Distribution of hopanoids along a land to sea transect: Implications for microbial ecology and the use of hopanoids in environmental studies. Limnology and Oceanography 2011, 56(5), 1850-1865.
• Chi-Fru E, Gray ND, McCann C, Baptista JDC, Christgen B, Talbot HM, El-Ghazouani A, Dennison C, Graham DW. Effects of copper mineralogy and methanobactin on cell growth and sMMO activity in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. Biogeosciences 2011, 8, 2887-2894.
• Handley L, Talbot HM, Cooke MP, Anderson KE, Wagner T. Bacteriohopanepolyols as tracers for continental and marine organic matter supply and phases of enhanced nitrogen cycling on the late Quaternary Congo deep sea fan. Organic Geochemistry 2010, 41(9), 910-914.
• Schouten S, Hopmans E, Van Der Meer J, Mets A, Bard E, Bianchi T, Diefendorf A, Escala M, Freeman K, Furukawa Y, Huguet C, Ingalls A, Ménot-Combes G, Nederbragt A, Oba M, Pearson A, Pearson E, Rosell-Melé A, Schaeffer P, Shah S, Shanahan T, Smith R, Smittenberg R, Talbot H, Uchida M, Van Mooy B, Yamamoto M, Zhang Z, Damsté J. An interlaboratory study of TEX86 and BIT analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2009, 10(3), Q03012.
• Kim JH, Talbot HM, Zarzycka B, Bauersachs T, Wagner T. Occurrence and abundance of soil-specific bacterial membrane lipid markers in the Tet watershed (southern France): Soil-specific BHPs and branched GDGTs. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2011, 12(2), Q02008.
• Mondamert L, Labanowski J, N'Goye F, Talbot HM, Croue JP. High pressure membrane foulants of seawater, brackish water and river water: origin assessed by sugar and bacteriohopanepolyol signatures. Biofouling 2011, 27(1), 21-32.
• Berwick LJ, Greenwood PF, Meredith W, Snape CE, Talbot HM. Comparison of microscale sealed vessel pyrolysis (MSSVpy) and hydropyrolysis (Hypy) for the characterisation of extant and sedimentary organic matter. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 2010, 87(1), 108-116.
• Clarke CE, Kielar F, Talbot HM, Johnson KL. Oxidative Decolorization of Acid Azo Dyes by a Mn Oxide Containing Waste. Environmental Science & Technology 2010, 44(3), 1116-1122.
• Handley L, Talbot HM, Cooke MP, Anderson KE, Wagner T. Bacteriohopanepolyols as tracers for continental and marine organic matter supply and phases of enhanced nitrogen cycling on the late Quaternary Congo deep sea fan. Organic Geochemistry 2010, 41(9), 910-914.
• Rethemeyer J, Schubotz F, Talbot HM, Cooke MP, Hinrichs KU, Mollenhauer G. Distribution of polar membrane lipids in permafrost soils and sediments of a small high Arctic catchment. Organic Geochemistry 2010, 41(10), 1130-1145.
• Zhu C, Talbot HM, Wagner T, Pan JM, Pancost RD. Intense aerobic methane oxidation in the Yangtze Estuary: A record from 35-aminobacteriohopanepolyols in surface sediments. Organic Geochemistry 2010, 41(9), 1056-1059.
• Cooke MP, van Dongen BE, Talbot HM, Semiletov I, Shakhova N, Guo L, Gustafsson O. Bacteriohopanepolyol biomarker composition of organic matter exported to the Arctic Ocean by seven of the major Arctic rivers. Organic Geochemistry 2009, 40(11), 1151-1159.
• Xu Y, Cooke MP, Talbot HM, Simpson MJ. Bacteriohopanepolyol Signatures of Bacterial Populations in Western Canadian Soils. Organic Geochemistry 2009, 40(1), 79-86.
• Cooke MP, Talbot HM, Wagner T. Tracking soil organic carbon transport to continental margin sediments using soil-specific hopanoid biomarkers: A case study from the Congo fan (ODP site 1075). Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(8), 965-971.
• Cooke MP, Talbot HM, Farrimond P. Bacterial populations recorded in bacteriohopanepolyol distributions in soils from Northern England. Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(9), 1347-1358.
• Coolen M, Talbot HM, Abbas B, Ward C, Schouten S, Volkman J, Damsté J. Sources for sedimentary bacteriohopanepolyols as revealed by 16S rDNA stratigraphy. Environmental Microbiology 2008, 10(7), 1783-1803.
• Gibson RA, Talbot HM, Kaur G, Pancost R, Mountain B. Bacteriohopanepolyol signatures of cyanobacterial and methanotrophic bacterial populations recorded in a geothermal vent sinter. Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(8), 1020-1023.
• Redshaw C, Cooke MP, Talbot HM, McGrath S, Rowland S. Low biodegradability of fluoxetine HCl, diazepam and their human metabolites in sewage sludge-amended soil. Journal of Soils and Sediments 2008, 8(4), 217-230.
• Talbot HM, Coolen M, Damsté J. An unusual 17α,21β(H)-bacteriohopanetetrol in Holocene sediments from Ace Lake (Antarctica). Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(8), 1029-1032.
• Talbot HM, Summons R, Jahnke L, Cockell C, Rohmer M, Farrimond P. Cyanobacterial bacteriohopanepolyol signatures from cultures and natural environmental settings. Organic Geochemistry 2008, 39(2), 232-263.
• Talbot HM, Farrimond P. Bacterial populations recorded in diverse sedimentary biohopanoid distributions. Organic Geochemistry 2007, 38(8), 1212-1225.
• Zhang C, Huang Z, Li Y, Romanek C, Mills G, Gibson RA, Talbot HM, Wiegel J, Noakes J, Culp R, White D. Lipid biomarkers, carbon isotopes, and phylogenetic characterization of bacteria in California and Nevada hot springs. In: Session on Geomicrobiological Processes in Extreme Environments held at the Western Pacific Geophysical Meeting. 2007, Beijing, China: Geomicrobiology Journal, Taylor & Francis Inc.
• Wakeham S, Amann R, Freeman K, Hopmans E, Jørgensen B, Putnam I, Schouten S, Sinninghe Damsté J, Talbot HM, Woebken D. Microbial ecology of the stratified water column of the Black Sea as revealed by a comprehensive biomarker study. Organic Geochemistry 2007, 38(12), 2070-2097.
• Talbot HM, Rohmer M, Farrimond P. Rapid structural elucidation of composite bacterial hopanoids by atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 2007, 21(6), 880-892.
• Talbot HM, Rohmer M, Farrimond P. Structural characterisation of unsaturated bacterial hopanoids by atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 2007, 21(10), 1613-1622.
• Blumenberg M, Krüger M, Nauhaus K, Talbot HM, Oppermann B, Seifert R, Pape T, Michaelis W. Biosynthesis of hopanoids by sulfate-reducing bacteria (genus Desulfovibrio). Environmental Microbiology 2006, 8(7), 1220-1227.
• Pancost R, Pressley S, Coleman J, Talbot HM, Kelly S, Farrimond P, Schouten S, Benning L, Mountain B. Composition and implications of diverse lipids in New Zealand geothermal sinters. Geobiology 2006, 4(2), 71-92.
• van Dongen B, Talbot HM, Schouten S, Pearson P, Pancost R. Well preserved Palaeogene and Cretaceous biomarkers from the Kilwa area, Tanzania. Organic Geochemistry 2006, 37(5), 539-557.
• Bednarczyk A, Hernandez T, Schaeffer P, Adam P, Talbot HM, Farrimond P, Riboulleau A, Largeau C, Derenne S, Rohmer M, Albrecht P. 32,35-Anhydrobacteriohopanetetrol: An unusual bacteriohopanepolyol widespread in recent and past environments. Organic Geochemistry 2005, 36(4), 673-677.
• Talbot HM, Farrimond P, Schaeffer P, Pancost R. Bacteriohopanepolyols in hydrothermal vent biogenic silicates. Organic Geochemistry 2005, 36(4), 663-672.
• Sugden MA, Talbot HM, Farrimond P. Flash pyrolysis - A rapid method for screening bacterial species for the presence of bacteriohopanepolyols. Organic Geochemistry 2005, 36(6), 975-979.
• Pancost R, Zhang C, Tavacoli J, Talbot HM, Farrimond P, Schouten S, Sinninghe Damsté J, Sassen R. Lipid biomarkers preserved in hydrate-associated authigenic carbonate rocks of the Gulf of Mexico. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 2005, 227(1-3), 48-66.
• Farrimond P, Talbot HM, Watson D, Schulz L, Wilhelms A. Methylhopanoids: Molecular indicators of ancient bacteria and a petroleum correlation tool. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 2004, 68(19), 3873-3882.
• Talbot HM, Squier A, Keely B, Farrimond P. Atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation reversed-phase liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry of intact bacteriohopanepolyols. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 2003, 17(7), 728-737.
• Talbot HM, Summons R, Jahnke L, Farrimond P. Characteristic fragmentation of bacteriohopanepolyols during atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation liquid chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 2003, 17(24), 2788-2796.
• Talbot H, Watson D, Pearson EJ, Farrimond P. Diverse biohopanoid compositions of non-marine sediments. Organic Geochemistry 2003, 34(10), 1353-1371.
• Talbot HM, Watson D, Murrell J, Carter J, Farrimond P. Analysis of intact bacteriohopanepolyols from methanotrophic bacteria by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A 2001, 921(2), 175-185.
• Yacobi YZ, Ostrovsky I, Talbot HM. Occurrence of high concentrations of cyclopheophorbide a in particles residing below the thermocline in Lake Kinneret throughout a period oxygen depletion. Journal of Limnology 2001, 60, 201-207.
• Talbot HM, Head RN, Harris RP, Maxwell JR. Discrimination against 4-methyl sterol uptake during steryl chlorin ester production by copepods. Organic Geochemistry 2000, 31(9), 871-880.
• Kowalewska G, Winterhalter B, Talbot HM, Maxwell JR, Konat J. Chlorins in sediments of the Gotland Deep (Baltic Sea). Oceanologia 1999, 41(1), 81-97.
• Talbot HM, Head RN, Harris RP, Maxwell JR. Distribution and stability of steryl chlorin esters in copepod faecal pellets from diatom grazing. Organic Geochemistry 1999, 30(9), 1163-1174.
• Talbot HM, Head RN, Harris RP, Maxwell JR. Steryl esters of pyrophaeophorbide b: A sedimentary sink for Chlorophyll b. Organic Geochemistry 1999, 30(11), 1403-1410.
• Pearce GES, Harradine PJ, Talbot HM, Maxwell JR. Sedimentary sterols and steryl chlorin esters: distribution differences and significance. Organic Geochemistry 1998, 28(1/2), 3-10.
• McClymont EL, Pichevin L, Ganeshram R, Talbot HM, vanDongen B, Haywood A. Tropical Pacific climate response to Termination 1, challenges to the northern hemisphere forcing paradigm. 2012. Submitted.
• McClymont EL, Ganeshram RS, Pichevin LE, Talbot HM, van Dongen BE, Thunell RC, Haywood AM, Singarayer JS, Valdes PJ. Sea-surface temperature records of Termination 1 in the Gulf of California: Challenges for seasonal and interannual analogues of tropical Pacific climate change. Paleoceanography 2012, 27(2), PA2202.
• Selver AD, Talbot HM, Gustafsson O, Boult S, van Dongen BE. Soil organic matter transport along an sub-Arctic river-sea transect. Organic Geochemistry 2012, 51, 63-72.
• van Winden JF, Talbot HM, De Vleeschouwer F, Reichart GJ, Damste JSS. Variation in methanotroph-related proxies in peat deposits from Misten Bog, Hautes-Fagnes, Belgium. Organic Geochemistry 2012, 53, 73-79.
• McAnena A, Floegel S, Hofmann P, Herrle JO, Griesand A, Talbot HM, Rethemeyer L, Wallmann K, Wagner T. Atlantic opening, million-year cooling and coupled marine biotic crises in the Cretaceous. Nature Geosciences 2013. In Press.
• Eickhoff M, Birgel D, Talbot HM, Peckmann J, Kappler A. Oxidation of Fe(II) leads to increased C-2 methylation of pentacyclic triterpenoids in the anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris strain TIE-1. Geobiology 2013, 11(3), 1-13.