Organic Geochemistry Lab
- Technical experts: Klaas Nierop, Mariska Hoorweg, Desmond Eefting
- Scientific head: Francien Peterse
- Contact: info.geolab@uu.nl
Molecular fossils are powerful tools in unraveling the functioning of system Earth, from the origin of life, to reconstructing past climate change, and carbon cycle dynamics – there is a specific molecule for every process, and we can analyze them in our lab.
What we do
The Organic Geochemistry Lab focuses on the analysis of so-called lipid biomarkers, which are specific molecules that can be linked to certain producers or environmental conditions, derived from (micro)organisms and plants, and their diagenetically altered products.
At Utrecht University, these biomarkers are mostly used to study past and present carbon cycle dynamics and climate change. Typically, biomarkers are extracted from soils, lake or marine sediments. The compounds of interest are subsequently isolated and analyzed for their occurrence, distribution, and/or isotopic composition using our state-of-the-art analytical equipment.