Research Fellow in Aqueous Geochemistry

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have a background in aqueous geochemistry? Do you want to further your career in one of the UK’s leading research intensive Universities?

You will be a key member of the European Research Council funded project “MINORG: The Role of Minerals in the Oceanic Carbon Cycle” and will work with the research team at Leeds and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) in Germany. It is the central hypothesis of MINORG that minerals play a major role in the preservation and burial of organic carbon in marine sediments and thus in regulating Earth’s climate and oxygenation. Working in the field of aqueous geochemistry you will embark on an ambitious experimental campaign to investigate the sorption of dissolved organic matter by marine sediment minerals. You will determine the mechanisms of organic matter sorption to reactive fine-grained minerals, and quantify the partitioning of organic matter between solid and solution phases. In particular you will determine the mechanisms responsible for mineral-organic associations at the molecular level using a variety of newly available advanced analytical techniques. You will help design and undertake laboratory experiments, generate experimental data, and carry out the subsequent data analysis and data publication. You will also support the project leader Dr Caroline Peacock in the planning and administration of MINORG.

You will have, or be close to obtaining, a PhD in the field of Earth, Environmental or Marine Sciences and have extensive experience of working in an aqueous geochemistry laboratory. You will also have extensive knowledge of low temperature aqueous geochemistry, including mineral sorption processes. Experience of conducting mineral sorption experiments, particularly with organic compounds, and/or with synchrotron-based techniques for determining mineral sorption mechanisms is desirable. You will show a strong commitment to publishing scientific results at an international level.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact:

Dr Caroline Peacock, Associate Professor of Biogeochemistry

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 7877
Email: C.L.Peacock@leeds.ac.uk