Newcastle University

‌Welcome to the Talbot Research Group website

We are part of the Geosciences group based in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University.

Our research in the field of Organic Geochemistry focusses on understanding the sources and application of bacterial biomarkers called hopanoids to trace biogeochemical processes in the geological record.

We are interested in hopanoids in all systems (modern/recent/ancient, terrestrial/aquatic, polar/temperate/equatorial, natural/anthropogenic), and their use as indicators of the widest possible range of microbiological processes, however, two major themes have emerged in the last several years. These include the development of proxies for aerobic methane oxidation and also their use as indicators of terrestrial (soil) organic carbon and its transport and fate in aquatic systems. These two important areas and are the focus of current projects funded by the ERC and NERC.