Who we Are
We are the John Lab, a research group led by Professor Cédric John and hosted in the Digital Environment Research Institute (DERI) at Queen Mary University of London. At DERI, Professor John leads the Data Science for the Environment and Sustainability Research Platform, one of four key research directions for the institute. Before joining DERI, the group was based for nearly 16 years in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London.
Our research approach blends machine learning and AI with cutting edge field and experimental methods in Earth and Planetary Sciences. The Digital Environment Research Institute is the centre of digital, data science, and AI research at Queen Mary and it underpins the university’s vision for its research Strategy 2030. For us, DERI is the perfect home for an interdisciplinary team working on scientific machine learning applied to environmental and Earth Science problems.
DERI and Queen Mary University of London are affiliated with the Alan Turing Institute.
Testimonials
Hear what former members of the lab have to say about their time with us.
Qi Adlan (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
Tobias Kluge (Postdoc, 2012-2015)
Sarah Robinson (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
Marta Marchegiano(Postdoc, 2019-2021)
Niranjana Sundararajan (MSc Student, 2022)
Adhipa Herlambang (PhD Student, 2018-2021)
Annabel Dale (PhD Student, 2011-2015)
John MacDonald (Postdoc, 2013-2015)
research Highlights
We have two main research themes: Applied Artificial Intelligence for Earth and Space Sciences (we call it Earth-Centric AI) and Carbonate Research. You can also find about our publications and the software and data stemming from our research.
AI Research
Our group applies data-centric machine learning techniques to Earth and planetary sciences, leading to innovative approaches for analyzing and interpreting data in these fields.
Carbonate Research
Our research in carbonates focuses on the processes involved in their formation and alteration, and how these processes impact the geochemistry and stratigraphy of carbonate rocks.
Publications
Our group has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in a variety of fields, including clumped isotopes, carbonate diagenesis, climate change, stratigraphy, AI and machine learning.
Software and Data
Our research has led to the development of free software tools that have been widely used by researchers in our fields. These tools have made it easier to analyze and interpret data..
Spotlight on our Papers:
Influence of climate and dolomite composition on dedolomitization: insights from a multi-proxy study in the central Oman Mountains
Dedolomitization is an important diagenetic process that can yield information on the history of paleo-fluids in a given aquifer or outcrop, and by extension it offers a window into past hydrologic conditions. Dedolomitization is also relevant economically as it can…
Evaluating climatic response to external radiative forcing during the late Miocene to early Pliocene: New perspectives from eastern equatorial Pacific (IODP U1338) and North …
Orbital‐scale climate variability during the latest Miocene‐early Pliocene is poorly understood due to a lack of high‐resolution records spanning 8.0–3.5 Ma, which resolve all orbital cycles. Assessing this variability improves understanding of how Earth’s system sensitivity to insolation evolves and provides…
Impact of dynamic sedimentation on facies heterogeneities in Lower Cretaceous peritidal deposits of central east Oman
This study, based in the Haushi‐Huqf area of central east Oman, aims to characterize the controls on facies distribution and geometries of some of the best preserved examples of Lower Cretaceous tidal flat facies within the Tethyan epeiric platform. Field,…
Predicting marine organic-rich deposits using forward stratigraphic modelling: The Jurassic Najmah source rock–Case study
Predicting the distribution and heterogeneity of marine Mesozoic organic-rich rocks is a challenging task that requires multi-disciplinary data integration supported by innovative numerical modelling. This study aims at investigating the factors controlling marine organic matter production, accumulation, and preservation along…
Impact of dataset size and convolutional neural network architecture on transfer learning for carbonate rock classification
Modern geological practices, in both industry and academia, rely largely on a legacy of observational data at a range of scales. However, widespread ambiguities in the petrographic description of rock facies reduce the reliability of descriptive data. Previous studies have…
Fluid flow evolution revealed by carbonate clumped isotope thermometry along the fractures in a complex salt dome setting: Study case (Jebel Madar, Oman)
A better understanding of constraining paleo fluid circulation along fractures in tectonically complex regions is essential from the scientific perspective and in exploiting sustainable geo-energies such as geothermal resources, but it remains a challenge. Jebel Madar in Oman as a salt…
Interplay between depositional facies, diagenesis and early fractures in the Early Cretaceous Habshan Formation, Jebel Madar, Oman
Diagenesis and fracturing can significantly alter petrophysical properties of subsurface carbonate reservoirs, but the impacts of these processes at the inter-well scale are hard to predict. However, the initial distribution of sedimentary facies is easier to predict, and could template…
Regional-scale paleofluid system across the Tuscan Nappe–Umbria–Marche Apennine Ridge (northern Apennines) as revealed by mesostructural and isotopic analyses of stylolite–vein …
We report the results of a multiproxy study that combines structural analysis of a fracture–stylolite network and isotopic characterization of calcite vein cements and/or fault coating. Together with new paleopiezometric and radiometric constraints on burial evolution and deformation timing, these…
Sedimentological and isotopic heterogeneities within a Jurassic carbonate ramp (UAE) and implications for reservoirs in the Middle East
Carbonate rocks are major hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Middle East and across the world. Capturing the spatial distribution and dimensions of carbonate sedimentary facies is thus of interest for reservoir modelling and for the understanding of process sedimentology. Here we…
Modelling asymmetrical facies successions using pluri-gaussian simulations
An approach to model spatial asymmetrical relations between indicators is presented in a pluri-Gaussian framework. The underlying gaussian random functions are modelled using the linear model of co-regionalization, and a spatial shift is applied to them. Analytical relationships between the…
Crestal graben fluid evolution during growth of the Puig-reig anticline (South Pyrenean fold and thrust belt)
The Puig-reig anticline, located in the South Pyrenean fold and thrust belt, developed during the Alpine compression, which affected the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene sediments of the Solsona and Berga Formations. In this study, we highlight the controls on formation of…
Quantitative controls on the regional geometries and heterogeneities of the Rayda to Shu’aiba formations (Northern Oman) using forward stratigraphic modelling
The complex geometry of carbonate systems is influenced by a multitude of physical as well as biological processes. The Lower Cretaceous carbonates of Northern Oman are characterised by a variability of regional-scale geometries with expected vertical and lateral facies variations.…