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.
John MacDonald (Postdoc, 2013-2015)
Adhipa Herlambang (PhD Student, 2018-2021)
Tobias Kluge (Postdoc, 2012-2015)
Marta Marchegiano(Postdoc, 2019-2021)
Annabel Dale (PhD Student, 2011-2015)
Sarah Robinson (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
Qi Adlan (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
Niranjana Sundararajan (MSc Student, 2022)
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:
The Palaeocene–Eocene carbon isotope excursion: constraints from individual shell planktonic foraminifer records
The Palaeocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) is characterized by a global negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and widespread dissolution of seafloor carbonate sediments. The latter feature supports the hypothesis that the PETM and CIE were caused by the rapid release of…
Laboratory calibration of the calcium carbonate clumped isotope thermometer in the 25–250 C temperature range
Many fields of Earth sciences benefit from the knowledge of mineral formation temperatures. For example, carbonates are extensively used for reconstruction of the Earth’s past climatic variations by determining ocean, lake, and soil paleotemperatures. Furthermore, diagenetic minerals and their formation…
Influence of basement rocks on fluid evolution during multiphase deformation: the example of the Estamariu thrust in the Pyrenean Axial Zone
Calcite veins precipitated in the Estamariu thrust during two tectonic events are studied in order to (i) decipher the temporal and spatial relationships between deformation and fluid migration in a long-lived thrust and (ii) determine the influence of basement rocks…
Stratigraphic evolution and karstification of a Cretaceous Mid‐Pacific atoll (Resolution Guyot) resolved from core‐log‐seismic integration and comparison with modern and …
Atolls are faithful recorders helping us understand eustatic variations, the evolution of carbonate production through time, and changes in magmatic hotspots activity. Several early Cretaceous Mid‐Pacific atolls were previously investigated through ocean drilling, but due to the low quality of…
Geometry, spatial arrangement and origin of carbonate grain‐dominated, scour‐fill and event‐bed deposits: Late Jurassic Jubaila Formation and Arab‐D Member, Saudi Arabia
Outcrop analogues of the Late Jurassic lower Arab‐D reservoir zone in Saudi Arabia expose a succession of fining‐upward cycles deposited on a distal middle‐ramp to outer‐ramp setting. These cycles are interrupted by erosional scours that incise up to 1·8 m into…
Early dolomitization and partial burial recrystallization: a case study of Middle Triassic peritidal dolomites in the Villány Hills (SW Hungary) using petrography, carbon …
Peritidal carbonates of the Csukma Formation (Csukma Dolomite Member) in the Villány Hills, SW Hungary, were investigated to determine the nature of the dolomitization and recrystallization processes that affected these rocks during their complex tectonic evolution, and to evaluate if…
Linking process, dimension, texture, and geochemistry in dolomite geobodies: A case study from Wadi Mistal (northern Oman) linking process, dimension, texture, and geochemistry …
Understanding the distribution and geometry of reservoir geobodies is crucial for net-to-gross estimates and to model subsurface flow. This article focuses on the process of dolomitization and resulting geometry of diagenetic geobodies in an outcrop of Jurassic host rocks from…
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…
Regional trends in clay mineral fluxes to the Queensland margin and ties to middle Miocene global cooling
Three ODP sites located on the Marion Plateau, Northeast Australian margin, were investigated for clay mineral and bulk mineralogy changes through the early to middle Miocene. Kaolinite to smectite (K/S) ratios, as well as mass accumulation rates of clays, point…
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…
Magmatic-like fluid source of the Chingshui geothermal field, NE Taiwan evidenced by carbonate clumped-isotope paleothermometry
The Chingshui geothermal field, a moderate-temperature and water-dominated hydrothermal system, was the site of the first geothermal power plant in Taiwan. Many geological, geophysical and geochemical studies using more than 21 drilled wells have been performed since the 1960s. However,…
Time-capsule concretions: Unlocking burial diagenetic processes in the Mancos Shale using carbonate clumped isotopes
For clumped isotope analysis (Œî47), hydrocarbon and organic molecules present an important contaminant that cannot always be removed by CO2 purification through a Porapak‚ÄêQ trap. Low‚Äêtemperature oxygen plasma ashing (OPA) is a quick and easy approach for treatment; however, the…