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.
Annabel Dale (PhD Student, 2011-2015)
Niranjana Sundararajan (MSc Student, 2022)
Sarah Robinson (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
Marta Marchegiano(Postdoc, 2019-2021)
Qi Adlan (PhD Student, 2019-2022)
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:
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…
Physicochemical Conditions of the Devonian-Jurassic Continental Deep Biosphere Tracked by Carbonate Clumped Isotope Temperatures of Granite-Hosted Carbonate Veins
Previous studies have shown that microorganisms thrive in oligotrophic fracture systems, and metabolisms include consumption and production of methane. In the Laxemar, Götemar, and Forsmark areas of Sweden, ancient microbial activity has previously been demonstrated by large δ13CVPDB variability of carbonate vein…
Community software for challenging isotope analysis: First applications of ‘Easotope’to clumped isotopes
The measurement of complex isotope systems, notably the multiply substituted isotopologues of CO2 derived from carbonates, is challenging from a mass spectrometric point of view, but it is also time consuming and difficult from a data reduction and normalization perspective.…
Tropical temperature in the Maastrichtian Danish Basin: Data from coccolith Δ47 and δ18O
The Cretaceous Earth, with its greenhouse climate and absence of major ice caps in the polar regions, represents an extreme scenario for modeling future warming. Despite considerable efforts, we are just at the verge of fully understanding the conditions of…
Disentangling the impact of global and regional climate changes during the middle Eocene in the Hampshire Basin: new insights from carbonate clumped isotopes and ostracod …
We present a novel multiproxy data set (bulk and clumped isotopes on gastropod shells and variations in ostracod assemblages) of the Hampshire Basin (Southern‐England) that sheds light on the connection between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean through the…
From early contraction to post-folding fluid evolution in the frontal part of the Bóixols thrust sheet (southern Pyrenees) as revealed by the texture and geochemistry of …
Structural, petrological and geochemical (δ13C, δ18O, clumped isotopes, 87Sr/86Sr and ICP-MS) analyses of fracture-related calcite cements and host rocks are used to establish a fluid-flow evolution model for the frontal part of the Bóixols thrust sheet (Southern Pyrenees). Five fracture…
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…