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)
Adhipa Herlambang (PhD Student, 2018-2021)
John MacDonald (Postdoc, 2013-2015)
Tobias Kluge (Postdoc, 2012-2015)
Niranjana Sundararajan (MSc Student, 2022)
Annabel Dale (PhD Student, 2011-2015)
Marta Marchegiano(Postdoc, 2019-2021)
Sarah Robinson (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:
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.…
A new approach to geobarometry by combining fluid inclusion and clumped isotope thermometry in hydrothermal carbonates
This study presents a new approach to geobarometry by combining fluid inclusion and clumped isotope (Δ47) thermometry on carbonate minerals. The offset between homogenisation temperatures of primary fluid inclusions with known composition and Δ47 temperatures of the host mineral allows…
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…
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…
A simple method for vaterite precipitation for isotopic studies: implications for bulk and clumped isotope analysis
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) plays an important role in the natural environment as a major constituent of the skeleton and supporting structure of marine life and has high economic importance as an additive in food, chemicals and medical products. Anhydrous CaCO3…
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…
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…
Changing surface ocean circulation caused the local demise of echinoid Scaphechinus mirabilis in Taiwan during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition
Abundant fossil specimens of Scaphechinus mirabilis, now occurring mostly in temperate waters, have been found in the Toukoshan Formation (Pleistocene) in Miaoli County, Taiwan. Environmental changes leading to its extirpation (local extinction) have thus far been elusive. Here, we reconstruct…
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…
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…
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,…
Clumped-isotope palaeothermometry and LA-ICP-MS U–Pb dating of lava-pile hydrothermal calcite veins
Calcite veins are a common product of hydrothermal fluid circulation. Clumped-isotope palaeothermometry is a promising technique for fingerprinting the temperature of hydrothermal fluids, but clumped-isotope systematics can be reset at temperatures of > ca. 100 °C. To model whether the reconstructed temperatures represent…