• Research Interests
• Brief Biography
• Teaching and Learning
• Publications
• Studentships
• Research Income
• Conference Presentations

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Research Interests

• Organic and petroleum geochemistry
• Environmental organic geochemistry
• Application of GC and GC-MS, in conjunction with the biological marker concept, to problem solving in a wider context
• Graph theoretical calculations and their application to geochemically interesting compounds
• Computer applications in organic geochemistry

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Brief History

I obtained my Ph.D. in organic geochemistry from the University of Bristol in 1985, having worked in the Organic Geochemistry Unit under the direction of Professor J.R. Maxwell. In January 1986, I moved to the School of Geology & Geophysics, University of Oklahoma to work with Professor R.P. Philp on the petroleum geochemistry of the Anadarko Basin. The southern hemisphere beckoned and, in April 1988, I moved on to the Department of Applied Chemistry, Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. Whilst there, I worked with Professor R. Alexander and Professor R.I. Kagi (Centre for Petroleum and Environmental Organic Geochemistry) on the alkylbiphenyl geochemistry of the Canning Basin and the analysis of halocarbon contamination in the potable water supplies of Perth. In December 1989 I returned to the U.K. and, in February 1990, I was offered a BP EMRA by Professor S.J. Rowland in, as it was then, the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth. We applied a mass balance approach to the early diagenesis of organic matter in offshore Peru sediments and observed the formation of a fraction we called "uncharacterised" on a short time-scale. After completing the EMRA, I stayed in Plymouth and accepted the post of Scientific Officer in the Petroleum and Environmental Geochemistry Group (PEGG). In the summer of 2000 I was offered and accepted a Senior Lectureship in the School of Environmental Sciences, now the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (SoGEES). In August 2006, as a result of the implementation of the "National Framework Agreement for the Modernisation of Pay Structures", this was regraded to a Lectureship, although in September 2008 I gained promotion to Senior Lecturer.

I am a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Geochemical Society, the British Mass Spectrometry Society and the European Association of Organic Geochemists. Between September 2001 and September 2009 I was on the board of the EAOG as the Membership and Website Officer.

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Teaching and Learning

I teach mainly on the Chemical Sciences Scheme within the Centre for Chemical Sciences, which includes a significant proportion of the organic chemistry in Stage 1 and 2 (theory and practical). In addition, I am module leader for and teach much of a Stage 1 information technology module (including amongst other topics, instruction on software packages, molecular modelling, web resources and web page construction) and deliver a portion of the Stage 3 contemporary chemical issues module (currently I discuss chemoinformatics), both for the Chemical Sciences Scheme. I am also the module leader for the Stage 3 chemistry research project module. In January 2004 I became the Manager for the Chemical Sciences Scheme, a post that I held until September 2007, and I am the Stage 3 Tutor for the Chemical Sciences Scheme.

On the Environmental Science Scheme, I teach part of a Stage 2 chemical and biological oceanography module (I discuss the flux of and processes affecting natural organic matter in the marine environment) and run tutorials on the Stage 2 research skills and personal development module. I am the module leader for the Stage 3 environmental science research project module. For the M.Sc. in Applied Marine Sciences I discuss aspects of the flux, budget and fate of anthropogenic persistent organic pollutants (POPs), e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs).

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Recent Publications

Refereed publications since 1996 (reverse chronological):

Published

• Scarlett, A.G., Clough, R., West, C.E., Lewis, C.A., Booth, A.M. and Rowland, S.J. (2011) Alkylnaphthalenes: Priority pollutants or minor contributors to the poor health of marine mussels? Environmental Science & Technology 45, 6160-6166. [doi: 10.1021/es201234a].
• Booth, A.M., Scarlett, A.G., Lewis, C.A., Belt, S.T. and Rowland, S.J. (2008) Unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of aromatic hydrocarbons: Branched alkyl indanes and branched alkyl tetralins are present in UCMs and accumulated by and toxic to, the mussel Mytilus edulis. Environmental Science & Technology 42, 8122-8126. [doi: 10.1021/es801601x].
• Smith, B.E., Lewis, C.A., Belt, S.T., Whitby, C. and Rowland, S.J. (2008) Effects of alkyl chain branching on the biotransformation of naphthenic acids. Environmental Science & Technology 42, 9323-9328. [doi: 10.1021/es801922p].
• Booth, A.M., Aitken, C., Jones, D.M., Lewis, C.A., and Rowland, S.J. (2007) Resistance of toxic alkylcyclohexyltetralins to biodegradation by aerobic bacteria. Organic Geochemistry 38, 540-550. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2006.12.008].
• Booth, A., Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A., Lewis, A.C., Scarlett, A., Wing Chau, Widdows, J. and Rowland, S.J. (2007) Unresolved complex mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons: Thousands of overlooked persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic contaminants in mussels. Environmental Science & Technology 41, 457-464. [doi: 10.1021/es0615829].
  This publication was featured on the ACS Publications website as one of the Most-Cited Articles published in 2007 and cited through the period ending 31 December 2007. Most-Cited Articles listed are based on data from Thomson Web of Science®.
• Smith, B.E., Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A., Dunsmore, B., Fowler, G., Krane, J., Lutnaes, B.F., Brandal, Ø., Sjöblom, J. and Rowland, S.J. (2007) Analysis of 'ARN' naphthenic acids by high temperature gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Separation Science 30, 375-380. [doi: 10.1002/jssc.200600266].
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland S.J. (2005) Isolation of individual hydrocarbons from the unresolved complex hydrocarbon mixture of a biodegraded crude oil using preparative capillary gas chromatography. Organic Geochemistry 36, 963-970. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2004.11.007].
• Massé, G., Belt, S.T., Allard, W.G., Lewis, C.A., Wakeham, S.G. and Rowland, S.J. (2004) Occurrence of novel monocyclic alkenes from diatoms in marine sedimenting particles and sediments. Organic Geochemistry 35, 813-822.
• Johns, L., Belt, S.T., Lewis, C.A., Rowland, S.J., Massé, G., Robert J.-M. and König W.A. (2000) Configurations of polyunsaturated sesterterpenoids from the diatom, Haslea ostrearia. Phytochemistry 53, 607-611.
• Rowland, S.J., Belt, S.T., Johns, L., Wraige, E.J., Lewis, C.A., Robert, J.-M. Massé, G., König, W., Frampton, D., Blackburn, S., Revill, A.T. and Volkman, J.K. (1999) Controls on the sedimentary distributions of the highly branched isoprenoid lipids of diatomaceous algae. 19^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey, 6-10 September 1999, Abstracts Part 1, 04B, Tubitak Marmara Research Center, 17-18.
• Johns, L., Wraige, E.J., Belt, S.T., Lewis, C.A., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (1999) Identification of a C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) diene in Antarctic sediments, Antarctic sea-ice diatoms and cultured diatoms. Organic Geochemistry 30, 1471-1475.
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A., Patell, Y., Seddon, K.R. and Rowland, S.J. (1998) Attempted dissolution of 'insoluble organic matter' from Methanococcus jannaschii and Rostherne Mere (UK) sediment with 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride/aluminium (III) chloride. Ancient Biomolecules 2, 195-207.
• Heath, D.J., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland, S.J. (1997) The use of high temperature gas chromatography to study the biodegradation of high molecular weight hydrocarbons. Organic Geochemistry 26, 769-785.
• Lewis, C.A. (1997) Analytical techniques in organic geochemistry. In: Modern Analytical Geochemistry (Edited by Gill, R.), pp. 243-272, Addison Wesley Longman Limited, Harlow, U.K.
• Wraige, E.J., Belt, S.T., Lewis, C.A., Cooke, D.A., Robert, J.-M., Massé, G. and Rowland, S.J. (1997) Variations in structures and distributions of C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes in cultures of the diatom, Haslea ostrearia (Simonsen). Organic Geochemistry 27, 497-505.

Publications prior to 1996 are given here.

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Studentships

Studentships since 1996:

Dates	Student	Funding Body	Award and Date	Present Employment
		Title
2012-2015	Michael Wilde	European Research Council and Plymouth University	In progress	-
		identification of components within supercomplex organic mixtures With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)
2010-2014	Charlotte Cree	NERC Studentship	In progress	-
		Climate regulators? An investigation of amine cycling in marine systems Dr Mark Fitzsimons (Director of Studies), Dr C. Anthony Lewis, Dr Steve Archer (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) and Dr Ruth Airs (Plymouth Marine Laboratory)
2009-2012	D.E.A. Jones	University of Plymouth	In progress	-
		Characteristation and toxicity of marine organic pollutants With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)
2003-2006	C.E. West	University of Plymouth Scholarhip/Astrazeneca Brixham Environmental Laboratory	Ph.D. 2007	University of Plymouth, U.K.
		The photodegradation of diazepam and its human metabolites in water [abstract] With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)
2002-2005	B.E. Smith	University of Plymouth Studentship	Ph.D. 2006	OilPlus Ltd, Newbury, U.K.
		Naphthenic acids: Synthesis, characterisation and factors influencing environmental fate [abstract] With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)
2000-2003	A.M. Booth	NERC Studentship	Ph.D. 2004	SINTEF Petroleum Research, Norway
		Biodegradation, water solubility and characterisation studies of unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of aromatic hydrocarbons [abstract] With Professor S.J. Rowland
1995-1999	P.A. Sutton	University of Plymouth Studentship/NERC	Ph.D. 2000	University of Plymouth, U.K.
		The quantitative isolation of 'insoluble organic matter' (IOM) from sediments and bacteria, and its attempted dissolution using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride-aluminium (III) chloride [abstract] With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)
1994-1997	H.F. Sturt	SERC Case	Ph.D. 2000	Woods Hole Ocenaographic Institution, U.S.A.
		Molecular characterisation of fluidised catalytic cracker feedstocks using ruthenium tetroxide oxidation: A study of model hydrocarbons [abstract] With Professor S.J. Rowland (Director of Studies)

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Research Income

Income since 1996:

Dates	Funding Body and Project	Amount
2007-2010	FCO Analysis of crude oils (with Professor S.J. Rowland)	£300,000
2007-2009	Weatherford SLS, Knowledge Transfer Partnership GC Tracer (with Professor S.J. Rowland)	£193,268
2003	NERC Hydrocarbon humps	£3,600
2002-2003	NERC Identification of Aromatic UCM Components of Petroleum Using Semi-Preparative HPLC	£29,874
2000-2003	NERC Characterisation and toxicity of petroleum-derived unresolved complex mixtures of hydrocarbons in mussels (M. edulis)	£
Total Since 2000 =		£526,742

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International & National Conference and Meeting Presentations

Conference presentations since 1996:

• 23^rd Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Leeds, U.K., 4-5 July 2012 (oral, colleague).
• 24^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Bremen, Germany, 6-11 September 2009 (2 posters^{1, 2}; 2 posters^{3, 4}, colleague).
• 19^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K., 1-2 July 2008 (poster).
• 23^rd International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Torquay, U.K., 9-14 September 2007 (3 posters^{1, 2}, colleague).
• Vice Chancellor’s Research and Innovation Conference, Plymouth, U.K., 4 April 2007 (poster; colleague) .
• SETAC North America 27^th Annual Meeting, Québec, Canada, 5-9 November 2006 (oral, colleague).
• 18^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Milton Keynes, U.K., 28-29 June 2006 (poster, colleague).
• 6^th European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, 6-10 December 2005 (oral, colleague).
• 22^nd International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Seville, Spain, 12-1 September 2005 (poster, colleague).
• 17^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Liverpool, U.K., 14-15 July 2005 (oral, colleague).
• Royal Society of Chemistry Meeting and Postgraduate Industry Tour, Newcastle, U.K., 18-20 April 2005 (poster, colleague).
• Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Meeting, Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Fate, Effects and Regulation, London, U.K., 1 March 2005 (poster, colleague).
• 5^th European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry, Bari, Italy, 15-18 December 2004 (poster, colleague).
• 16^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemistry Society, Nottingham, U.K., 14-15 July 2004 (oral, colleague; poster, colleague).
• 21^st International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Krakow, Poland, 8-12 September 2003 (oral).
• 15^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Plymouth, U.K., 8-9 July 2003 (poster, colleague).
• RSC Postgraduate Industry Tour, London, U.K., 11-13 May 2003 (poster, colleague).
• 1^st International Symposium on Comprehensive Multidimensional Gas Chromatography, Volendam, The Netherlands, 6-7 March 2003 (poster, colleague).
• 3^rd European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-14 December 2002 (oral, colleague; poster, colleague).
• William Smith and the Deep Biosphere, Geological Society, Burlington House, U.K., 22-23 October 2002 (oral, colleague).
• 14^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., 2-3 July 2002 (oral, colleague; poster, colleague).
• International Symposium of Column Chromatography, Riva del Garda, Italy, 13-17 May 2002 (poster, colleague).
• Organic Contaminants in Soil, Water and Sediment: The Cutting Edge, Reading, U.K., 2 May 2002 (poster, colleague).
• 13^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Gregynog, Wales, U.K., 23-25 July 2001 (poster).
• 19^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey, 6-10 September 1999 (poster).
• 10^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Plymouth, U.K., 15-17 July 1998 (poster, colleague).
• 18^th International Meeting on Advances in Organic Geochemistry, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22-26 September 1997 (poster).

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