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

Research Interests

• Environmental organic chemistry
• Structure, function and biosynthesis of natural products from marine organisms
• Pharmacological properties of marine natural products
• Diatom taxonomy
• Development of new electron microscopy techniques
• Video endoscopy

Brief History

I am currently a Reader in the School of Earth Ocean and Environmental Sciences at the University of Plymouth. I obtained my Ph.D. [abstract or full thesis (14MB)] from the University of Plymouth in 2003 (Dr Simon Belt and Professor Steve Rowland). Following a post-doctoral term at the University of Plymouth, I took up the position of a "New Blood" Lecturer in Petroleum and Environmental Geochemistry. My research is mainly focused on the identification and elucidation of the mechanisms leading to the biosynthesis of isoprenoid lipids in diatoms. I am also investigating the use of these lipids as environmental biomarkers as well as new pharmaceuticals. With effect from 1st October 2008 I will be moving to CNRS, Université de Paris in France although I will spend 20% of my time continuing my research in PEGG.

Teaching and Learning

My teaching covers a number of subject areas (e.g. organic chemistry, fieldwork) for undergraduates from both Chemistry and Environmental Science Programmes (B.Sc. (Hons)).

Recent Publications

In Press, Submitted or In Preparation

• Axford, Y., Andresen, C.S., Andrews, J.T., Belt, S.T., Geirsdóttir, Á., Massé, G., Miller, G.H., Ólafsdóttir, S. and Vare, L.L. Do paleoclimate proxies agree? A test comparing nineteen climate and sea-ice reconstructions from Icelandic marine and lake sediments. Journal of Quaternary Science. (Submitted).
• Brown, T.A., Belt. S., Mundy, C., Philippe, B., Massé, G. and Poulin, M. (2010) Temporal and vertical variations of lipid biomarkers during a bottom ice diatom bloom in the Canadian Beaufort Sea: further evidence for the use of the IP₂₅ biomarker as a proxy for spring Arctic sea ice. Polar Biology. [doi: 10.1007/s00300-010-0942-5].
• Müller, J., Massé, G., Stein, R. and Belt, S.T. Variability of sea ice conditions in the Fram Strait over the past 30,000 years. Nature Geoscience. (Accepted). [doi: 10.1038/ngeo665].
• Massé, G., Belt, S.T., Crosta, X., Schmidt, S., Snape, I., Thomas, D.N. and Rowland, S.J. Highly branched isoprenoids as proxies for variable sea ice conditions in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science. (In press). [doi: 10.1017/S0954102011000381].

2010

• Belt, S.T., Vare, L.L., Massé, G., Manners, H.R., Price, J.C., MacLachlan, S.E., Andrews, J.T. and Schmidt, S. Striking similarities in temporal changes to seasonal sea ice conditions across the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago over the last 7,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 3489-3504. [doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.06.041].
• Gregory, T.R., Smart, C.W., Hart, M.B., Massé, G., Vare, L.L. and Belt S.T. (2010) Holocene palaeoceanographic changes in Barrow Strait, Canadian Arctic: foraminiferal evidence. Journal of Quaternary Science 25, 903-910. [doi: 10.1002/jqs.1367].
• Vare, L.L., Massé, G. and Belt, S.T. (2010) A biomarker-based reconstruction of sea ice conditions for the Barents Sea in recent centuries. The Holocene 20, 637-643. [doi: 10.1177/0959683609355179].

2009

• Andrews, J.T., Belt, S.T., Olafsdottir, S., Massé, G. and Vare, L.L. (2009) Sea ice and marine climate variability for NW Iceland/Denmark Strait over the last 2000 cal. yr BP. The Holocene 19, 775-784. [doi: 10.1177/0959683609105302].
• Curtis-Jackson, P.K., Massé, G., Gledhill, M., Fitzsimons, M.F. (2009) Characterisation of low molecular weight dissolved organic nitrogen by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry. Limnology and Oceanography: Methods 7, 52-63.
• Müller, J., Massé, G., Stein, R. and Belt, S.T. (2009) Variability of sea ice conditions in the Fram Strait over the past 30,000 years. Nature Geoscience 2, 772-776. [doi: 10.1038/ngeo665]. This publication is featured in the Backstory and News and Views sections of the Journal.
• Vare, L.L., Massé, G., Gregory, T.R., Smart, C.W. and Belt, S.T. (2009) Sea ice variations in the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago during the Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, 1354-1366. [doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.01.013].

2008

• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Vare, L.L., Rowland, S.J., Poulin, M., Sicre, M.-A., Sampei, M. and Fortier, L. (2008) Distinctive ¹³C isotopic signature distinguishes a novel sea ice biomarker in Arctic sediments and sediment traps. Marine Chemistry 112, 158-167. [doi: 10.1016/j.marchem.2008.09.002].
• Massé, G., Rowland, S.J., Sicre, M.-A., Jacob, J., Jansen, E. and Belt, S.T. (2008) Abrupt climate changes for Iceland during the last millennium: Evidence from high resolution sea ice reconstructions. Earth Planetary Science Letters 269, 564-568. [doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.017].

2007

• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Rowland, S.J., Poulin, M., Michel, C. and LeBlanc, B. (2007) A novel chemical fossil of palaeo sea ice: IP₂₅. Organic Geochemistry 38, 16-27. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2006.09.013].

2006

• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Rowland, S.J. and Rohmer, M. (2006) Highly branched isoprenoid alcohols and epoxides in the diatom Haslea ostrearia Simonsen. Organic Geochemistry 37, 133-145. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.10.005].

2004

• 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. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2004.03.004].
• Massé, G., Belt, S.T. and Rowland, S.J. (2004) Biosynthesis of unusual monocyclic alkenes by the diatom, Rhizosolenia setigera (Brightwell). Phytochemistry 56, 1101-1106. [doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2004.02.019].
• Massé, G., Belt, S.T., Rowland, S.J. and Rohmer, M. (2004) Isoprenoid biosynthesis in the diatoms Rhizosolenia setigera (Brightwell) and Haslea ostrearia (Simonsen). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101, 4413-4418. [doi: 10.1073/pnas.0400902101].
• Poulin, M., Massé, G., Belt, S.T., Delavault, P., Rousseau, F., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2004) Morphological, biochemical and molecular evidence for the transfer of Gyrosigma nipkowii Meister to the genus Haslea (Bacillariophyta). European Journal of Phycology 39, 181-195. [doi: 10.1080/0967026042000202136]
• Sinninghe Damsté, J.S., Muyzer, G., Abbas, B., Rampen, S.W., Massé, G., Allard, W.G., Belt, S.T., Robert, J.-M., Rowland, S.J., Moldowan, J.M., Barbanti, S.M., Fago, F.J., Denisevich, P., Dahl, J., Trinidade, L.A.F., and Schouten, S. (2004) The rise of rhizosolenid diatoms. Science 304, 584-587. [doi: 10.1126/science.1096806].

2003

• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Allard, W.G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2003) Novel monocyclic sester- and triterpenoids from the marine diatom, Rhizosolenia setigera. Tetrahedron Letters 44, 9103-9106.
• Cognie, B., Barillé, L., Massé, G., and Beninger, P.G. (2003) Selection and processing of large suspended algae in the oyster Crassostrea gigas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 250, 145-152.

2002

• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Allard, W.G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2002) Effects of auxosporulation on distributions of C₂₅ and C₃₀ isoprenoid alkenes in Rhizosolenia setigera. Phytochemistry 59, 141-149.

2001

• Allard, W.G., Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Naumann, R., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) Tetra-unsaturated sesterterpenoids (Haslenes) from Haslea ostrearia and related species. Phytochemistry 56, 795-800.
• Belt, S.T., Allard, W.G., Johns, L., König, W.A., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S. (2001) Variable stereochemistry in highly branched isoprenoids from diatoms. Chirality 13, 415-419.
• Belt, S.T., Allard, W.G., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) Structural characterisation of C₃₀ highly branched isoprenoid alkenes (rhizenes) in the marine diatom Rhizosolenia setigera. Tetrahedron Letters 42, 5583-5585.
• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Allard, W.G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) Identification of a C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid triene in the freshwater diatom Navicula sclesvicensis. Organic Geochemistry 32, 1169-1172.
• Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Allard, W.G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid alkenes in planktonic diatoms of the Pleurosigma genus. Organic Geochemistry 32 1271-1275.
• Massé, G., Poulin, M., Belt, S.T., Barreau, A., Robert, J.-M., Rincé, Y. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) A simple method for SEM examination of sectioned diatom frustules. Journal of Microscopy-Oxford 204, 87-92.
• Massé, G., Rince, Y., Cox, E., Allard, W.G., Belt, S. and Rowland, S.J. (2001) Haslea salstonica sp. nov. and Haslea pseudostrearia sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta), two new epibenthic diatoms from the Kingsbridge estuary, United Kingdom. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences Serie III-Sciences de la Vie 334, 617-626.
• Rowland, S.J., Allard, W.G., Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M., Blackburn, S., Frampton, D., Revill, A.T. and Volkman, J.K. (2001) Factors influencing the distributions of polyunsaturated terpenoids in the diatom, Rhizosolenia setigera. Phytochemistry. 58, 717-728.
• Rowland, S.J., Belt, S.T., Wraige, E.J., Massé, G., Roussakis, C. and Robert, J.-M. (2001) Effects of temperature on polyunsaturation in cytostatic lipids of Haslea ostrearia. Phytochemistry 56, 597-602.
• Turpin, V., Robert, J.-M., Goulletquer, P., Massé, G. and Rosa, P. (2001) Oyster greening by outdoor mass culture of the diatom Haslea ostrearia Simonsen in enriched seawater. Aquaculture research 32, 801-809.

2000

• Belt, S.T., Allard, W.G., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2000) Highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs): Identification of the most common and abundant sedimentary isomers. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 64, 3839-3851.
• Belt, S.T., Allard, G., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (2000) Important sedimentary sesterterpenoids from the diatom Pleurosigma intermedium. Chemical Communications, 501-502.
• Johns, L., Belt, S., Lewis, C.A., Rowland, S., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and König, W.A. (2000) Configurations of polyunsaturated sesterterpenoids from the diatom, Haslea ostrearia. Phytochemistry 53, 607-611.

1999

• 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, sea-ice diatoms and cultured diatoms. Organic Geochemistry 30, 1471-1475.
• Wraige, E.J., Johns, L., Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S. (1999) Highly branched C₂₅ isoprenoids in axenic cultures of Haslea ostrearia. Phytochemistry 51, 69-73.

1998

• Wraige, E.J., Belt, S.T., Massé, G., Robert, J.-M. and Rowland, S.J. (1998) Variations in distributions of C₂₅ highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes in the diatom, Haslea ostrearia: influence of salinity. Organic Geochemistry 28, 855-859.

1997

• Johns, L.A., Belt, S.T., Wraige, E.J., Cooke, D.A., Robert, J.-M., Massé, G. and Rowland, S.J. (1997) Highly branched isoprenoid hydrocarbons of diatomaceous algae: controls on stereochemistry and distributions. 18th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22-26 September 1997. Abstracts Part II, C86, 715. Forschungszentrum Julich GmbH.
• 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.

Studentships

Studentships since 2004:

Research Income

Income since 2000:

International & National Conference and Meeting Presentations

Conference presentations since 1996:

• 20th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Bristol, U.K., 7-8 July 2009 (oral, colleague).
• Gordon Research Conference, Polar Marine Science - Beyond IPY: Crossing Boundaries, Lucca (Barga), Italy, 15-20 March 2009 (oral, colleague; poster, colleague).
• American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2008, San Francisco, U.S.A., 15-19 December 2008 (oral).
• EGU General Assembly 2008, Vienna, Austria, 13-18 April 2008 (oral).
• Seminar, CCGS Amundsen, Canadian Arctic, Canada, 20 March 2008 (oral, colleague).
• Seminar, Tromsø, Norway, 22 January 2008 (oral, colleague).
• Arctic Frontiers, Tromsø, Norway, 21-27 January 2008 (poster, colleague).
• 23^rd International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Torquay, U.K., 9-14 September 2007 (oral, colleague).
• Arctic Net 3^rd Annual Scientific Meeting. Victoria, Canada, 12-15 December 2006 (poster).
• American Geophysical Union. San Francisco U.S.A., 11-15 December 2006 (poster).
• HOLIVAR2006 Natural Climate Variability and Global Warming UCL, London, U.K., 12-15 June 2006 (poster).
• European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, Biogeosciences, Vienna, Austria, 2-7 April 2006 (invited oral, colleague).
• Ussher Society, 44th Annual Conference, Bideford, U.K., 3-5 January 2006 (invited oral, colleague).
• 2^nd Annual ArcticNet Scientific Meeting (ASM2005), Banff, Canada, 13-16 December 2005 (poster).
• ESF Exploratory Workshop - Life, Environmental and Earth Sciences (LESC), Delmenhorst, Germany, 12-16 December 2005.
• 21^st International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Kraków, Poland, 8-12 September 2003.
• 3^rd European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-14 December 2002.
• 21^ème Colloque de l'Association des Diatomistes de Langue Française, Nantes, France, 10-13 September 2002.
• 17^th International Diatom Symposium, Ottawa, Canada, 25-31 August 2002.
• 23^rd International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products, Florence, Italy, 28 July-2 August 2002 (poster).
• 20^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry (IMOG 2001), Nancy, France, 10-14 September 2001 (poster).
• 11^th European Union of Geosciences Conference, Strasbourg, France, April 2001.
• 19^th Colloque de l'Association des Diatomistes de Langue Francaise, Mont-Rigi, Belgium, 12-15 September 2000.
• Symposium on Biological Chirality, Szeged, Hungary, 27-31 August 2000.
• 16^th International Diatom Symposium 2000, Athens, Greece, 25 August-1 September 2000 (poster).
• 19^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey, 6-10 September 1999.
• 9^th International Symposium on Marine Natural Products, Townsville, Australia, July 1998.
• 1^st Euroconference on Marine Natural Products, Athens, Greece, 2-6 November 1997.
• 18^th International Meeting on Advances in Organic Geochemistry, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22-26 September 1997.