Seán Jordan

2025-10-03 03:10:10

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

Associate Professor in Chemistry, Dublin City University

Profile Articles Activity

Seán Jordan is Associate Professor in Chemistry in the School of Chemical Sciences at Dublin City University (DCU), Ireland. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science from DCU in 2009. Following this he gained practical experience as a research assistant in the National Centre for Sensor Research. In 2012, after a short time in Australia, he returned to DCU to complete his PhD in Biogeochemistry which was awarded in 2016. That same year he accepted a position as Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London, investigating the first cell membranes at the origin of life. In 2021 he secured a 'la Caixa' Foundation Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship (Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND) to pursue his work on protocells, organic biomorphs, and biosignature detection at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. He is currently a member of the Life Science Institute in DCU, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), and the Origin of Life Early-career Network (OoLEN). In 2024 he was awarded an SFI Pathway Award and a European Research Council Starting Grant to establish his ProtoSigns Lab in DCU. He is fascinated by the transition from geochemistry to biochemistry eventually leading to the origin and evolution of life, and how we can trace these events through a combination of experimentation and advanced analytical techniques. The ProtoSigns Lab, is focused on pushing the boundaries of membrane formation at the origin of life, investigating how the resulting structures may be preserved in the rock record, and the potential effects this may have on our interpretation of biosignatures from the early Earth and elsewhere in our Solar System.

Experience

2023–present Associate Professor in Biogeochemistry and Astrobiology, ProtoSigns Lab, Dublin City University
2022–2023 Assistant lecturer, ATU
2021–2022 Postdoctoral research associate, IST
2016–2021 Postdoctoral research associate, UCL
2016–2016 Research Scientist, NCSR

Education

2016 Dublin City University, PhD in Biogeochemistry
2012 Dublin City University, BSc in Environmental Science

Publications

2022 Spontaneous assembly of redox-active iron-sulfur clusters at low concentrations of cysteine, Nature Communications
2021 Production of methane and gaseous compounds by surface microbial activity in a small pockmark field, Dunmanus Bay, Ireland, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
2021 Nutrient Analysis in Arctic Waters Using a Portable Sensing Platform, Frontiers in Sensors
2019 Possible mechanisms of CO2 reduction by H2 via prebiotic vectorial electrochemistry, Interface Focus
2019 Promotion of protocell self-assembly from mixed amphiphiles at the origin of life, Nature Ecology and Evolution
2019 Isoprenoids enhance the stability of fatty acid membranes at the emergence of life potentially leading to an early lipid divide, Interface Focus
2019 Geophysical and geochemical analysis of shallow gas and an associated pockmark field in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
2017 Iron catalysis at the origin of life, IUBMB Life
2017 Large perturbations in CO2 flux and subsequent chemosynthesis are induced in agricultural soil by the addition of elemental sulfur, Scientific Reports
2017 Evidence for cosmic airburst in the Western Alps archived in Late Glacial paleosols, Quaternary International
2017 Mid-Holocene climate change and landscape formation in Ireland: Evidence from a geochemical investigation of a coastal peat bog, Organic Geochemistry
2016 Biostratigraphic evidence relating to the age old question of Hannibal's invasion of Italy II: Chemical biomarkers and microbial signatures, Archaeometry
2016 The occurrence of PAHs and faecal sterols in Dublin Bay and their influence on sedimentary microbial communities, Marine Pollution Bulletin
2016 Biostratigraphic evidence relating to the age old question of Hannibal's invasion of Italy I: History and geological reconstruction, Archaeometry
2016 A Microbial Link to Weathering of Postglacial Rocks and Sediments, Mount Viso Area, Western Alps, Demonstrated through Analysis of a Soil/Paleosol Bio/Chronosequence, The Journal of Geology
2015 Abundance and diversity of sedimentary bacterial communities in a coastal productive setting in the Western Irish Sea, Continental Shelf Research
2014 Shallow water methane-derived authigenic carbonate mounds at the Codling Fault Zone, western Irish Sea, Marine Geology
2014 Polybius' 'Previous Landslide': Proof that Hannibal's invasion route crossed the Col de la Traversette, Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry
2014 Biomarkers reveal the effects of hydrography on marine and terrestrial organic matter sources and fate in the western Irish Sea, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
2011 A Bacterial Enrichment Study and Overview of the Extractable Lipids from Paleosols in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Implications for Future Mars Reconnaissance, Astrobiology

Grants and Contracts

2024 ERC Starting Grant Role: PI Funding Source: European Research Council
2023 Pathway Award Role: PI Funding Source: Science Foundation Ireland
2021 Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship Role: PI Funding Source: 'la Caixa' Foundation
2020 Humboldt Research Fellowship Role: PI Funding Source: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung

Professional Memberships

European Association of Geochemistry
Origin of Life Early-career Network
Research Ireland Centre in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG)

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