Dr. Bart Van Dongen

Biography

In 1997, Bart Van Dongen obtained his M.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Leiden and then began his Ph.D. research at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, focusing on the natural preservation of carbohydrates in marine sediments and its impact on the chemical carbon isotopic composition of sedimentary organic matter. His research demonstrated that sulfurization is a crucial mechanism in the preservation of organic carbon, with significant impacts on total organic carbon (TOC) records. After completing his Ph.D. in 2003, he held a PDRA position at the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, where he reconstructed early Eocene tropical sea surface temperatures using marine drilling cores. In 2005, he joined Stockholm University as a post-doc, concentrating on the effects of climate change on the remobilization and preservation of recalcitrant organic carbon in the Arctic. In 2007, he accepted a lecturer position at the University of Manchester, where he has since been promoted through academic ranks. His work mainly involves applying organic geochemical techniques to biogeochemical processes, supervising laboratory activities, and has resulted in over 70 publications. He is an associate editor for Organic Geochemistry and chairs the NERC Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry Facility Steering Committee.

Research Interests