Dr Cédric M. John

Position: Reader (Associate Professor), head of group Office: RSM 2.36B Telephone: +44 (0)207 5946461 Email: cedric.john@imperial.ac.uk

RESEARCH INTERESTS | SHORT BIOGRAPHY | CURRICULUM VITAE 

Short professional biography

My undergraduate thesis (obtained in 1999) was centred on understanding the genesis of phosphatic hardgrounds in the Monterey formation of California, and relate this to organic matter content and the so-called "Monterey hypothesis" of Vincent and Berger (1985). I worked under the guidance of Prof. Karl Föllmi, and we demonstrated that organic  matter and phosphorus (an important nutrient) were still abundant in late Miocene rocks, i.e. later than predicted by the Monterey hypothesis.

My PhD (obtained in 2003) was done under the guidance of Prof. Maria Mutti from the University of Potsdam, Germany. I worked on understanding the impact of middle Miocene climate on carbonate systems in the Mediterranean (Malta) and Australia (the Marion Plateau, ODP Leg 194. Picture on the left is of the science party waiting for the last core of Leg 194, March 2001. Front row, left to right: Gregor Eberli, Garry Karner, and myself). I co-authored several papers based on my thesis and related to eustasy, paleoceanography and paleoclimate. After my PhD I moved to the U.S. to work as a post doctoral assistant with Prof. Jim Zachos. From 2004 to 2006 I concentrated my research on the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, and what the shallow-water continental margin records of North America were indicating in terms of paleoclimate and surface runoff.

In 2006, I became staff scientist with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) in College Station, TX. My job was on the one hand to facilitate the organisation and execution of scientific cruises, and on the other hand to pursue my personal research. The IODP years have been extremely formative in a number of ways. I became involved with large, multi-disciplinary projects on paleoclimate, but I was also exposed to projects well outside my direct expertise, such as hydrological flow experiments in overpressured sediments in the Gulf of Mexico (IODP Expedition 308) or on the various Nankai Trough Seismogenic experiments (NanTroSeize) implemented by ourpartners in Japan (CDEX). I also learned something about drilling, and all the caveats associated with working with cores and subsurface data.

I am since 2008 a Lecturer (equivalent to an assistant professor) at Imperial College London, and subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer (2013) and now Reader (2018). A large part of my research is now on carbonate systems of the Middle East, with other projects focused on sea-level changes and paleoclimate. I teach carbonate sedimentology and diagenesis, lead field courses in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico and in the Wessex Basin of England, and I am a tutor to undergraduate students.