About
Dr Heiko Moossen is an organic geochemist. His interest is the development and application of geochemical biomarkers that are used to reconstruct palaeoclimate.
Qualifications
2012 - PhD, University of Glasgow
2007 - Dipl. Chem. (Masters) in Pure and Applied Chemistry; University of Oldenburg, Germany
Biography
Dr Moossen is currently setting up the new Birmingham Molecular Climatology (BMC) laboratory under the leadership of Dr. James Bendle.
After graduating with a Masters in pure and applied chemistry from the University of Oldenburg, Dr Moossen worked in the organic geochemistry unit of the Institute of chemistry and biology of the marine environment (ICBM) setting up the new MAT 253 hydrogen isotope mass spectrometer. He subsequently joined Dr James Bendle at the University of Glasgow where he completed his PhD entitled “Palaeoclimate reconstructions from Arctic and Nordic Shelf Seas: development and application of multiple biomarker proxies” in 2012.
Research
Priority research themes are:
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Holocene climate evolution
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High-resolution palaeoclimatology
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Biomarker development
The occurrence and absence of organic biomarkers (geochemical fossils), as well as the ratios of different biomarkers in marine sediments make it possible to reconstruct changes in environmental parameters such as sea surface and air temperature, precipitation and changes in microbial and plant distributions.
Heiko studies the occurrence biomarkers to develop existing, and discover new biomarkers that can be used to study past climate change, as well as studying Holocene climate change.
Publications
Vogts, A., Moossen, H., Rommerskirchen, F., Rullkotter, J., 2009. Distribution patterns and stable carbon isotopic composition of alkanes and alkan-1-ols from plant waxes of African rain forest and savanna C3 species. Organic Geochemistry 40, 1037-1054.