I am an Earth System Scientist with expertise in geochemistry, sedimentary geology and (palaeo)oceanography, as well as a strong background in soil and environmental science. In order to advance our understanding of the causes and consequences of environmental change, my research focusses on extracting records of palaeoenvironmental/climatic change from marine and lacustrine sedimentary rocks. I utilise a combination of fieldwork, analytical (esp. microbeam), experimental and modelling approaches to extract, validate, and interpret this information, often working with a diverse group of local and international collaborators.

Current research interests include:

1. high resolution palaeorecords across time-periods of significant environmental change (Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles, Eocene-Oligocene Climate Transition, Mesozoic Greenhouse World and Ocean Anoxic Events, Ediacaran-Cambrian Transition);
2. secondary mineral formation and alteration in terrestrial and marine settings – implications for biospheric evolution, climate, element cycling, geochronology and the interpretation of isotope proxy records;
3. wildfires as agents of mineral alteration and geochemical differentiation at the Earth’s surface;
4. development of novel applications combining high resolution, quantitative electron-based sedimentary petrography with microbeam geochemical and isotopic (incl. geochronological) analysis to inform studies of palaeoenvironmental change.

 Papers under review/accepted:

Baldermann A, Banerjee S, Czuppon G, Dietzel M, Farkas J, Löhr SC, Moser U, Scheiblhofer E, Wright NM, Zack T. 'Impact of green clay authigenesis on element sequestration in marine settings'. Nature Communications, revised manuscript submitted for review 17/12/2021.

Löhr SC, Whittaker J, Mundana R, Carey R, Mabee A, N Daczko. A bathyal depth for the East Tasman Plateau by 41 Ma; implications for the evolution of the Tasman Gateway. Science Advances, submitted 16/12/2021.

Shujun Han, Stefan Lӧhr, April Abbott, Andre Baldermann, Martin Voigt & Bingsong Yu. Authigenic clay mineral evidence for restricted, evaporitic conditions during the emergence of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Biota. Under review for Nature Communications Earth & Environment, submitted 5/11/2021.

Redaa A, Farkaš J, Ahmed AH; Collins AS; Gilbert S, Löhr SC. 'In-situ Rb–Sr dating constraints on the Umm Farwah shear zone and copper-gold mineralisation in the Mount Ablah area in the Southern part of the Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia' Asian Journal of Earth Sciences, accepted 3/12/2021.

Abbot A, Löhr SC, Payne A, Kumar H, J Du. Widespread lithogenic control of marine authigenic neodymium isotope records? Implications for paleoceanographic reconstructions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, accepted 10/11/2021.

Baldermann A, Wasser O, Abdullayev E, Bernasconi S, Löhr SC, Wemmer K, Piller WE, Rudmin M, S Richoz. Palaeo-environmental evolution of Central Asia during the Cenozoic: New insights from the continental sedimentary archive of the Valley of Lakes (Mongolia). Climates of the Past, accepted 30/09/2021.

Subarkah D, Blades ML, Collins AS, Farkas J, Gilbert S, Löhr SC, Redaa A, Cassidy E and T Zack. Unravelling the histories of Proterozoic shales through in-situ Rb-Sr and elemental laser ablation analysis. Geology, accepted 21/09/2021.

Rafiei M, Löhr SC, Alard O, Farkaš J, Baldermann A, Brock G. ‘Petrographic and geochemical screening of glauconite improves in-situ Rb-Sr dating of partially altered Cambrian marine sequences’. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, submitted June 2021, revisions in progress. 

PhD students supervised (* denotes primary supervision):

*Current: Shujun Han - 'Diagnostic criteria for identifying authigenic clay minerals and implications for the earliest record of animal life in the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation'

Current: Hafiz Shahid Hussain (with April Abbott) - Filling the gap: new insights into the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum from a basinal transect of the Indus Basin

*Complete July 2021: Mehrnoush Rafiei – 'Novel sedimentary petrography applied to the shale record of continental weathering in the Precambrian'

Current: Kristy Guerin (PhD) –  ‘Wildfires as an agent of high temperature geochemical and mineralogical differentiation at the Earth’s surface’ – with Drs David Murphy & Luke Nothdurft (QUT)

Current: Bronwyn Campbell (PhD) – ‘Geochemical changes during coal biodegradation to methane’ – with Professor Simon George

2016 – 2019: Huiyuan Xu – ‘Source rock development and organic matter inputs in the Dongying Depression of the Bohai Bay Basin’

2013 – 2018: Md Habibur Rahman – ‘Clay mineral catalytic influence on hydrocarbon generation in black shales’

MRes & BSc (Hons) students supervised (* denotes primary supervision):

*Current: Cassandra Wheeler - "Mesoproterozoic lacustrine clay-mineral record of weathering prior to greening of the continents"

*Current: Ananyaa Deepak - "A Proterozoic shale record of marine clay authigenesis"

*Current: Hannah Wilson - "Biomarker-based Holocene wildfire history of Kangaroo Island and links to human occupation" (with Prof Simon George)

*2019-2020: Kaycee Handley - 'Massive subaerial volcanism trigger for Oceanic Anoxic Event 2' - joint supervision with Dr April Abbott

2018: Angela Mabee – ‘Eocene deepening of the Tasman Gateway & commencement of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current’

2015: Natalie Debenham – ‘An exotic source rock: drivers of organic carbon enrichment in the Permian Arckaringa Basin’

*2013: Robyn Williamson (BSc Hons, University of Adelaide) – ‘Organic carbon in Mediterranean sapropels: The interplay between anoxia, productivity and clay mineral association’

2012: Samuel Fraser (BSc Hons, University of Adelaide) – 'Nanoscale imaging of the Woodford Shale, Oklahoma, USA: Organic matter preservation as clay-organic nanocomposites'