Robert Gibson	ROYAL NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR SEA RESEARCH (NIOZ)   Postal address: P.O. Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg (Texel) The Netherlands   Visiting address: Landsdiep 4 NL-1797 SZ ’t Horntje (Texel) The Netherlands Room: D00-2   Phone (reception): (+31) (0)222-369300 Fax: (+31) (0)222-319674
E-mail: robert.gibson@nioz.nl   Direct Phone: (+31) (0)222-369410

 

General
2009 – present:	Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, NIOZ
2005 – 2009:	PhD in Organic Geochemistry, Newcastle University, U.K.
2001 – 2005:	MChem Chemistry, Newcastle University, U.K.
Research Interests
Investigations of modern ‘extreme’ environments as analogues for the early Earth and astrobiology.
Natural product chemistry – particularly elucidation of novel compounds and their utility as signatures for biological activity.
Molecular indicators of redox boundaries
Chemotaxonomy of lipids
Current  Project
Intact polar lipids (IPLs) derived from microbial communities in extreme environments   The direct analysis of IPLs is gaining increasing popularity in determining the presence and diversity of microbial communities in different environments. In this project we want to further develop this method by using HPLC combined with multidimensional MS techniques and apply it to unusual microbial communities in extreme environments. Specifically, material collected from several off-axis hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean (in collaboration with Prof. A.L. Reysenbach, Portland State) will be analysed and compared with genomic results obtained by our collaborators. We will also investigate several terrestrial hot springs for which material has been collected or will be collected during field trips within this project.
People involved: R. Gibson (Post-doc), Prof. Dr. J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, Dr. S. Schouten, Dr. M.T.J. van der Meer, Dr. E.C. Hopmans.
Funding: DARWIN
Duration: 2009-2011
Publications:
Chuanlun L. Zhang, Zhiyong Huang, Yi-Liang Li, Christopher S. Romanek, Gary L. Mills, Robert A. Gibson, Helen M. Talbot, Juergen Wiegel, John Noakes, Randy Culp and David C. White, 2007. Lipid biomarkers, carbon isotopes, and phylogenetic characterization of bacteria in California and Nevada hot springs, Geomicrobiology 24, 519 – 534.
Robert A. Gibson, Helen M. Talbot, Gurpreet Kaur, Richard D. Pancost, Bruce Mountain, 2008. Bacteriohopanepolyol signatures of cyanobacterial and methanotrophic bacterial populations recorded in a geothermal vent sinter, Org. Geochem. 39, 1020 – 1023.