Marco Coolen

Biography

Marco Coolen a molecular palaeoecologist and geomicrobiologist interested in studing past ecosystem-climate or ecosystem-anthropocene interactions using sedimentary ancient DNA paired with a variety of environmental/climate proxies. By way of example, I am currently leading a project sponsored by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to reconstruct ecosystem-climate interactions resulting from long-term changes in Monsoon strength and coupled oxygem miniumum zone (OMZ) expansion in the Indian Ocean. In addition, I am interested in studying the bioavailability and fate of organic matter in the marine and terrestrial geological record, which is of importance for our understanding of past climates and of the contemporary carbon cycle. For example, using ultrahigh throughput omics approaches (e.g. metatranscriptomics) I plan to unravel microbial activities and enzymatic pathways associated with deep subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs, source rocks, and serpentinite-hosted environments.

Research Interest

Bioavailability and fate of organic matter in the marine and terrestrial geological record, which is of importance for our understanding of past climates and of the contemporary carbon cycle. Development and application of advanced molecular tools to analyze ancient DNA of past plankton populations and terrestrial vegetation in the geological record (i.e., the plankton and vegetation paleomes). The use of plankton and vegetation paleomes combined with (isotope) lipid geochemistry to reconstruct past ecological and environmental changes from climate variability or anthropogenic perturbations.