The Geomicrobiology Laboratory at UQ

Speaker:

Professor Gordon Southam

Abstract:

Professor Gordon Southam is an interdisciplinary researcher who has crossed traditional boundaries between biological and geological sciences. His research takes fundamental geomicrobiology and translates this into applied settings, primarily in the minerals industry. Gordon's landmark contributions have been in understanding the fundamental roles that bacteria play in catalysing the formation of economically significant geological and mineral phenomena, such as the formation of placer gold, their role in mineral carbonation (CO2 sequestration), bioleaching of metal sulphides-supergene systems and bioremediation of mine sites. In this presentation, the roles of bacteria in these geochemical systems will be highlighted.

Bio:

Gordon holds a BSc Microbiology and a PhD Microbiology from The University of Guelph. He has been an Assistant / Associate Professor at Northern Arizona University; Associate Professor / Professor at Western University and is currently a joint Professor at UQ's School of the Environment and the Sustainable Minerals Institute. Gordon has previously been the Canada Research Chair in Geomicrobiology from 2001 - 2011 and the Value-UQ Chair in Geomicrobiology from 2012-2017.