Christian Hallmann, PhD

My lab uses methods of molecular and isotopic organic geochemistry to study Precambrian Earth system evolution and enhance our understanding of the co-evolution of environmental conditions and organismic diversity. Two key focus areas are the Archean–Proterozoic boundary (+- a few 100 million years), which witnessed the first rise of atmospheric oxygen, and the Neoproterozoic Era. During the latter period, strong imbalances in the marine carbon cycle were accompanied by severe glacial episodes, changes in global ocean chemistry and the first appearance of complex biota in the form of metazoa. Using biomarker lipids and their stable isotopic composition we attempt to understand the connection between these individual observations.