Dr John Moreau

Reader in Geomicrobiology & Environmental Geoscience (Earth Sciences)

telephone: +44 141 330 5461
email: John.Moreau@glasgow.ac.uk

ORCID iD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5997-522X

Research interests

Dr. Moreau is interested in how environmental microorganisms influence and transform the physical and chemical nature of rocks, sediments, soil and water, over both human and geological timescales. His group has studied the role of sulphur-cycling microbes in controlling the movement of heavy metals through acid mine drainage-impacted sediments and coastal acid sulphate soils. They have also investigated and discovered new mercury methylating bacteria in seawater and sea ice, as well as studied global mercury biogechemical cycling and the evolution of microbial arsenic resistance. Other projects have involved establishing robust criteria for distinguishing microbially-formed mineral biosignatures from inorganic artifacts, developing new autotrophic thiocyanate-degrading bioreactors for remediating mining-contaminated groundwater, and characterising the response of microbes living deep underground to the injection of large volumes of CO2. To conduct their research, the Moreau Lab employs a wide range of methods, including molecular biology, metagenomics, bioinformatics, aqueous geochemistry, electron microscopy, and advanced spectroscopy.

Dr. Moreau obtained his Ph.D from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California-Berkeley in 2006. He served as a United States National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Geological Survey from 2006-2008. He then worked as a Lecturer (2008-2013), Senior Lecturer (2014-2018) and Associate Professor (2019) in the School of Earth Sciences at The University of Melbourne, where he founded the cross-faculty Environmental Microbiology Research Initiative (EMRI). Dr. Moreau joined the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow in July 2019.

Publications

Selected publications

Gionfriddo, C. M., Tate, M. T., Wick, R. R., Schultz, M. B., Zemla, A., Thelen, M. P., Schofield, R., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Holt, K. E. and Moreau, J. W. (2016) Microbial mercury methylation in Antarctic sea ice. Nature Microbiology, 1(10), 16127. (doi: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.127) (PMID:27670112)

Watts, M. P., Gan, H. M., Peng, L. Y., Lê Cao, K.-A. and Moreau, J. W. (2017) In situ stimulation of thiocyanate biodegradation through phosphate amendment in gold mine tailings water. Environmental Science and Technology, 51(22), pp. 13353-13362. (doi: 10.1021/acs.est.7b04152) (PMID:29064247)

All publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2010 | 2009 | 2007 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001

Number of items: 45.

2021

Lin, H., Ascher, D. B., Myung, Y., Lamborg, C. H., Hallam, S. J., Gionfriddo, C. M., Holt, K. E. and Moreau, J. W. (2021) Mercury methylation by metabolically versatile and cosmopolitan marine bacteria. ISME Journal, 15(6), pp. 1810-1825. (doi: 10.1038/s41396-020-00889-4) (PMID:33504941)

Shafiei, F., Watts, M. P., Pajank, L. and Moreau, J. W. (2021) The effect of heavy metals on thiocyanate biodegradation by an autotrophic microbial consortium enriched from mine tailings. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 105(1), pp. 417-427. (doi: 10.1007/s00253-020-10983-4) (PMID:33263791)

2020

Mu, A., Thomas, B. C., Banfield, J. F. and Moreau, J. W. (2020) Subsurface carbon monoxide oxidation capacity revealed through genome-resolved metagenomics of a carboxydotroph. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 12(5), pp. 525-533. (doi: 10.1111/1758-2229.12868) (PMID:32633030)

2019

Armbrecht, L. H. et al. (2019) Ancient DNA from marine sediments: precautions and considerations for seafloor coring, sample handling and data generation. Earth Science Reviews, 196, 102887. (doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.102887)

Watts, M. P., Spurr, L. P., Lê Cao, K.-A., Wick, R., Banfield, J. F. and Moreau, J. W. (2019) Genome-resolved metagenomics of an autotrophic thiocyanate-remediating microbial bioreactor consortium. Water Research, 158, pp. 106-117. (doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.02.058) (PMID:31022528)

Spurr, L. P., Watts, M. P., Gan, H. M. and Moreau, J. W. (2019) Biodegradation of thiocyanate by a native groundwater microbial consortium. PeerJ, 7, e6498. (doi: 10.7717/peerj.6498) (PMID:30941266) (PMCID:PMC6440457)

Cox, T. L., Gan, H. M. and Moreau, J. W. (2019) Seawater recirculation through subducting sediments sustains a deeply buried population of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Geobiology, 17(2), pp. 172-184. (doi: 10.1111/gbi.12324) (PMID:30474350)

2018

Watts, M. P. and Moreau, J. W. (2018) Thiocyanate biodegradation: harnessing microbial metabolism for mine remediation. Microbiology Australia, 39(3), pp. 157-161. (doi: 10.1071/MA18047)

Cumberland, S. A., Etschmann, B., Brugger, J., Douglas, G., Evans, K., Fisher, L., Kappen, P. and Moreau, J. W. (2018) Characterization of uranium redox state in organic-rich Eocene sediments. Chemosphere, 194, pp. 602-613. (doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.12.012) (PMID:29241135)

Vu, H. P. and Moreau, J. W. (2018) Effects of environmental parameters on thiocyanate biodegradation by Burkholderia phytofirmans candidate strain ST01hv. Environmental Engineering Science, 35(1), pp. 62-66. (doi: 10.1089/ees.2016.0351)

Ling, Y.-C., Gan, H. M., Bush, M., Bush, R. and Moreau, J. W. (2018) Time-resolved microbial guild responses to tidal cycling in a coastal acid-sulfate system. Environmental Chemistry, 15(2), pp. 2-17. (doi: 10.1071/EN16203)

2017

Watts, M. P., Spurr, L. P., Gan, H. M. and Moreau, J. W. (2017) Characterization of an autotrophic bioreactor microbial consortium degrading thiocyanate. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 101(14), pp. 5889-5901. (doi: 10.1007/s00253-017-8313-6) (PMID:28510801)

Moreau, J.W. (2017) Sulfate-reducing bacteria: Applications to metals bioremediation and biorecovery. In: Das, S. and Dash, H. R. (eds.) Handbook of Metal-Microbe Interactions and Bioremediation. CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, pp. 623-638. ISBN 9781498762427

Hug, K., Maher, W. A., Foster, S., Krikowa, F. and Moreau, J. W. (2017) Experimental evaluation of sampling, storage and analytical protocols for measuring arsenic speciation in sulphidic hot spring waters. Microchemical Journal, 130, pp. 162-167. (doi: 10.1016/j.microc.2016.08.008)

2016

Cumberland, S. A., Douglas, G., Grice, K. and Moreau, J. W. (2016) Uranium mobility in organic matter-rich sediments: a review of geological and geochemical processes. Earth Science Reviews, 159, pp. 160-185. (doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.05.010)

Watts, M. P. and Moreau, J. W. (2016) New insights into the genetic and metabolic diversity of thiocyanate-degrading microbial consortia. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 100(3), pp. 1101-1108. (doi: 10.1007/s00253-015-7161-5) (PMID:26596573)

2015

Moreau, J. W. , Gionfriddo, C. M., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Ogorek, J. M., DeWild, J. F., Aiken, G. R. and Roden, E. E. (2015) The effect of natural organic matter on mercury methylation by Desulfobulbus propionicus 1pr3. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6, 1389. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01389) (PMID:26733947) (PMCID:PMC4683176)

Houghton, K. M. et al. (2015) Thermorudis pharmacophila sp. nov., a novel member of the class Thermomicrobia isolated from geothermal soil, and emended descriptions of Thermomicrobium roseum, Thermomicrobium carboxidum, Thermorudis peleae and Sphaerobacter thermophilus. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 65(12), pp. 4479-4487. (doi: 10.1099/ijsem.0.000598) (PMID:26374291)

Andrade, K. et al. (2015) Metagenomic and lipid analyses reveal a diel cycle in a hypersaline microbial ecosystem. ISME Journal, 9(12), pp. 2697-2711. (doi: 10.1038/ismej.2015.66) (PMID:25918833) (PMCID:PMC4817636)

Torres, M.E., Cox, T., Hong, W.-L., McManus, J., Sample, J.C., Destrigneville, C., Gan, H.M., Gan, H.Y. and Moreau, J.W. (2015) Crustal fluid and ash alteration impacts on the biosphere of Shikoku Basin sediments, Nankai Trough, Japan. Geobiology, 13(6), pp. 562-580. (doi: 10.1111/gbi.12146) (PMID:26081483)

Ling, Y.-C., Bush, R., Grice, K., Tulipani, S., Berwick, L. and Moreau, J. W. (2015) Distribution of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria across a coastal acid sulfate soil (CASS) environment: Implications for passive bioremediation by tidal inundation. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6, 624. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00624) (PMID:26191042) (PMCID:PMC4490247)

Mu, A. and Moreau, J. W. (2015) The geomicrobiology of CO2 geosequestration: a focused review on prokaryotic community responses to field-scale CO2 injection. Frontiers in Microbiology, 6, 263. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00263) (PMID:25914677) (PMCID:PMC4391042)

Anders, H., Power, J. F., MacKenzie, A. D., Lagutin, K., Vyssotski, M., Hanssen, E., Moreau, J. W. and Stott, M. B. (2015) Limisphaera ngatamarikiensis gen. Nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic, pink-pigmented coccus isolated from subaqueous mud of a geothermal hotspring. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 65(4), pp. 1114-1121. (doi: 10.1099/ijs.0.000063) (PMID:25575826)

Vu, H. P. and Moreau, J. W. (2015) Thiocyanate adsorption on ferrihydrite and its fate during ferrihydrite transformation to hematite and goethite. Chemosphere, 119, pp. 987-993. (doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.09.019) (PMID:25303658)

Gionfriddo, C.M., Ogorek, J.M., Butcher, M., Krabbenhoft, D.P. and Moreau, J.W. (2015) Mercury distribution and mobility at the abandoned Puhipuhi mercury mine, Northland, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 58(1), pp. 78-87. (doi: 10.1080/00288306.2014.979840)

2014

Hug, K., Maher, W. A., Stott, M. B., Krikowa, F., Foster, S. and Moreau, J. W. (2014) Microbial contributions to coupled arsenic and sulfur cycling in the acid-sulfide hot spring Champagne Pool, New Zealand. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5, 569. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00569) (PMID:25414696) (PMCID:PMC4220137)

Carroll, A.G., Przeslawski, R., Radke, L.C., Black, J.R., Picard, K., Moreau, J.W. , Haese, R.R. and Nichol, S. (2014) Environmental considerations for subseabed geological storage of CO2: a review. Continental Shelf Research, 83, pp. 116-128. (doi: 10.1016/j.csr.2013.11.012)

Mu, A., Boreham, C., Leong, H. X., Haese, R. R. and Moreau, J. W. (2014) Changes in the deep subsurface microbial biosphere resulting from a field-scale CO2 geosequestration experiment. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5, 209. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00209) (PMID:24860559) (PMCID:PMC4030138)

Horvath, A. S., Garrick, L. V. and Moreau, J. W. (2014) Manganese-reducing Pseudomonas fluorescens-group bacteria control arsenic mobility in gold mining-contaminated groundwater. Environmental Earth Sciences, 71(9), pp. 4187-4198. (doi: 10.1007/s12665-013-2809-x)

Anders, H. et al. (2014) Thermoflavifilum aggregans gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic and slightly halophilic filamentous bacterium from the phylum Bacteroidetes. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 64(4), pp. 1264-1270. (doi: 10.1099/ijs.0.057463-0) (PMID:24425740)

Moreau, J. W. and Minard, A. M. (2014) Coupled nitrogen and oxygen isotope study of nitrate at a rural unlined landfill in Western Victoria, Australia. American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 10(4), pp. 383-390. (doi: 10.3844/ajessp.2014.383.390)

2013

Vu, H.P., Mu, A. and Moreau, J.W. (2013) Biodegradation of thiocyanate by a novel strain of Burkholderia phytofirmans from soil contaminated by gold mine tailings. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 57(4), pp. 368-372. (doi: 10.1111/lam.12123) (PMID:23809017)

Maher, W.A., Foster, S., Kirkowa, F., Duncan, E., St John, A., Hug, K. and Moreau, J.W. (2013) Thio arsenic species measurements in marine organisms and geothermal waters. Microchemical Journal, 111, pp. 82-90. (doi: 10.1016/j.microc.2012.12.008)

Moreau, J. W. , Fournelle, J. H. and Banfield, J. F. (2013) Quantifying heavy metals sequestration by sulfate-reducing bacteria in an acid mine drainage-contaminated natural wetland. Frontiers in Microbiology, 4, 43. (doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00043) (PMID:23487496) (PMCID:PMC3594707)

2012

Hug, K., Moreau, J.W. , Kirkowa, F., Maher, W.A., Morgan, X., Stott, M.B. and Morgan, X. (2012) Microbial Influence on Arsenic Speciation: In Search of the Origins of Arsenic Resistance. In: 4th International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment, Cairns, Australia, 22-27 Jul 2012, pp. 458-460. ISBN 9780415637633

2010

Moreau, J. W. , Zierenberg, R. A. and Banfield, J. F. (2010) Diversity of dissimilatory sulfite reductase genes (dsrAB) in a salt marsh impacted by long-term acid mine drainage. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(14), pp. 4819-4828. (doi: 10.1128/AEM.03006-09) (PMID:20472728) (PMCID:PMC2901737)

2009

Sunderland, E. M., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Moreau, J. W. , Strode, S. A. and Landing, W. M. (2009) Mercury sources, distribution, and bioavailability in the North Pacific Ocean: insights from data and models. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 23(2), GB2010. (doi: 10.1029/2008GB003425)

2007

Moreau, J. W. , Weber, P. K., Martin, M. C., Gilbert, B., Hutcheon, I. D. and Banfield, J. F. (2007) Extracellular proteins limit the dispersal of biogenic nanoparticles. Science, 316(5831), pp. 1600-1603. (doi: 10.1126/science.1141064) (PMID:17569859)

2004

Moreau, J. W. , Webb, R. I. and Banfield, J. F. (2004) Ultrastructure, aggregation-state, and crystal growth of biogenic nanocrystalline sphalerite and wurtzite. American Mineralogist, 89(7), pp. 950-960. (doi: 10.2138/am-2004-0704)

Moreau, J. W. and Sharp, T. G. (2004) A transmission electron microscopy study of silica and kerogen biosignatures in ∼1.9 Ga Gunflint microfossils. Astrobiology, 4(2), pp. 196-210. (doi: 10.1089/153110704323175142) (PMID:15253838)

2003

Nesterova, M., Moreau, J. and Banfield, J. F. (2003) Model biomimetic studies of templated growth and assembly of nanocrystalline FeOOH. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 67(6), pp. 1185-1195. (doi: 10.1016/S0016-7037(02)01180-8)

2001

Banfield, J. F., Moreau, J. W. , Chan, C. S., Welch, S. A. and Little, B. (2001) Mineralogical biosignatures and the search for life on Mars. Astrobiology, 1(4), pp. 447-465. (doi: 10.1089/153110701753593856) (PMID:12448978)

Moore, J. M. et al. (2001) Impact features on Europa: results of the Galileo Europa Mission (GEM). Icarus, 151(1), pp. 93-111. (doi: 10.1006/icar.2000.6558)

This list was generated on Sun Sep 19 11:00:57 2021 BST.

Jump to: Articles | Book Sections | Conference Proceedings

Number of items: 45.

Articles

Watts, M. P. and Moreau, J. W. (2018) Thiocyanate biodegradation: harnessing microbial metabolism for mine remediation. Microbiology Australia, 39(3), pp. 157-161. (doi: 10.1071/MA18047)

Moore, J. M. et al. (2001) Impact features on Europa: results of the Galileo Europa Mission (GEM). Icarus, 151(1), pp. 93-111. (doi: 10.1006/icar.2000.6558)

Book Sections

Conference Proceedings

This list was generated on Sun Sep 19 11:00:57 2021 BST.

Grants

2019

Bioleaching of rare earth elements from mine tailings and weathered soils, Australian Research Council, $611K AUD

2017

Improving thiocyanate bioremediation with metagenomics/transcriptomics, Australian Research Council, $555K AUD

2016

XAS beamtime award, Australian Synchrotron, N/A

2015

Biodegradation of thiocyanate, Newmarket Gold Corp, $250K AUD

2014

The Metagenome of Antarctic sea ice: implications for nutrient and mercury biogeochemical cycling, Joyce Lambert Antarctic Foundation Grant, $60K AUD

Unraveling the evolution of microbial arsenic resistance via metagenomic study of a modern analogue for Early Earth hot springs (ChampagnePool, NewZealand) University of Melbourne Dyason Fellowship, $5K AUD

2013

Bioreactor experimental study of microbial responses to supercritical CO2 exposure, Australian Federal Education Investment Fund, $250K AUD

Aboriginal rock art of the Kimberley region, WA, landscape geochemistry, surface processes and complementary dating techniques, Australian Research Council, $480K AUD

2012

A High throughput screening and sequencing facility for single cell genomics, Australian Research Council, $380K AUD

Antarctic sea-ice microbial response to rapid atmospheric mercury deposition events, Australian Antarctic Division, $120K AUD

2011

Aqueous organic-microbe-metal interactions in mineral depositing systems, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Flagship Cluster Program, $563K AUD ($3M total)

Electron flow in iron hyper-enriched coastal acid sulfate soils, Australian Research Council, $120K AUD

Anaerobic methane oxidation in the deep subseafloor, Australian Research Council, $140K AUD

Geomicrobiology of Aboriginal rock art in The Kimberley, Western Australia, Kimberley Foundation and Melbourne University, $40K AUD

2010

Microbial response to deep saline aquifer CO2 sequestration, CO2 Cooperative Research Centre(Australian government), $140K AUD ($2.7M total)

Biogeochemical drivers of uranium isotope fractionation in regolith and groundwater, Australian Research Council, $90K AUD

Understanding extremely deep sub-seafloor anaerobic methane oxidation, Australia-New Zealand Integrated Ocean Drilling Consortium, $20K AUD

Bioremediation of thiocyanate contamination in mining-impacted groundwater, Northgate Minerals Corporation, $30K AUD

2009

IODP Expedition 322: Nankai Trough Subduction Zone, Australia-New Zealand Integrated Ocean Drilling Consortium, N/A

Microbially-mediated nitrogen and metals cycling from a rural unlined landfill, Pyrennees Shire Council, $15K AUD

Groundwater-surfacewater exchange along the Broken River, Victoria, Australia, National Water Commission of Australia, $172K AUD

Speciation and bioavailability of mercury for bacterial methylation in the presence of natural organic matter, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lab, N/A

2006

Bacterial mercury methylation dynamics in natural systems, U.S. National Research Council, $110K USD

Supervision

I am currently supervising 4 finishing PhD candidates at The University of Melbourne, where I worked for 11 years.

Prospective PhD applicants to the University of Glasgow should contact me directly at john.moreau (at) gla.ac.uk, and be prepared to submit a brief written proposal (1-2 pages) for a doctoral research project. The project should align with my previous or current research topics or approaches such that it would be feasible for me to offer sufficient support/mentoring to the PhD candidate.

Teaching

Hydrogeology (EARTH4075) - Fall semester

Environmental Geochemistry (EARTH40XX) - Spring semester

Planetary Geoscience (EARTH4085) - Spring semester

Professional activities & recognition

Editorial boards

2013 - current: Geochimica et Cosmochimca Acta

Additional information

URL: moreaulab.net

School of Geographical & Earth Sciences