Prof. Dr. Jaap Sinninghe Damsté

Research interests

(1) intact polar and core membrane lipids of archaea, bacteria and algae using novel analytical approaches and their application in microbial ecology

(2) development of proxies based on organic compounds for paleoclimate studies

(3) application of organic proxies in palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the past 200 million years on a variety of time scales

Current positions

(1) Senior research leader, Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, and Utrecht University, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, the Netherlands,

(2) Professor of Organic Geochemistry, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University (UU), Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, the Netherlands. Tel +31 30-2535117. 

Education

• BSc degree: Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 1982.
• MSc degree: Environmental Organic Chemistry (advisors Prof. Dr. L. de Galan, Dr. Ir. E.W.B. de Leer), Delft University of Technology 1984 (cum laude; upper 3%).
• PhD degree: Organic Geochemistry. Thesis: Organically bound sulphur in the geosphere: A molecular approach (advisors Prof. Dr. P.A. Schenck, Prof. Dr. J.W. de Leeuw), Delft University of Technology, 1988 (cum laude; upper 3%).

Former appointments

• Former head of the scientific departments MOB and MMB composed of ca. 70 people (NIOZ) 2003-2018
• Professor of Molecular Palaeontology, University of Utrecht (UU) 2004-2009.
• Assistant professor, Geochemistry, University of Utrecht (UU) 1993-2004.
• Senior scientist, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1993-2002.
• Associate Scientist, Organic Geochemistry Unit, Delft University of Technology 1989-1992.
• Assistant Scientist, Organic Geochemistry Unit, Delft University of Technology 1984-1989

 Professional results

• (Co)authorship of 830+ journal publications (with >67000 ISI citations) since 1985 from which 23 appeared in Nature, 12 in Science and 7 in PNAS, resulting in a current Hirsch Index of 125 (ISI) or 152 (Google citations). In addition, 13 book chapters and 40 contributions to proceeding volumes were published.
• Editor of four special issues published as an issue of a scientific journal.
• (Co)advisor of >50 completed PhD theses.
• >40 invited lectures in the last decade.

National functions

• Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) since 2004; member and secretary (2013-2017) section geosciences, advisory membership of section of biological sciences.

• Member of the Koninklijke Hollandse Maatschappij der Wetenschappen since 2016.

• Member of Member of Council for Earth and Life Sciences of the KNAW (RAL) (2008-2013)

• Member of many review panels of the Dutch Science Foundation.
• Member of the scientific committee of the Netherlands Institute for Ecology (NIOO) (2005-2010).
• Member of the steering committee of the national Darwin Centre for Biogeosciences (2005-2014).
• Chairman of the scientific committee of the Dutch Geological Science meeting (NAC-10) (2010).

• Director of the Netherlands Earth System Science Center (NESSC) (2014-2018).

• Member of the steering committee of the Soehngen Institute of Anaerobic Microbiology (2014-2018).

International functions

• (Co)convenor of international symposia.
• Member of scientific and programme committees for scientific meetings (IMOG, Goldschmidt, ISME)
• Referee for research proposals submitted to NSF, NERC, DFG, ERC etc.
• Member of ERC panel for evalution of research proposals
• Referee for Science, Nature, PNAS, Nature Geosciences, Geology, EPSL, GCA and many other journals.
• Member of the EGU Vernadsky Medal, GS Treibs Medal and KNAW Heineken Prize Selection committees.

Editorships scientific journals

• Associate Editor Organic Geochemistry (1994-2004).
• Editorial Board Geology (2003-2005).
• Associate Editor Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (2006-2017).
• Editorial board Environmental Microbiology (2008-2018).

 Prizes and awards

• 1988 Best paper award of the Organic Geochemistry Division of the American Geochemical Society.
• 1993 the first Schenck Award from the European Association of Organic Geochemists, the biennial award for the best organic geochemist under 35.
• 1993 PIONIER-award (0.9 M€) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).
• 2004 ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Geosciences.
• 2004 Spinoza award (1.5 M€) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). This prize, sometimes viewed as the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', is awarded each year to 3-4 Dutch researchers who rank among the world's top scientists. The laureates are internationally renowned, and know how to inspire young researchers.
• 2005 Membership Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Section of Earth Sciences.
• 2005 Treibs Medal from the Geochemical Society. The Alfred Treibs medal is awarded to researchers for lifetime achievements in organic geochemistry.
• 2007 Vernadsky Medal from the Biogeosciences Division of the European Geosciences Union, for “innovative use of biomarkers to elucidate interactions between the Biosphere and Geosphere across major ecosystems and timescales”.
• 2008 ERC advanced research grant (2.5 M€) in the first round ever organized.
• 2013 Main applicant of Gravitation Award from the Dutch Ministry of Science and Education (28 M€) for the Netherlands Earth Systen Science Centre; co-applicant of Gravitation Award from the Dutch Ministry of Science and Education (23 M€) for the Soehngen Institute of Anaerobic Microbiology
• 2014 Dr. A.H. Heineken prize for Environmental Sciences.
• 2014, 2016, 2018 ISI Highly Cited Researcher (the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication, earning them the mark of exceptional impact) in Geosciences
• 2016 ERC advanced research grant (2.5 M€).

• 2020 Elected member of the Academia Europaea

• 2021 ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-field

Ten characteristic publications 

1.          Sinninghe Damsté J.S., Rijpstra W.I.C., Kock-van Dalen A.C., de Leeuw J.W. and Schenck P.A. (1989) Quenching of labile functionalised lipids by inorganic sulphur species: Evidence for the formation of sedimentary organic sulphur compounds at the early stages of diagenesis. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 1343-1355.

Description of the mechanism of the formation of organic sulfur in sediments, a process that at that time was basically not understood although it has large implications (e.g. the presence of organic sulfur in fossil fuels).

2.          Sinninghe Damsté J.S., Wakeham S.G., Kohnen M.E.L., Hayes J.M. and de Leeuw J.W. (1993) A 6,000-year sedimentary molecular record of chemocline excursions in the Black Sea. Nature 362, 827-829.

One of the first examples of the application of isorenieratene, a biomarker for photosynthetic but anaerobic green sulfur bacteria. This study showed that the recent shoaling of the chemocline of the Blacke Sea, thought to be a consequence of the increased use of river water for irrigation of incoming river water, also happened in the geological past and may, thus, also have a natural origin.

3.          Kuypers M.M.M.*, Pancost R. and Sinninghe Damsté J.S. (1999) A large and abrupt fall in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations during Cretaceous times. Nature 399, 342-345. (*PhD student of JSSD).

First evidence based on the stable carbon isotopic composition of fossil leaf waxes for a major drop in the atmospheric CO2 concentration during the widespread burial of organic carbon in deep sea sediments during the Cenomanian/Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event 2.

4.          Pancost R.*, Sinninghe Damsté J.S., de Lint S., van der Maarel M.J.E.C., Gottschal J.C. and the Medinaut Shipboard Scientific Part (2000) Biomarker evidence for widespread anaerobic methane oxidation in Mediterranean sediments by a consortium of methanogenic archae and bacteria. Appl. Env. Microbiol. 66, 1126-1132. (*post-doc of JSSD).

First stable carbon isotopic evidence that sulfate-reducing bacteria participate in a consortium with archaea to anaerobically oxidize methane at the seafloor.

5.          Sinninghe Damsté J.S., Strous M., Rijpstra W.I.C., Hopmans E.C., Geenevasen J.A.J., van Duin A.C.T., van Niftrik L.A. and Jetten M.S.M. (2002) Linearly concatenated cyclobutane (ladderane) lipids form a dense bacterial membrane. Nature 419, 708-712.

Discovery of chemically unprecedented membrane lipids that fulfill an essential role in the physiology of bacteria able to oxidize ammonium anaerobically. Structure later confirmed by total synthesis in the group of the Nobel Prize (1990) winner James Corey.

6.          Sinninghe Damsté J.S., Hopmans E.C., Schouten S., van Duin A.C.T. and Geenevasen J.A.J. (2002) Crenarchaeol: The characteristic core glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether membrane lipid of cosmopolitan pelagic crenarchaeota. J. Lipid Res. 43, 1641-1651.

Elucidation of the characteristic membrane spanning tetraether lipid crenarchaeol by isolation and high-field 2D NMR studies. In contrast to other archaeal lipids it contains a six-membered ring formed by internal cyclisation which may be an adaptation of thermophilic archaea to cope with mesophilic conditions in the oceans.

7.          Schouten S., Hopmans, E.C., Schefuß, E. and Sinninghe Damsté J.S. (2002) Distributional variations in marine crenarchaeotal membrane lipids: a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea water temperatures? Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett. 204, 265-274.

First description and calibration of a paleothermometer that is based on subtle temperature-related adaptations of the cell membrane of archae living in the ocean. This method is currently used in palaeoceanography and palaeoclimatology in laboratories worldwide to estimate temperatures of the ocean up to 200 million years ago and its application has led to important discoveries concerning past climate changes.

8.          Sinninghe Damsté J.S., Muyzer G., Abbas B., Rampen S.W., Massé G., Allard W.G., Belt S.T., Robert J.-M., Rowland S.J., Moldowan J.M., Barbanti S.M., Fago F.J., Denisevich P., Dahl J., Trindade L.A.F. and Schouten S. (2004) The rise of the rhizosolenoid diatoms. Science 304, 584-587.

First combination of 18S rRNA gene phylogeny with the molecular fossil record to understand the evolution of a major group of phytoplankton (now responsible for 25% of the primary productivity on Earth) in the ocean in the last 100 million year. Forms the theoretical basis for the concept of “age-related biomarkers” widely applied in petroleum exploration.

9.          Wuchter C.*, Abbas B., Coolen M.J.L., Herfort L., van Bleijswijk J., Timmers P., Strous M., Teira E., Herndl G.J., Middelburg J.J., Schouten S. and Sinninghe Damsté J.S. (2006) Archaeal nitrification in the ocean. PNAS 103, 12317-12322. (*PhD student of JSSD).

This study showed that archaea in the ocean are involved in the oxidation of ammonium, a process that at that time was thought to be exclusively performed by nitrifying bacteria. This study, after the publication of a nitrifying archaeon isolated from an aquarium in 2005, showed for the first time the significance of archaeal nitrification in coastal and open ocean settings and its important role in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle.

10.       Weijers J.W.H.^*, Schouten S., van den Donker J.C., Hopmans E.C. and Sinninghe Damsté J.S. (2007) Environmental controls on bacterial tetraether membrane lipid distribution in soils. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 703-713. (*PhD student of JSSD).

This study forms the basis for a new continental palaeothermometer based on membrane lipids (identified earlier by Sinninghe Damsté) that are produced in soils (and rivers and lakes) by bacteria. This paleothermometer is now applied worldwide by many laboratories to perform reconstruction of past continental temperature.