Sean Jordan
Dr
Dr. Seán Jordan is Associate Professor in Biogeochemistry and Astrobiology in the School of Chemical Sciences at Dublin City University. He is a leading researcher in the fields of geobiology, astrobiology, and the origins of life. As the Principal Investigator of the ProtoSigns Lab at DCU, he spearheads pioneering investigations into fundamental questions surrounding the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. He is currently a member of the DCU Life Sciences Institute (LSI) and the Origin of Life Early-career Network (OoLEN).
Seán obtained his BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science from DCU in 2009. Following this he gained practical experience as a research assistant in the National Centre for Sensor Research. In 2012, after a short time in Australia, he returned to DCU to complete his PhD in Biogeochemistry which was awarded in 2016. That same year he accepted a position as Postdoctoral Research Associate at University College London, investigating the first cell membranes at the origin of life. In 2021 he secured a ‘la Caixa’ Foundation Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship (Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND) to pursue his work on protocells, organic biomorphs, and biosignature detection at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. He then joined DCU as an academic in 2023.
Seán’s research is driven by a multidisciplinary strategy that integrates novel experimental approaches, state-of-the-art analytical techniques, and computational modelling to elucidate the complex processes that shaped early life and early Earth environments. His work delves into key aspects of prebiotic chemistry, exploring the formation of protobiomolecules and protocellular structures under plausible primordial conditions. A recipient of prestigious funding awards, including the SFI Pathway award and the European Research Council Starting Grant, Seán leads a dynamic research group focused on understanding life's origins, evolution, and existence. Through innovative experimental techniques and field expeditions to geologically significant sites, the ProtoSigns Lab is focused on pushing the boundaries of prebiotic chemistry at the origin of life, investigating how the resulting structures may be preserved in the rock record, and the potential effects this may have on our interpretation of biosignatures from the early Earth and elsewhere in our Solar System.
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Grey, A; Costeira, R; Lorenzo, E; O'Kane, S; McCaul, MV; McCarthy, T; Jordan, SF; Allen, CCR; Kelleher, BP (2021) 'Geochemical properties of blue carbon sediments through an elevation gradient: study of an anthropogenically impacted coastal lagoon'. Biogeochemistry, 162 (3). [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Grey, A; Costeira, R; Lorenzo, E; O'Kane, S; McCaul, MV; McCarthy, T; Jordan, SF; Allen, CCR; Kelleher, BP (2022) 'Biogeochemical properties of blue carbon sediments influence the distribution and monomer composition of bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)'. Biogeochemistry, 162 (3). [DOI] | |
| 2022 | Sean McMahon; Seán F. Jordan (2022) 'A fundamental limit to the search for the oldest fossils'. Nature Ecology & Evolution, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2021 | O'Reilly, S.S.; Jordan, S.F.; Monteys, X.; Simpson, A.J.; Allen, C.C.R.; Szpak, M.T.; Murphy, B.T.; McCarron, S.G.; Soong, R.; Wu, B.; Jenne, A.; Grey, A.; Kelleher, B.P. (2021) 'Production of methane and gaseous compounds by surface microbial activity in a small pockmark field, Dunmanus Bay, Ireland'. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 255 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Sean F. Jordan; Ioannis Ioannou; Hanadi Rammu; Aaron Halpern; Lara K. Bogart; Minkoo Ahn; Rafaela Vasiliadou; John Christodoulou; Amandine Maréchal; Nick Lane (2021) 'Spontaneous assembly of redox-active iron-sulfur clusters at low concentrations of cysteine'. Nature Communications, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2019 | Sean F. Jordan; Hanadi Rammu; Ivan N. Zheludev; Andrew M. Hartley; Amandine Maréchal; Nick Lane (2019) 'Promotion of protocell self-assembly from mixed amphiphiles at the origin of life'. Nature Ecology & Evolution, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2019 | Jordan, S. F.; O'Reilly, S. S.; Praeg, D.; Dove, D.; Facchin, L.; Romeo, R.; Szpak, M.; Monteys, X.; Murphy, B. T.; Scott, G.; McCarron, S. S.; Kelleher, B. P. (2019) 'Geophysical and geochemical analysis of shallow gas and an associated pockmark field in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork, Ireland'. ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE, 225 . [DOI] | |
| 2019 | Jordan, Sean F.; Nee, Eloise; Lane, Nick (2019) 'Isoprenoids enhance the stability of fatty acid membranes at the emergence of life potentially leading to an early lipid divide'. Interface Focus, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2019 | Vasiliadou, Rafaela; Dimov, Nikolay; Szita, Nicolas; Jordan, Sean F.; Lane, Nick (2019) 'Possible mechanisms of CO2 reduction by H-2 via prebiotic vectorial electrochemistry'. Interface Focus, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Kelleher, BP; Flanagan, PV; Hart, KM; Simpson, AJ; Oppenheimer, SF; Murphy, BT; O'Reilly, SS; Jordan, SF; Grey, A; Ibrahim, A; Allen, CCR (2017) 'Large perturbations in CO2 flux and subsequent chemosynthesis are induced in agricultural soil by the addition of elemental sulfur'. Scientific Reports, 7 (1). [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Camprubi, E.; Jordan, S.F.; Vasiliadou, R.; Lane, N. (2017) 'Iron catalysis at the origin of life'. IUBMB Life, . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Mahaney, W.C.; Allen, C.C.R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Kulakova, A.; Young, J.M.; Dirszowsky, R.W.; West, A.; Kelleher, B.; Jordan, S.; Pulleyblank, C.; O'Reilly, S.; Murphy, B.T.; Lasberg, K.; Somelar, P.; Garneau, M.; Finkelstein, S.A.; Sobol, M.K.; Kalm, V.; Costa, P.J.M.; Hancock, R.G.V.; Hart, K.M.; Tricart, P.; Barendregt, R.W.; Bunch, T.E.; Milner, M.W. (2017) 'Biostratigraphic Evidence Relating to the Age-Old Question of Hannibal's Invasion of Italy, II: Chemical Biomarkers and Microbial Signatures'. Archaeometry, 59 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Jordan, S.F.; Murphy, B.T.; O'Reilly, S.S.; Doyle, K.P.; Williams, M.D.; Grey, A.; Lee, S.; McCaul, M.V.; Kelleher, B.P. (2017) 'Mid-Holocene climate change and landscape formation in Ireland: Evidence from a geochemical investigation of a coastal peat bog'. Organic Geochemistry, 109 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Mahaney, W.C.; Somelar, P.; West, A.; Krinsley, D.; Allen, C.C.R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Young, J.M.; Dohm, J.M.; LeCompte, M.; Kelleher, B.; Jordan, S.F.; Pulleyblank, C.; Dirszowsky, R.; Costa, P. (2017) 'Evidence for cosmic airburst in the Western Alps archived in Late Glacial paleosols'. Quaternary International, 438 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2017 | Mahaney, W.C.; Allen, C.C.R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Kulakova, A.; Young, J.M.; Dirszowsky, R.W.; West, A.; Kelleher, B.; Jordan, S.; Pulleyblank, C.; O'Reilly, S.; Murphy, B.T.; Lasberg, K.; Somelar, P.; Garneau, M.; Finkelstein, S.A.; Sobol, M.K.; Kalm, V.; Costa, P.J.M.; Hancock, R.G.V.; Hart, K.M.; Tricart, P.; Barendregt, R.W.; Bunch, T.E.; Milner, M.W. (2017) 'Biostratigraphic Evidence Relating to the Age-Old Question of Hannibal's Invasion of Italy, I: History and Geological Reconstruction'. Archaeometry, 59 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2016 | O'Reilly, S. S.; Pentlavalli, P.; Flanagan, P. V.; Allen, C. C. R.; Monteys, X.; Szpak, M. T.; Murphy, B. T.; Jordan, S. F.; Kelleher, B. P. (2016) 'Abundance and diversity of sedimentary bacterial communities in a coastal productive setting in the Western Irish Sea'. Continental Shelf Research, 113 . [DOI] | |
| 2015 | Murphy, BT; O'Reilly, SS; Monteys, X; Reid, BF; Szpak, MT; McCaul, MV; Jordan, SF; Allen, CC; Kelleher, BP (2015) 'The occurrence of PAHs and faecal sterols in Dublin Bay and their influence on sedimentary microbial communities'. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 106 (1-2). [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Murphy, BT; O' Reilly, SS; Monteys, X; Reid, BF; Szpak, MT; McCaul, MV; Jordan, SF; Allen, CCR; Kelleher, BP (2016) 'The occurrence of PAHs and faecal sterols in Dublin Bay and their influence on sedimentary microbial communities'. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 106 :215-224. [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Mahaney, W.C.; Somelar, P.; Dirszowsky, R.W.; Kelleher, B.; Pentlavalli, P.; McLaughlin, S.; Kulakova, A.N.; Jordan, S.; Pulleyblank, C.; West, A.; Allen, C.C.R. (2016) 'A microbial link to weathering of postglacial rocks and sediments, mount viso area, western alps, demonstrated through analysis of a soil/paleosol bio/chronosequence'. Journal of Geology, 124 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | O'Reilly, S.S.; Hryniewicz, K.; Little, C.T.S.; Monteys, X.; Szpak, M.T.; Murphy, B.T.; Jordan, S.F.; Allen, C.C.R.; Kelleher, B.P. (2014) 'Shallow water methane-derived authigenic carbonate mounds at the Codling Fault Zone, western Irish Sea'. Marine Geology, 357 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Mahaney, W.C.; Allen, C.C.R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Dirszowsky, R.; Tricart, P.; Keiser, L.; Somelar, P.; et al. (2014) 'Polybius previous landslide: Proof that Hannibals invasion route crossed the col de la traversette'. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, . [Link] | |
| 2014 | Mahaney, W. C.; Allen, C. C. R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Dirszowsky, Randy; Tricart, Pierre; Keiser, Leslie; Somelar, Peeter; Kelleher, Brian; Murphy, B.; Costa, P. J. M.; Jordan, S.; O'Reilly, S.; Julig, P. (2014) 'POLYBIUS' 'PREVIOUS LANDSLIDE': PROOF THAT HANNIBAL'S INVASION ROUTE CROSSED THE COL DE LA TRAVERSETTE'. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, . [Link] | |
| 2014 | Mahaney, W.C.; Allen, C.C.R.; Pentlavalli, P.; Dirszowsky, R.; Tricart, P.; Keiser, L.; Somelar, P.; Kelleher, B.; Murphy, B.; Costa, P.J.M.; Jordan, S.; O'Reilly, S.; Juligj, P. (2014) 'Polybius’ ‘previous landslide’: Proof that Hannibal’s invasion route crossed the col de la traversette'. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, . [Link] | |
| 2014 | O'Reilly, Shane S.; Szpak, Michal T.; Flanagan, Paul V.; Monteys, Xavier; Murphy, Brian T.; Jordan, Sean F.; Allen, Christopher C. R.; Simpson, Andre J.; Mulligan, Stephen M.; Sandron, Sara; Kelleher, Brian P. (2014) 'Biomarkers reveal the effects of hydrography on the sources and fate of marine and terrestrial organic matter in the western Irish Sea'. ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE, 136 . [DOI] | |
| 2011 | Hart, KM; Szpak, MT; Mahaney, WC; Dohm, JM; Jordan, SF; Frazer, AR; Allen, CC; Kelleher, BP (2011) 'A bacterial enrichment study and overview of the extractable lipids from paleosols in the Dry Valleys, Antarctica: implications for future Mars reconnaissance'. Astrobiology, 11 (4). [DOI] |
Research Interests
The origin of life on Earth
The formation and evolution of protocell membranes
The formation and evolution of metal clusters and protoenzymes
The evolution of early life
The existence of life on other planetary bodies
Development of novel biosignatures and methodology for determining
biogenicity
Palaeoclimate reconstruction and the development of novel biogeochemical
proxies
Development of novel materials