Lennart van Maldegem

  • Laboratory Manager

Organic geochemistry • Trace elements

I am a geochemist born in the Netherlands and am currently working as a lab manager of two of INSTAAR's geochemical labs.  I collaborate closely with Julio Sepúlveda and Tom Marchitto.

Previously I was a post-doctoral researcher / lecturer at The Australian National University. My primarily research focuses was on the evolution and expansion of complex eukaryotic life surrounding the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth events (717-635 Ma). To achieve this I used organic geochemistry, in combination with carbon isotopes (carbonate, kerogen and compound specific), nitrogen isotopes, iron speciation, mineralogy and elemental analysis

Organic Geochemistry Lab    ICP-MS Trace Metals Lab 

Education and training

  • Postdoctoral Fellow/Lecturer: ANU, Australia, 2018–2021
  • PhD (Earth Sciences): University of Bremen / MPI Biogeochemistry, Germany, 2017
  • MSc (Geochemistry): University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 2012
  • BSc (Forensic Chemistry): Avans University, The Netherlands, 2011

Selected publications

Brocks, J. J., Nettersheim, B. J., Adam, P., Schaeffer, P., Jarrett, A. J., Güneli, N., Liyanage, T., van Maldegem, L. M., Hallmann, C., Hope, J. M. 2023: Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown. Nature, 618: 767-773. doi 10.1038/s41586-023-06170-w

Vinnichenko, G., Jarrett, A. J., van Maldegem, L. M., Brocks, J. J. 2021: Substantial maturity influence on carbon and hydrogen isotopic composition of n-alkanes in sedimentary rocks. Organic Geochemistry, 152: 104171. doi 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2020.104171

van Maldegem, L. M., Nettersheim, B. J., Leider, A., Brocks, J. J., Adam, P., Schaeffer, P., Hallmann, C. 2021: Geological alteration of Precambrian steroids mimics early animal signatures. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(2): 169-173. doi 10.1038/s41559-020-01336-5

van Maldegem, L. M., Sansjofre, P., Weijers, J. W., Wolkenstein, K., Strother, P. K., Wörmer, L., Hefter, J., Nettersheim, B. J., Hoshino, Y., Schouten, S., Sinninghe Damsté, J. S. 2019: Bisnorgammacerane traces predatory pressure and the persistent rise of algal ecosystems after Snowball Earth. Nature Communications, 10(1): 476. doi 10.1038/s41467-019-08306-x

Hoshino, Y., Poshibaeva, A., Meredith, W., Snape, C., Poshibaev, V., Versteegh, G. J., Kuznetsov, N., Leider, A., van Maldegem, L. M., Neumann, M., Naeher, S. 2017: Cryogenian evolution of stigmasteroid biosynthesis. Science Advances, 3(9): 476. doi 10.1126/sciadv.1700887