Gordon Southam

Professor Gordon Southam is a Professor in Geomicrobiology at the University of Queensland (UQ), holding dual appointments in the W.H. Bryan Mining and Geology Research Centre (Faculty of Engineering, Architecture, and Information Technology) and the School of the Environment (Faculty of Science). Previously a Canada Research Chair in Geomicrobiology and Director of Environment and Sustainability at Western University, Canada, he now leads interdisciplinary research at UQ focused on microbial transformations of Earth materials and their geological impacts. His work spans geomicrobiology, extreme environments, and sustainable resource extraction.

Education: BSc (Honours) in Advanced Science from the University of Guelph, followed by a PhD in Geology from the same institution.

Research Interests

• Geomicrobiology: Interactions between microorganisms and minerals, particularly in extreme environments like deep mines, arctic regions, and hydrothermal systems.
• Bacterial Fossilization: Study of microbial preservation in ancient and modern environments, with implications for understanding early life and astrobiology.
• Bioremediation: Use of microorganisms to remediate mine waste, including iron ore canga formation and copper bioleaching.
• Mineral Carbonation: Microbially enhanced CO2 sequestration in mine tailings and ultramafic rocks.
• Methanogenesis: Microbial degradation of coal and biogenic methane production in abandoned mines.

Grants & Projects
Notable grants include ARC Discovery Projects on rare earth element recovery, Queensland Department-funded initiatives on carbon-neutral mining, and ANSTO collaborations on microbial mineral weathering. Current projects address kimberlite carbonation, gold biomineralization, and tropical iron ore rehabilitation.

Advising & Teams
Available for PhD supervision, with recent projects focusing on microbial carbonation, coal spoil transformation, and mine tailings remediation. Collaborates with industry partners like De Beers and BHP on applied geoscience challenges.

Labs & Facilities
Leads research using advanced synchrotron spectroscopy, bioreactor systems, and field sites globally, including Australia’s Bowen Basin and Brazil’s Carajás region.