Sue is a geologist who has specialised in geochemistry. Sue is an international expert on coal seam gas and carbon sequestration in sedimentary basins. A significant focus of her research is technology related to environmentally sustainable energy provisioning.
Research Interests
Sue’s research spans multiple scales from natural analogue studies of coal basins to determine the origins of coal seam methane, and mechanisms that keep carbon dioxide naturally sequestered, to experimental studies of the impact of carbon dioxide interaction with sandstones and coals.
Sue has been involved with resource exploration and stable isotope geochemistry research since 1977, following some 8 years mineral and coal industry experience in Australia and Africa. Building on this industry background, Sue has combined field and laboratory studies to build an interdisciplinary research program with emphasis on hydrothermal systems and mineral and fossil fuel resources. This has involved the development of new techniques and methodologies for constraining thermal and fluid flow histories in sedimentary basins, which have provided significant insights into processes associated with evolving mineral and hydrocarbon systems.
Sue is the Director of the Stable Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory, which is equipped with four state-of-the-art isotope ratio mass spectrometers for rapid and precise stable isotope analysis (H, C, O and S) of geological, environmental and forensic samples. She has maintained and enhanced these facilities, that are among the best in Australia, through a mix of competitive equipment and research grants and industry contracts. An important new research direction in the last fifteen years is in the area of energy and environmental technologies for the coal bed methane (CBM) and coal mining industries, which rely on the use of natural isotopic tracers to understand geochemical and hydrochemical processes. She also has a long standing interest in the early Earth carbon and sulfur cycles and is currently using multiple sulfur isotope records in ancient sedimentary rocks and hydrothermal systems to establish the origin of different sulfur metabolisms and their role in geochemical changes in the rock record through time.
In her spare time...
Sue indulges in the great outdoors including fishing and camping on both inland rivers and the coast. Sue is also an avid history buff and spends time tracing her family history. Sue is truly committed to her work and sits on a number of committees including the Geological Society in Australia. When not in Brisbane,x Sue is a keen international traveller and explores the places she visits with a little geo-tourism.