Brief Biography

Since graduating with a 1^st Class B.Sc. (Hons) in Environmental Science from the University of Plymouth I completed a Ph.D. in 2000 entitled, "The quantitative isolation of 'insoluble organic matter' (IOM) from sediments and bacteria, and its attempted dissolution using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride-aluminium (III) chloride" (PhD abstract), under the supervision of Professor Steve Rowland.

I have completed two Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships. The first investigated the nutritional status of soils and grasses in the Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya, a collaboration between the University of Plymouth (John Maskall) and Imperial College, London (Professor Ian Thornton) on behalf of The People's Trust for Endangered Species (2000). The second (NERC; 2000-2003), investigated the molecular characterisation of chromatographically 'unresolved complex mixtures' (UCMs) obtained from crude oils using preparative-gas chromatography, "Hydrocarbon 'humps': a forgotten petroleum fraction", under the supervision of Professor Rowland and Dr Anthony Lewis.

Between 2000-2008, I was employed as a Scientific Officer in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences. In 2008 I was seconded to a two-year Joint Industry Project co-ordinated by Oil Plus Ltd. (Newbury, U.K.) on behalf of five oil companies (BG Group, BP, Chevron, Nalco and Total). The purpose of this project was to develop a method for the quantification of C80 tetraacids ('ARN' acids) in crude oils.

In 2011 my role changed to a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences. My current research interests include developing separation techniques for high molecular weight organic compounds and the application of high temperature gas chromatography (HTGC) and HTGC coupled with mass spectrometry.

ORCiD

Enterprise

In association with Dr Neil Chilcott of Kernow Analytical Technology Ltd. (KAT, Cornwall, U.K.) I was a runner-up in the University of Plymouth Business Ideas Challenge 2009 competition. For this we received £1000 in cash to develop our idea for "T-Sep" plus professional and service support package worth £2000. Since then we have secured Proof-of-Concept funding (£5k; University of Plymouth Enterprise Ltd.) to develop our methodology and take our idea to market (T-SEP™). Since January 2012, following a validation study, our process has been used commercially in the determination of wax content in crude oils (available through KAT).

We have the capability to analyse oilfield deposits for C₈₀ tetraacid content and can provide determination of C₈₀ tetraacid ('ARN' acid) content in crude oils (semi)quantitatively using an internal standard.

Publications

• Rowland, S.J., Sutton, P.A., Belt, S.T., Fitzsimmons-Thoss, V. and Scarlet, A.G. Further spectral and chromatographic studies of ambergris. Natural Product Research. (Submitted) . [doi: 10.1080/14786419.2018.1428599].
• Rowland, S.J. and Sutton, P.A. (2018) Analysis of miscellaneous non-ambergris organic jetsam beach deposits. EarthArXiv Preprints. [doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/9CDYU]
• Rowland, S.J. and Sutton, P.A. (2017) Chromatographic and spectral studies of jetsam and archived ambergris. Natural Product Research 31, 1752-1757. [doi: 10.1080/14786419.2017.1290618].
• Robson, W.J., Sutton, P.A., McCormack, P., Chilcott, N.P. and Rowland, S.J. (2017) Class type separation of the polar and apolar components of petroleum. Analytical Chemistry 89, 2919-2927. [doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b04202].
• Sheldon, N.D., Grimes, S.T., Hooker, J.J., Collinson, M.E., Bugler, M.J., Hren, M.T., Price, G.D. and Sutton, P.A. (2016) Coupling of marine and continental oxygen isotope records during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Geological Society of America Bulletin 128, 502-510. [doi: 10.1130/B31315.1].
• Sutton, P.A. and Rowland, S.J. (2016) Spectral and chromatographic characterisation of the onoceroid, ambrane: A potential novel biological marker. Organic Geochemistry 102, 106-109. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2016.10.007].
• Xiao-Lei Liu, Birgel, D., Elling, F.J., Sutton, P.A., Lipp, J.S., Rong Zhu, Chuanlun Zhang, Könneke, M., Peckmann, J., Rowland, S.J., Summons, R.E. and Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016) From ether to acid: A plausible degradation pathway of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 183, 138-152. [doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.04.016].
• Sutton, P.A. and Rowland, S.J. (2014) Determination of the content of C₈₀ tetraacids in petroleum. Energy & Fuels 28, 5657-5669. [doi: 10.1021/ef5012337].
• Henry, T.B., Wileman, S.J., Boran, H. and Sutton, P.A. (2013) Association of Hg²⁺ with aqueous (C₆₀)n aggregates facilitates increased bioavailability of Hg²⁺ in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Environmental Science & Technology 47, 9997-10004. [doi: 10.1021/es4015597].
• Manners, H.R., Grimes, S.T., Sutton, P.A., Domingo, L., Leng, M.J., Twitchett, R.J., Hart, M.B., Dunkley Jones, T., Pancost, R.D., Duller, R. and Lopez-Martinez, N. (2013) Magnitude and profile of organic carbon isotope records from the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum: Evidence from northern Spain. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 376, 220-230. [doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2013.06.016].
• Sutton, P.A., Wilde, M.J., Martin, S.J., Cvacka, J. and Rowland, S.J. (2013) Studies of long chain lipids in insects by high temperature gas chromatography and high temperature gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A. 1297, 236-240. [doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2013.05.006].
• Sutton, P.A. and Rowland, S.J. (2012) High temperature gas chromatography-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (HTGC-ToF-MS) for high-boiling compounds. Journal of Chromatography A. 1243, 69-80. [doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2012.04.044].
• Johnson, R.J., Smith, B.E., Sutton, P.A., McGenity, T.J., Rowland, S. and Whitby, C. (2011) Microbial biodegradation of aromatic alkanoic naphthenic acids is affected by the degree of alkyl side chain branching. ISME Journal 5, 486-496. [doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.146].
• Sutton, P.A., Smith, B.E. and Rowland, S.J. (2010) Mass spectrometry of polycyclic tetracarboxylic ('ARN') acids and tetramethyl esters. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 24, 3195-3204.[doi: 10.1002/rcm.4761].
• Sutton, P.A., Smith, B.E., Waters, D. and Rowland, S.J. (2010) Identification of a novel ester obtained during isolation of C₈₀ ("ARN") tetraprotic acids from an oilfield pipeline deposit. Energy Fuels 24, 5579-5585. [doi: 10.1021/ef1008743].
• Sutton, P.A., Nesterenko, P.N. (2007) Retention characteristics of aromatic hydrocarbons on silica and aminopropyl-modified monolithic columns in normal phase HPLC. Journal of Separation Science 30, 2900-2909. [doi: 10.1002/jssc.200700352].
• Booth, A., Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A., Lewis, A.C., Scarlett, A., Wing Chau, Widdows, J. and Rowland, S.J. (2007) Unresolved complex mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons: Thousands of overlooked persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic contaminants in mussels. Environmental Science & Technology 41, 457-464. [doi: 10.1021/es0615829].
  This publication was featured on the ACS Publications website as one of the Most-Cited Articles published in 2007 and cited through the period ending 31 December 2007. Most-Cited Articles listed are based on data from Thomson Web of Science®.
• Smith, B.E., Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A., Dunsmore, B., Fowler, G., Krane, J., Lutnaes, B.F., Brandal, Ø., Sjöblom, J. and Rowland, S.J. (2007) Analysis of 'ARN' naphthenic acids by high temperature gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Separation Science 30, 375-380. [doi: 10.1002/jssc.200600266].
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland S.J. (2005) Isolation of individual hydrocarbons from the unresolved complex hydrocarbon mixture of a biodegraded crude oil using preparative capillary gas chromatography. Organic Geochemistry 36, 963-970. [doi: 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2004.11.007].
• Sutton, P., Maskall, J. and Thornton, I. (2002) Concentrations of major and trace elements in soil and grass at Shimba Hills National Reserve, Kenya. Applied Geochemistry 17, 1003-1016.
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland, S.J (1998) Attempted dissolution of 'insoluble organic matter' from Methanococcus jannaschii and Rostherne Mere (UK) sediment with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride/aluminium (III) chloride. Ancient Biomolecules 2, 195-207.
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland, S.J. (1998) Solving the insoluble? ABI Grand Finale, The Natural History Museum, London, January 1998.
• Sutton, P.A., Lewis, C.A. and Rowland, S.J. (1996) Solving the insoluble? Ancient Biomolecules Initiative (ABI) Newsletter 3, 80-81.

Presentations

• 27^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Imperial College London, London, U.K., 13-14 July 2016. Oral (colleague): "Poles Apart: Characterisation of the Polar Constituents of Crude Oil".
• 17^th International Conference on Petroleum Phase Behaviour and Fouling, Petrophase 2016, Elsinore, Denmark. 19-23 June 2016.
  • Invited keynote oral (colleague): "The Whips and Scorns of Time: Some of the Challenges of Petroleum Fluid and Petroleum Deposit Characterization".
  • Poster presentation (colleague): "Separation, Identification and Measurement of the 'Polar' Constituents of Crude Oils".
• 7^th Annual Biogeochemistry Centre Conference, Plymouth University Marine Station, Plymouth, U.K., 16 December 2015. Oral (colleague): "Improved Separation, Identification and Measurement of the 'Polar' constituents of Crude Oils".
• 26^th Annual Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Glasgow, U.K., 2-3 July 2015. Poster presentation (colleague): "High Temperature Gas Chromatography Coupled to Mass Spectrometry for Analysis of Large Polar Compounds.
• 27^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Prague, Czech Republic, 13-18 September 2015. Poster presentation (colleague): "The Role of Marine Diagenesis of Tephra in the Carbon Cycle".
• 13^th International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques in Chromatography and Hyphenated Chromatographic Analyzers (HTC-13) & Third International Symposium on Hyphenated Techniques for Sample Preparation (HTSP-3), Bruges, Belgium, 28-31 January 2014. Oral presentation: "A Sticky Problem for Seabirds: Identification of a Polyisobutene Spill".
• 26^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Tenerife, Spain, 15-20 September 2013. Poster presentation (colleague): "An Organic Geochemical Multiproxy Study of the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum: Evidence from Northern Spain".
• 25^th International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry, Interlaken, Switzerland, 18-23 September 2011. Poster presentation: "Distribution of Tetraprotic ("ARN") Acids in Different Oilfield Deposits Determined Using High Temperature Gas Chromatography and Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionisation Mass Spectrometry".
• 1^st International Symposium on Comprehensive Multidimensional Gas Chromatography, Volendam, The Netherlands, 6-7 March 2003. Poster presentation: "GCxGC-ToF-MS Identification of Compounds in the Toxic Hydrocarbon Unresolved Complex Mixture (UCM) of Crude Oils".
• 3^rd European Meeting on Environmental Chemistry, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-14 December 2002. Poster presentation: "Identification of Compounds in the Unresolved Complex Mixture (UCM) of Hydrocarbons in Biodegraded Crude Oil".
• 14^th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., 2-3 July 2002. Oral presentation (colleague): "Resolving the Unresolvable?". [Ancient Biomolecules 4, 95-96 (2002)].
• 14^th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., 2-3 July 2002. Poster presentation: "Identifying Compounds in the 'Hump'". [Ancient Biomolecules 4, 111 (2002)].
• International Symposium of Column Chromatography, Riva del Garda, Italy, 13-17 May 2002. Poster presentation: "Resolving the 'Hump'".
• 10^th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society, Plymouth, U.K., 15-17 July 1998. Poster presentation: "Solving the Insoluble?".
• 18^th International Meeting on Advances in Organic Geochemistry, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 22-26 September 1997. Poster presentation: "Isolation and Characterisation of Sedimentary and Bacterial 'Insoluble Organic Matter' (IOM) Using Dissolution in a Novel Ionic Liquid".
• 9^th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society Meeting, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K., 8-9 July 1997. Poster presentation: "Isolation and Characterisation of Sedimentary and Bacterial 'Insoluble Organic Matter' (IOM) Using Dissolution in a Novel Ionic Liquid".
• 8^th Meeting of the British Organic Geochemical Society Meeting, Liverpool, U.K., 9-10 July 1996. Poster presentation: "The Isolation of Major Biochemical and Mineral Classes from Lacustrine Sediment Using a Mass Balance Sequential Digestion Procedure".