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Prof. Dr. Felix J. Elling

Institut für Geowissenschaften
Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, Raum 210
D-69120 Heidelberg

E-Mail: Felix.Elling@geow.uni-heidelberg.de 
Tel.: +49 6221 54-4687

Professional Experience

  • Since 2026 Professor of Organic Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University

  • 2022-2025 Visiting Professor in Environmental History, Department of Geography, Kiel University

  • 2021-2026 Emmy Noether Research Group Leader, Leibniz-Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Stable Isotope Research, Kiel Uiversity

  • 2016-2020 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University

  • 2015 Postdoctoral Researcher, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (MARUM), University of Bremen

Education

  • 2012-2015 PhD in Geosciences, MARUM, University of Bremen 

  • 2009-2012 M. Sc. Marine Geosciences, University of Bremen

  • 2006-2009 B. Sc. Geosciences, University of Bremen

Selected Grants

  • 2025 DFG-ANR German-French collaborative research, award #569140696 (611,245 €; PIs: F. Elling, S. Abby). Quinone biosynthesis, diversity, and evolution across the Tree of Life.

  • 2023 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, award #527682349 (50,377 €). Climate change impacts on ocean nitrogen cycling during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

  • 2020 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Emmy Noether research group #441217575 (1,888,396 €). Novel hydrological and carbon cycle constraints from the isotopic composition of archaeal lipid biomarkers.

Selected Awards

  • 2025 Geoff Eglinton Award, European Association of Organic Geochemists. 

  • 2023 Ocean Emerging Leader Award, International Center for Deep Life Investigation

  • 2021 Pieter Schenck Award, European Association of Organic Geochemists

  • 2020 Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University

  • 2016 MARUM Research Award for Marine Science

Publications

*Asterisks denote shared first-authorship. Advisees are underlined.

49. Inglis, G.N., Hemingway, J., Stockey, R., Hollingsworth, E., Valdes, P., Farnsworth, A., Elling, F.J., Badger, M., Zhao, X., Pancost, R.D., Pearson, A. (2026). Terrestrial organic carbon burial in marine sediments is a missing carbon sink in past warm climates. Nature Geoscience. doi: 

48. Elling, F.J., Hoshino, Y. (2026). Bacterial hopanoid and steroid biosynthesis, function, evolution, and diagenesis. In: Geiger, O. (eds) Biogenesis of Fatty Acids, Lipids and Membranes. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology. Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-43676-0_66-1

47. Rosendahl, C.R., Zhao, X., Maloney, A.E., McFarlin, J.M., Keller, K.J., Kreutz, R., Altun, J., Bachmann, L.H., Hartmann, J., Batther, H., Calhoun, A.N., Elvert, M., Pearson, A., Leavitt, W.D., Kopf, S.H., Elling, F.J. (2026). Improved procedures for the cleavage and reduction of GDGTs for hydrogen isotope analysis. Organic Geochemistry, 105139. doi: 

46. Bijl, P.K., Sliwinska, K.K., Duncan, B., Huguet, A., Naeher, S., Rattanasriampaipong, R., Sosa-Montes de Oca, C., Auderset, A., Berke, M., Kim, B.S., Davtian, N., Dunkley Jones, T., Eefting, D.D., Elling, F.J., Fenies, P., Inglis, G.N., O’Connor, L., Pancost, R.D., Peterse, F., Rice, A., Sluijs, A., Varma, D., Xiao, W., Zhang, Y.G. (2025). Best practices for the application of marine GDGTs as proxy for paleotemperatures: sampling, processing, analyses, interpretation, and archiving protocols. Biogeosciences 22, 6465-6508. doi: 

45. Roy, B., Thiede, R., Simon, S., Kumar, A., Moharana, S., Dey, S., Elling, F.J. (2025). Elevation controls bacterial branched GDGT-based temperature proxies: A regional to global perspective. Global and Planetary Change 255, 105101. doi: 

44. Keller, K.J., Kopf, S., McFarlin, J., Maloney, A., Rhim, J.H., Elling, F.J., Ashing-Giwa, K., Baker, I., Calhoun, A., Pearson, A. (2025). Compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotope analysis traces archaeal lipid signatures in cold seep marine systems. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 407, 309-321. doi: 

43. Spiegel, T., Dale, A.D., Lenz, N., Schmidt, M., Sommer, S., Becker, K., Elling, F.J., Porz, L., Daewel, U., Fuhr, M., Kalapurakkal, H.T., Wallmann, K. (2025). Benthic POC cycling in the Skagerrak basin: The role of lateral POC input. Continental Shelf Research 293, 105536. doi: 

42. Harris C.M., Kopf, S., Rhim, J.H., Cobban, A., Elling, F.J., Feng, X., McFarlin, J., Weber, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhou, A., Pearson, A., Leavitt, W.D. (2025). Lipid hydrogen isotopes primarily reflect growth water in the model archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 91, e01983-24. doi: 

41. Elling, F.J., Pierrel, F., Chobert, S.-C., Abby, S.S., Evans, T.W., Reveillard, A., Pelosi, L., Schnoebelen, J., Hemingway, J.D., Boumendjel, A. Becker, K.W., Blom, P., Cordes, J., Nathan, V., Baymann, F., Lücker, S., Spieck, E., Leadbetter, J.R., Hinrichs, K.-U., Summons, R.E., Pearson, A. (2025). A novel quinone biosynthetic pathway illuminates the evolution of aerobic metabolism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 122, e2421994122. doi: 

40. Hoogakker, B.A.A., Davis, C., Wang, Y., Kusch, S., Nilsson-Kerr, K., Hardisty, D.S., Jacobel, A., Reyes Macaya, D., Glock, N., Ni, S., Sepúlveda, J., Ren, A., Auderset, A., Hess, A., Meissner, K., Cardich, J., Anderson, R., Castillo, A., Costa, K., Barras, C., Basak, C., Bradbury, H.J., Brinkmann, I., Cook, M., Choquel, C., Diz, P., Donnenfield, J., Elling, F.J., Erdem, Z., Filipsson, H.L., Garrido, S., Gottschalk, J., Govindankutty Menon, A., Groeneveld, J., Hallmann, C., Hendy, I., Hennekam, R., Lu, W., Lynch-Stieglitz, J., Matos, L., Martínez- García, A., Molina, G., Muñoz, P., Moretti, S., Morford, J., Nuber, S., Radionovskaya, S., Raven, M.R., Somes, C., Studer, A.S., Sweere, T., Tachikawa, K., Tapia, R., Tetard, M., Vollmer, T., Wu, S., Zhang, Y., Zheng, X., Zhou, Y. (2025). Review of proxies for low-oxygen paleoceanographic reconstructions. Biogeosciences 22, 863-957. doi: 

39. De Jonge, C., Peterse, F., Nierop, K.G.J., Blattmann, T.M., Alexandre, M., Ansanay-Alex, S., Austin, T., Babin, M., Bard, E., Bauersachs, T., Blewett, J., Boehman, B., Castañeda, I.S., Chen, J., Conti, M.L.G., Contreras, S., Cordes, J., Davtian, N., van Dongen, B., Duncan, B., Elling, F.J., Galy, V., Gao, S., Hefter, J., Hinrichs, K.-U., Helling, M., Hoorweg, M., Hopmans, E., Hou, J., Huang, Y., Huguet, A., Jia, G., Karger, C., Keely, B.J., Kusch, S., Li, H., Liang, J., Lipp, J.S., Liu, W., Lu, H., Mangelsdorf, K., Manners, H., Martinez-Garcia, A., Ménot, G., Mollenhauer, G., Naafs, B.D.A., Naeher, S., O'Connor, L.K., Pearce, E.M., Pearson, A., Rao, Z., Rodrigo-Gámiz, M., Rosendahl, C., Rostek, F., Rui, B., Sanyal, P., Schubotz, F., Scott, W., Sen, R., Sluijs, A., Smittenberg, R., Stefanescu, I., Sun, J., Sutton, P., Tierney, J., Tejos, E., Villanueva, J., Wang, H., Werne, J., Yamamoto, M., Yang, H., Zhou, A. (2024). Interlaboratory comparison of branched GDGT temperature and pH proxies using soils and lipid extracts. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 25, e2024GC011583. doi: 

38. Zhu, Q.-Z., Elvert, M., Meador, T.B., Schröder, J.M., Doeana, K.D., Becker, K.W., Elling, F.J., Lipp, J.S., Heuer, V.B., Zabel, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2024). Comprehensive molecular-isotopic characterization of archaeal lipids in the Black Sea water column and underlying sediments. Geobiology 22, e1258. doi: 

37. Hollingsworth, E.H., Elling, F.J., Badger, M.P.S., Pancost, R.D., Dickson, A.J., Rees-Owen, R.L., Papadomanolaki, N.M., Pearson, A., Sluijs, A., Freeman, K.H., Baczynski, A.A., Foster, G.L., Whiteside, J.H., Inglis, G.N. (2024). Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Petrogenic Organic Carbon Mobilization during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 39, e2023PA004773. doi: 

36. Rhim, J.H., Zhou, A., Amenabar, M.J., Elling, F.J., Weber, Y., Pearson, A., Boyd, E.S., Leavitt, W.D. (2024). Mode of carbon and energy metabolism shifts lipid composition in the thermoacidophile Acidianus. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 90, e01369-23. doi: 

35. Chiu, B. K., Waldbauer, J., Elling, F.J., Mete, Ö.Z., Pearson, A., Eggleston, E., Leavitt, W.D. (2023). Membrane lipid and expression responses of Saccharolobus islandicus REY15A to acid and cold stress. Frontiers in Microbiology 14. doi: .

34. Leavitt, W.D., Kopf, S.H., Weber, Y., Chiu, B., McFarlin, J.M., Elling, F.J., Hoeft-McCann, S., Pearson, A. (2023). Controls on the hydrogen isotope composition of tetraether lipids in a marine thaumarchaeon. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 352, 194-210. doi:  

33. Elling, F.J.*, Kattein, L.*, Naafs, B.D., Lauretano, V., Pearson, A. (2023). Heterotrophic origin and diverse sources of branched glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGMGTs) in peats and lignites. Organic Geochemistry 178, 104558. doi: 

32. Elling, F.J., Evans, T.W., Hemingway, J.D., Kharbush, J.J., Spieck, E., Summons, R.E., Pearson, A. (2022). Marine and terrestrial nitrifying bacteria are sources of diverse bacteriohopanepolyols. Geobiology 20, 399-420. doi: 

31. Evans, T.W., Elling, F.J., Li, Y., Pearson, A., Summons, R.E. (2022). A new and improved protocol for extraction of intact polar membrane lipids from archaea. Organic Geochemistry 165, 104353. doi: 

30. Blewett, J., Elling, F.J., Naafs, B.D.A., Kattein, L., Evans, T.W., Lauretano, V., Gallego-Sala, A.V., Pancost, R.D., Pearson, A. (2022). Metabolic and ecological controls on the stable carbon isotopic composition of archaeal (isoGDGT and BDGT) and bacterial (brGDGT) lipids in wetlands and lignites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 320, 1-25. doi: 

29. Elling, F.J.*, Hemingway, J.D.*, Kharbush, J.J., Becker, K.W., Polik, C.A., Pearson, A. (2021). Linking diatom-diazotroph symbioses to nitrogen cycle perturbations and deep-water anoxia: Insights from Mediterranean sapropel events. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 571, 117110. doi: 

28. Lattaud, J., De Jonge, C., Pearson, A., Elling, F.J., Eglinton, T.I. (2021). Microbial lipid signatures in Arctic deltaic sediments – insights into methane cycling and climate variability. Organic Geochemistry 157, 104242. doi: 

27. Santoro, A.E., Bayer, B., Elling, F.J., Pearson, A. (2021). Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus. In Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria (eds M.E. Trujillo, S. Dedysh, P. DeVos, B. Hedlund, P. Kämpfer, F.A. Rainey and W.B. Whitman). doi: 

26. Elling, F.J., Hemingway, J.D., Evans, T.W., Kharbush, J.J., Spieck, E., Summons, R.E., Pearson, A. (2020). Vitamin B12-dependent biosynthesis ties amplified 2-methylhopanoid production during oceanic anoxic events to nitrification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, 32996-33004. doi: 

25. Cobban, A., Zhang, Y., Zhou, A., Weber, Y., Elling, F.J., Pearson, A., Leavitt, W.D. (2020). Multiple environmental parameters impact lipid cyclization in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Environmental Microbiology 22, 4046-4056. doi: 

24. Nigro, L.M., Elling, F.J., Hinrichs, K.-U., Joye, S.B., Teske, A. (2020). Microbial diversity and biogeochemistry of hypersaline sediments in Orca Basin. Plos One 15(4), e0231676. doi: 

23. Probst, A.J.*, Elling, F.J.*, Castelle, C., Zhu, Q., Elvert, M., Birarda, G., Holman, H.-Y., Lane, K., Ladd, B., Ryan, M. C., Woyke, T., Hinrichs, K.-U., Banfield, J.F. (2020). Lipid analysis of CO2-rich subsurface aquifers suggests an autotrophy-based deep biosphere with lysolipids enriched in CPR bacteria. ISME Journal 14, 1547-1560. doi: .

22. Elling, F.J., Gottschalk, J., Doeana, K.D., Kusch, S., Hurley, S.J., Pearson, A. (2019). Archaeal lipid biomarker constraints on the Paleocene-Eocene carbon isotope excursion. Nature Communications 10, 4519. doi: .

21. Zhou, A., Chiu, B.K., Cobban, A.B., Weber, Y., Elling, F.J., Pearson, A., Leavitt, W.D. (2019). Electron donor flux controls GDGT cyclization in the model thermoacidophile Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Environmental Microbiology 22, 343-353. doi: 

20. Hurley, S.J., Close, H.G., Elling, F.J., Jasper, C.E., Gospodinova, K., McNichol, A.P., Pearson, A. (2019). CO2-dependent carbon isotope fractionation in Archaea, Part II: The marine water column. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 261, 383-395. doi: 

19. Pearson, A., Hurley, S.J., Elling, F.J., Wilkes, E.B. (2019). CO2-dependent carbon isotope fractionation in Archaea, Part I: Modeling the 3HP/4HB pathway. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 261, 368-382. doi: 

18. Polik, C.A., Elling, F.J., Pearson, A. (2018). Impacts of paleoecology on the TEX86 sea surface temperature proxy in the Pliocene‐Pleistocene Mediterranean Sea. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 33, 1472-1489. doi:  

17. Becker, K.W. *, Elling, F.J.*, Schröder, J.M., Lipp, J.S., Goldhammer, T., Zabel, M., Elvert, M., Overmann, J., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2018). Isoprenoid quinones resolve the stratification of microbial redox processes in a biogeochemical continuum from the photic zone to deep anoxic sediments of the Black Sea. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 84, e02736-17. doi: 

16. Hemingway, J.D., Kusch, S., Shah Walter, S.R., Polik, C.A, Elling, F.J., Pearson, A. (2018). A novel method to measure the 13C composition of intact bacteriohopanepolyols. Organic Geochemistry 123, 144–147. doi: 

15. Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Nicol, G.W., Stieglmeier, M., Bayer, B., Spieck, E., de la Torre, J.R., Becker, K.W., Thomm, M., Prosser, J.I., Herndl, G.J., Schleper, C., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2017). Chemotaxonomic characterisation of the thaumarchaeal lipidome. Environmental Microbiology 19, 2681-2700. doi: 

14. Hurley, S.J.*, Elling, F.J.*, Könneke, M., Buchwald, C., Wankel, S.D., Santoro, A.E., Lipp, J.S., Hinrichs, K.-U., Pearson, A. (2016). Influence of ammonia oxidation rate on thaumarchaeal lipid composition and the TEX86 temperature proxy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 113, 7762-7767. doi: 

13. Zhu, C., Wakeham, S.G., Elling, F.J., Basse, A., Mollenhauer, G., Versteegh, G.J.M., Könneke, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). Stratification of archaeal membrane lipids in the ocean and implications for adaptation and chemotaxonomy of planktonic archaea. Environmental Microbiology 18, 4324-4336. doi: 

12. Becker, K.W., Elling, F.J., Yoshinaga, M.Y., Söllinger, A., Urich, T., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). Unusual butane- and pentanetriol-based tetraether lipids in Methanomassiliicoccus luminyensis, a representative of the seventh order of methanogens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 82, 4505-4516. doi:  

11. Elling, F.J.*, Becker, K.W.*, Könneke, M., Schröder, J.M., Kellermann, M.Y., Hinrichs, K.‑U. (2016). Respiratory quinones in Archaea: phylogenetic distribution and application as biomarkers in the marine environment. Environmental Microbiology 18, 692-707. doi: 

10. Zhuang, G.-C.*, Elling, F.J.*, Nigro, L.M., Samarkin, V., Joye, S.B., Teske, A., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). Multiple evidence for methylotrophic methanogenesis as the dominant methanogenic pathway in deep-sea hypersaline sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 187, 1-20. doi: 

9. Liu, X.-L., Birgel, D., Elling, F.J., Sutton, P.A., Lipp, J.S., Zhu, R., Zhang, C., Könneke, M., Peckmann, J., Rowland, S.J., Summons, R.E., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2016). From ether to acid: a plausible degradation pathway of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 183, 138-152. doi: 

8. Widderich, N., Czech, L., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Stöveken, N., Pittelkow, M., Riclea, R., Dickschat, J.S., Heider, J., Bremer, E. (2016). Strangers in the archaeal world: osmostress-responsive biosynthesis of ectoine and hydroxyectoine by the marine thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus. Environmental Microbiology 18, 1227-1248. doi: 

7. Yao, M., Elling, F.J., Jones, C., Sulung, N., Long, C.P., Crowe, S.A., Antoniewicz, M.R., Hinrichs, K.-U., Maresca, J.A. (2016). Heterotrophic bacteria from an extremely phosphate-poor lake have conditionally reduced phosphorus demand and utilize diverse sources of phosphorus. Environmental Microbiology 18, 656-667. doi: 

6. Elling, F.J., Spiegel, C., Estrada, S., Davis, D.W., Reinhardt, L., Henjes-Kunst, F., Allroggen, N., Dohrmann, R., Piepjohn, K., Lisker, F. (2016). Origin of bentonites and detrital zircons of the Paleocene Basilika Formation, Svalbard. Frontiers in Earth Science 4, 73. doi: 

5. Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Mußmann, M., Greve, A., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). Influence of temperature, pH, and salinity on membrane lipid composition and TEX86 of marine planktonic thaumarchaeal isolates. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 171, 238-255. doi: 

4. Lü, X., Liu, X.-L., Elling, F.J., Yang, H., Xie, S., Song, J., Li, X., Yuan, H., Li, N., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2015). Hydroxylated isoprenoidal GDGTs in China coastal seas and their potential as paleotemperature proxy in mid-to-low latitude marginal seas. Organic Geochemistry 89-90, 31-43. doi:  

3. Coban, H., Miltner, A., Elling, F.J., Hinrichs, K.-U., Kästner, M. (2015). The contribution of biogas residues to soil organic matter formation and CO2 emissions in an arable soil. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 86, 108-115. doi: 

2. Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Lipp, J.S., Becker, K.W., Gagen, E.J., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). Effects of growth phase on the membrane lipid composition of the thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus and their implications for archaeal lipid distributions in the marine environment. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 141, 579-597. doi: 

1. Meador, T.B., Zhu, C., Elling, F.J., Könneke, M., Hinrichs, K.-U. (2014). Identification of isoprenoid glycosidic glycerol dibiphytanol diethers and indications for their biosynthetic origin. Organic Geochemistry 69, 70-75. doi: 

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