Group News

A new publication led by UH-CPG PhD candidate Poorna Srinivasan has been published in Organic Geochemistry.

The paper, “Hydrous pyrolysis of Type III coal: I. Influence of temperature and time on gas generation potential and applicability to natural systems,” presents the first part of a comprehensive experimental study examining how temperature and heating duration control the maturation behavior of organic matter.

Using hydrous pyrolysis experiments on Type III coal across immature to dry gas conditions, the study quantifies time-dependent effects on methane and wet gas production from coal, documents isotopic rollovers linked to secondary cracking, and develops predictive relationships between CO₂/CH₄ ratios and Rock-Eval parameters. The findings improve kinetic constraints for coal-bearing petroleum systems and provide practical insights for modeling coalbed methane generation.

The article is available with free access until April 14 at the link below.

Hydrous pyrolysis of Type III coal: I. Influence of temperature and time on gas generation potential and applicability to natural systems - ScienceDirect 

UH-CPG undergraduate student Pauline Nguyen received the Third Place award for her poster presentation, “Assessing Organic Carbon Pools in Coastal Prairie Soils,” in the Undergraduate / First-Year MSc Student category at the UH EAS 32nd Annual Dobrin Lecture. Pauline’s research project was supported by a scholarship from the University of Houston Energy Scholars Program. 

UH-CPG faculty, students, and collaborators are contributing to a strong lineup of research that will be presented at the 2025 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans, including work spanning hyperspectral imaging for critical elements, carbon sequestration, and microplastic and PAH contaminants in soils. Below is a summary of scheduled presentations:

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

V23B-0097 – Hyperspectral Imaging and Analysis of Coal Ash for Rare Earth Elements

Authors: Ammar Hussain, Shuhab Khan, and Jagos Radovic

14:15–17:45

Hall EFG (Poster Hall), NOLA CC

Friday, December 19, 2025

B51J-VR8901 – Assessing Coastal Prairie Soils for Long-Term Carbon Removal

Authors: Pauline Nguyen, Thomas Malloy, and Jagos Radovic

08:30–12:00

Hall EFG (Poster Hall), NOLA CC

B51H-0700 – Microplastic Detection in Complex Environmental Matrices: Comparative Study of Thermal Degradation Methods

Authors: Amna Afzal, Thomas Malloy, Qi Fu, and Jagos Radovic

08:30–12:00

Hall EFG (Poster Hall), NOLA CC

B51H-VR8903 – Preliminary Assessment of PAHs in Soils Near a Coal-Fired Power Plant

Authors: Duanduan Zheng, Pauline Nguyen, Thomas Malloy, and Jagos Radovic

08:30–12:00

Hall EFG (Poster Hall), NOLA CC

EP51E-0669 – Carbon and Sediment Sequestration in the Fluvial-Deltaic Floodplain of the Rio Grande at Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico

Authors: Sarah Garcia, Kennedy Potter, Jagos Radovic, Brandee Carlson, and Alejandro Aguilar

08:30–12:00

Hall EFG (Poster Hall), NOLA CC

The poster “Hydrogen Generation and Reactivity in Organic-Rich Sedimentary Rocks” has received the Best Poster Award – Geoscience Themes at IMAGE 2025, hosted by SEG, AAPG, and the SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology.

The work was led by Dr. Jagos Radovic, Director of the University of Houston’s Center for Petroleum Geoscience (UH-CPG), together with co-authors from the University of Houston and Texas A&M University–San Antonio. 

We are grateful to the Technical Program Committee for the award and for organizing such a robust, multidisciplinary event.

Congratulations to UH-CPG's Poorna Srinivasan for winning first place for her poster in the Advanced PhD Student category at the 27th Annual Robert E. Sheriff Lecture, organized by the University of Houston College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the Houston Geological Society. Poorna presented part of her PhD research titled “Evaluation of Gas Compositions and Compound-Specific Isotopes from Hydrous Pyrolysis of Coal.”

Other contributions from our group included:

Kyra Bennett’s work on “A Chemometric Machine Learning Framework for Oil Classification: A California Case Study,” and

Pauline Nguyen’s research on “Assessing Organic Carbon Pools in Coastal Prairie Soils.” 

The University of Houston Center for Petroleum Geochemistry (UH-CPG) participated in the Gulf Coast Conference in Galveston, Texas with the following contributions:

Oral Presentation

9:35 AM – 10:00 AM | Room: Iris

Forensic Assessment of Residual Oil from the Pearl Harbor Shipwreck

Presenter: Dr. Jagoš R. Radović

Poster Presentations | South Lobby

Abstract #248 | 2:00 PM

A chemometric machine learning framework for oil classification: A California case study

Presenter: Kyra Bennett

Abstract #165 | 1:00 PM

Evaluating Coastal Prairie Soils for Long-Term Carbon Removal

Presenter: Pauline Nguyen

https://www.gulfcoastconference.com/ 

A study recently published in Marine Pollution Bulletin reports new insights into oil slowly leaking from the wreck of the USS Arizona, the battleship that sank during the attack on Pearl Harbor more than 80 years ago. Led by Dr. Radovic as the first author in collaboration with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Park Service and partner institutions, the study treats the historic wreck as a “living laboratory” to understand how oil behaves in the marine environment over decades.

Using advanced molecular fingerprinting techniques, the research team found that:

• The sunken fuel is a heavy fuel oil refined from California crude, consistent with U.S. Navy fueling practices in the early 1940s.

• Oil trapped inside the wreck contains high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chemical compounds noted for their persistence and potential toxicity.

• The oil’s chemistry changes as it moves through different parts of the wreck; microbial activity, oxygen availability and water flow shape each seep and give individual leaks a distinct chemical fingerprint.

These findings improve understanding of long-term oil behavior and provide critical information for assessing risks posed by thousands of World War II–era shipwrecks worldwide that still contain millions of gallons of fuel. The study also contributes to efforts that balance honoring an emblematic site of American history with strengthening global ocean risk assessment.

Read the article (free access until November 4, 2025): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25011506?dgcid=author

Press release: https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/wwii-wrecks/ 

The University of Houston – Center for Petroleum Geochemistry (UH-CPG) will be participating in the upcoming SEG IMAGE Conference in Houston next week. Our faculty, students, and collaborators will contribute across technical and poster sessions, highlighting advances in geochemistry, machine learning, and energy transition topics. Please see our schedule below: we look forward to fruitful interactions and exciting science!

Tuesday, August 26

- Dr. Radovic will co-chair GEOPS 1: Tools of the Trade: Machine Learning Applications in Geochemistry (Room 351A | 8:00 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.)

- In the same session (GEOPS 1), UH-CPG alumna Ana Vielma will present her work

Organic facies identification in sulfur-rich kerogens of the Monterey Formation: Random forest–based feature selection and kinetic analysis

- PhD candidate Poorna Srinivasan will present in GEOPS 4 session (Room 351A | 4:30 p.m.)

Evaluation of gas compositions and compound-specific isotopes from hydrous pyrolysis of coal

Wednesday, August 27

MSc student Kyra Bennett will present a poster in GEOPS P2 (Poster Location 2 - 3rd level | 8:00 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.)

A chemometric machine learning framework for oil classification: A California case study

Thursday, August 28

Dr. Radovic will present a poster in NEF P4 session (Poster Location 4 - 3rd level | 10:20 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)

Hydrogen Generation and Reactivity in Organic-Rich Sedimentary Rocks

In a recently published study, co-authored by Dr. Radovic, the aftermath of what may have been the ninth-largest tanker spill in history by volume was examined. The Sanchi was transporting more than 111,000 metric tons of natural gas condensate—a light hydrocarbon cargo—and approximately 1,900 metric tons of heavy fuel oil (HFO).

Key findings include: 

➡️ Despite the large volume of condensate released, it was virtually absent in the oil residues that reached the southern Japanese islands.

➡️ A combination of natural weathering processes—evaporation, dispersion, and microbial degradation—contributed to the dissipation of most of the condensate before it could reach land.

➡️ The shoreline residues were predominantly composed of HFO, a smaller component of the spill by volume but significantly more persistent in the environment.

These findings highlight the critical role of oil composition in shaping spill response strategies, risk evaluations, and predictions of environmental impact.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25004709?dgcid=author

UH-CPG congratulates our own Ana Vielma on successfully defending her PhD thesis! 

Ana's dissertation explored:

🔹 Modernizing geoscience education through a rebranded undergrad curriculum

 🔹 Challenging traditional models of the Monterey Formation using sulfur geochemistry

 🔹 Applying machine learning for advanced source rock analysis

Beyond her research, Ana has been an incredible contributor to UH-CPG: bringing energy and a collaborative spirit to our group. We’re proud to celebrate this milestone and look forward to Dr. Vielma's future impact in geosciences.

Please join us in congratulating Pauline Nguyen, an undergrad student affiliated with UH-CPG on her remarkable achievement! Pauline has been selected as one of the recipients of the UH Energy Scholars Program Scholarship for the 2025 calendar year.

This prestigious competitive award is generously supported by Phillips 66, the Baker Hughes Foundation, bp, Shell, Vistra Energy, and UH Energy.

Pauline's achievement is a testament to her commitment to academic excellence and research curiosity for energy-related studies.

Learn more about the UH Energy Scholars Program here:

https://uh.edu/honors/undergraduate-research/our-programs/energy-scholars-program/

Dr. Radovic’s perspective paper on the applications of ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry (UHR-MS) has been published in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry as part of the special issue titled “Sanibel: Mass Spectrometry for Complex Mixtures in Energy and the Environment.”

The paper builds upon Dr. Radovic’s presentation at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Sanibel Conference in January and provides an in-depth analysis of over 20 years of literature. It highlights significant examples of how UHR-MS has transformed the understanding of complex organic mixtures, including sediment and kerogen composition, petroleum fractions such as asphaltenes, and the environmental transformations of oil during marine spills.

In addition to outlining these impactful applications, the paper addresses current technical and methodological limitations of UHR-MS and offers perspectives on future developments. These include potential advancements in analytical techniques, novel applications, and opportunities for synergies in related fields.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jasms.4c00266

UH-CPG Director Dr. Radovic will present the research, "Exploring Critical Elements in Unconventional Sources Using Hyperspectral and Geochemical Methods," through an interactive iPoster at the American Geophysical Union 2024 Fall Meeting.

This multidisciplinary study, conducted by the University of Houston Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department research team, examines the distribution of critical materials (CMs) in unconventional sources such as oil sands bitumen. These resources, enriched through unique (bio)geochemical processes, hold significant potential as alternative sources of critical materials.

Highlights include:

- Integration of hyperspectral imaging and geochemical analysis to assess elemental enrichment.

- Insights into how weathering processes and biomarkers indicate deposits of critical materials.

📌 For more details, view the iPoster: https://agu24.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=C6-01-B4-E0-F8-D8-ED-2F-FE-DF-96-32-10-EB-60-4C&guestview=true

Dr. Radovic was the lead co-author of a chapter on the fates of petroleum compounds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the recently published 3rd edition of the reference book Oil Spill Science and Technology. Edited by Mervin Fingas and published by Elsevier, this comprehensive volume features contributions from leading experts in the field. Dr. Radovic extends sincere gratitude to co-authors Puspa Adhikari and Ed Overton for their invaluable collaboration. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780443217036000096

UH-CPG students presented their research posters at the Houston Geological Society University of Houston Sheriff Lecture.

https://www.hgs.org/civicrm/event/info?id=2570

1️⃣ Ana Vielma, PhD Candidate

Revealing Geochemical Patterns in the Lithofacies Transition of the Monterey Formation: A Machine Learning Approach to Molecular Datasets

2️⃣ Poorna Srinivasan, PhD Student

Geochemical Evaluation of Pyrolysates from Artificial Maturation of Coals

3️⃣ Kyra Bennett, 1st Year MSc Student

Preliminary Geochemical Assessment of Organic Strata in Outcrops from the Wilcox Group (Bastrop, Texas) Using Ramped Pyrolysis and Elemental Analysis

We congratulate Ana Vielma whose presentation was awarded second prize in the Senior PhD in Geology category. 

We’re proud of the work of all our students and look forward to seeing future outputs of their research. 

UH-CPG will be present at the 2024 Gulf Coast Conference in Galveston. On October 15, from 8:40 AM - 9:00 AM, Dr. Radovic will have a talk on Geochemical Fingerprinting of Petroleum for Energy and Environmental Applications.

This presentation will discuss state of the art methods to analyze petroleum's molecular signatures, with applications in resource extraction, spill response, pollution monitoring, and more.

Presentation Profile (gulfcoastconference.com) 

UH-CPG will be represented at the Geological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, September 22-25 in Anaheim.

PhD candidate Ana Vielma will present a talk entitled:

CHALLENGING THE PARADIGM: PALEOREDOX AND LITHOFACIES REVELATIONS FROM ORGANIC SULFUR IN DEEPWATER MONTEREY FORMATION, SANTA MARIA BASIN, CALIFORNIA during session T106: Recent Advances and New Voices in Marine and Coastal Geoscience, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 8:00 AM.

In conjunction with the Meeting, our PhD student Poorna Srinivasan will receive the 2024 Mid-Career Excellence Award in the Industry Category from the Association of Women Geoscientists (AWG). The award ceremony will take place on September 23rd from 6:30-8:30 AM.

Paleoredox and lithofacies assessments in Deepwater intervals of the Monterey Formation, Santa Maria Basin, California: Insights from organic sulfur geochemistry

A study led by UH-CPG PhD candidate Ana Vielma was recently accepted for publication in the International Journal of Coal Geology. In this study, the Sulfur Index (SI) was evaluated as a proxy for paleo-redox conditions in the Monterey Formation, revealing higher SI values and a greater concentration of benzothiophenes in siliceous lithofacies compared to calcareous lithofacies. These findings suggest that the mineral matrix influences the cracking of sulfur-rich kerogen under thermal stress and propose an alternative interpretation of more extensive water-column euxinia, differing from previous interpretations based on iron speciation. 

Ana will also be presenting the results of this study at the upcoming GSA (Geological Society of America) Annual Meeting, September 22-25.

Machine Learning in Complex Organic Mixtures: Applying Domain Knowledge Allows for Meaningful Performance with Small Data Sets

Dr. Radovic contributed to a study led by Dr. Jeffrey Van Humbeck from the University of Calgary that was recently published in the impactful Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

In this study, we developed a novel machine learning (ML) model inspired by masked language models and enhanced with domain-specific (geo)chemical knowledge. Using high-resolution mass spectra from various solvent extractions of Canadian petroleum fractions, our ML method proves that integrating domain knowledge can lead to accurate predictions even with limited data. This research opens new pathways for applying ML in areas with complex mixtures and limited data availability, such as environmental samples and other specialized fields in chemistry.

In a recently published study, co-authored by Dr. Radovic, the aftermath of what may have been the ninth-largest tanker spill in history by volume was examined. The Sanchi was transporting more than 111,000 metric tons of natural gas condensate—a light hydrocarbon cargo—and approximately 1,900 metric tons of heavy fuel oil (HFO).

Key findings include: 

➡️ Despite the large volume of condensate released, it was virtually absent in the oil residues that reached the southern Japanese islands.

➡️ A combination of natural weathering processes—evaporation, dispersion, and microbial degradation—contributed to the dissipation of most of the condensate before it could reach land.

➡️ The shoreline residues were predominantly composed of HFO, a smaller component of the spill by volume but significantly more persistent in the environment.

These findings highlight the critical role of oil composition in shaping spill response strategies, risk evaluations, and predictions of environmental impact.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X25004709?dgcid=author