Lorenz Schwark studied Geology at Bonn and Aachen University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1989. He then moved to Cologne University, founded its Organic Geochemistry Laboratories, received his Habilitation in 2000 and became a Professor in Geology in 2004. In 1997 and 1998 he spent 18 month as a visiting scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary.

Since 2008 he holds a professorship in Organic Geochemistry at the Institute for Geosciences at Kiel University. In 2012 he was awarded an Associated Professor in the Western Australia Organic Geochemistry and Isotope Centre at Curtin University, Australia.

The work of Lorenz Schwark aims towards the application of organic and isotope geochemical techniques to solve geoscientific and environmental questions, e.g.:

• Can past environmental conditions be reconstructed in detail by organic, inorganic and isotopic geochemical techniques?
• How did the Toarcian Oceanwide Anoxic Event affect marine ecosystems?
• What fuels the deep marine biosphere?
• How is petroleum formed from biogenic precursors and how is it expelled from source rocks and migrates along carrier beds into a reservoir?
• How does organic matter interact with metals and can this form ore deposits?
• What is the role of archaea vs. bacteria in recent and past environments?
• How does organic matter in soils or wetlands form and turn-over and do soils and wetlands act as sink or source of CO2?