Ann Pearson | |
---|---|
Born | 1971 (age 53–54) Seattle, WA |
Nationality | American |
Title | PVK Professor of Arts & Sciences, Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | MIT/WHOI, Oberlin College |
Thesis | (2000) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Biogeochemistry |
Institutions | Harvard University |
Ann Pearson is the PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences and Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences at Harvard University and former chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. [1] Her research in the area of organic geochemistry is focused on applications of analytical chemistry,isotope geochemistry,and microbiology to biogeochemistry and Earth history.
After growing up on the San Juan Islands, [2] Pearson completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Oberlin College,Oberlin,Ohio in 1992. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1993 to 1994. [3] She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography with a dissertation titled "Biogeochemical applications of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis" [4] for which she received MIT's Rossby Award. [5]
Pearson has been on the Harvard faculty since 2001. She was the first woman in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department to be appointed to a tenured position. [6] [7]
Pearson's recent work has focused on the global carbon and nitrogen cycles,paleo-temperatures,and paleo-CO2 records. In 2010,Pearson described her research as "...the 'you are what you eat' philosophy for microbes" which allows her to use their chemical and isotopic fingerprints to assess modern and ancient ecosystems. [2] Notable research topics include investigations into chemoautotrophic processes using compound specific 14C-based methods, [8] [9] genomic evidence of sterol biosynthesis retained by Planctomycetota, [10] and examinations of modern environments to reveal insights into environmental conditions in the past. [11] [12] In 2018,Pearson's research showed that increases in the size of eukaryotic phytoplankton increased the amount of carbon sequestered from the atmosphere. [13] [14]
Wallace "Wally" Smith Broecker was an American geochemist. He was the Newberry Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University,a scientist at Columbia's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and a sustainability fellow at Arizona State University. He developed the idea of a global "conveyor belt" linking the circulation of the global ocean and made major contributions to the science of the carbon cycle and the use of chemical tracers and isotope dating in oceanography. Broecker popularized the term "global warming". He received the Crafoord Prize and the Vetlesen Prize.
Paul Werner Gast was an American geochemist and geologist.
Professor Henry "Harry" Elderfield,was Professor of Ocean Chemistry and Palaeochemistry at the Godwin Laboratory in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He made his name in ocean chemistry and palaeochemistry,using trace metals and isotopes in biogenic carbonate as palaeochemical tracers,and studying the chemistry of modern and ancient oceans - especially those of the glacial epoch and the Cenozoic.
Abietane is an organic compound with the formula C20H36. It is a tricyclic,saturated hydrocarbon with an elaborate stereochemistry. It is a colorless solid. It is of little biochemical interest except as a reference structure of the abietanes,
Dinosterol (4α,23,24-trimethyl-5α-cholest-22E-en-3β-ol) is a 4α-methyl sterol that is produced by several genera of dinoflagellates and is rarely found in other classes of protists. The steroidal alkane,dinosterane,is the 'molecular fossil' of dinosterol,meaning that dinosterane has the same carbon skeleton as dinosterol,but lacks dinosterol's hydroxyl group and olefin functionality. As such,dinosterane is often used as a biomarker to identify the presence of dinoflagellates in sediments.
Roger Everett Summons is the Schlumberger Professor of Geobiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor of Geobiology in the Department of Earth,Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.
Katherine H. Freeman is the Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University and a co-editor of the peer-reviewed scientific journal,Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her research interests are organic geochemistry,isotopic biogeochemistry,paleoclimate and astrobiology.
Frederick T. Mackenzie was an American sedimentary and global biogeochemist. Mackenzie applied experimental and field data coupled to a sound theoretical framework to the solution of geological,geochemical,and oceanographic problems at various time and space scales.
John Michael Hayes was an American oceanographer. He worked at Indiana University Bloomington,and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole,Massachusetts.
Tanja Bosak is a Croatian-American experimental geobiologist who is currently an associate professor in the Earth,Atmosphere,and Planetary Science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her awards include the Subaru Outstanding Woman in Science Award from the Geological Society of America (2007),the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union (2011),and was elected an AGU fellow (2011). Bosak is recognized for her work understanding stromatolite genesis,in addition to her work in broader geobiology and geochemistry.
Patricia Martin Dove is an American geochemist. She is a university distinguished professor and the C.P. Miles Professor of Science at Virginia Tech with appointments in the department of Geosciences,department of Chemistry,and department of Materials Science and Engineering. Her research focuses on the kinetics and thermodynamics of mineral reactions with aqueous solutions in biogeochemical systems. Much of her work is on crystal nucleation and growth during biomineralization and biomaterial interactions with mineralogical systems. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2012,where she currently serves as chair of the Geology Section and is the immediate-past chair of Class I,Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Ruth E. Blake is an American geochemist and environmental scientist. She is a professor at Yale University in earth &planetary sciences,environmental studies,and chemical &environmental engineering. Blake's work focuses on marine biogeochemical processes,paleoclimate,astrobiology,and stable isotope geochemistry.
Cindy Lee is a retired Distinguished Professor known for her research characterizing the compounds that comprise marine organic matter.
Judith Ann McKenzie was an American biogeochemist known for her research on past climate change,chemical cycles in sediments,and geobiology.
Margaret (Peggy) Delaney is marine geochemist known for her research on trace elements to examine changes in ocean chemistry over time.
Ariel Anbar is an isotope geochemist and President's Professor at Arizona State University. He has published over 180 refereed papers on topics ranging from the origins of Earth's atmosphere to detecting life on other worlds to diagnosing human disease.
Yan Zheng is a marine geochemist known for her research on metals in groundwater and private wells in Bangladesh,China,and the United States. She is an elected fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union.
Minoru Ozima is a geochemist and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science,Graduate School of Science,at the University of Tokyo. He was named one of the top 100 Asian scientists for the year 2021 by Asian Scientist magazine.
Elizabeth A. Canuel is a chemical oceanographer known for her work on organic carbon cycling in aquatic environments. She is the Chancellor Professor of Marine Science at the College of William &Mary and is an elected fellow of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.
Sachiko Amari is a Japanese astrophysicist who focuses upon presolar grains. She developed the method for isolating presolar grains in primitive meteorites and also researched noble gases in meteorites. Amari was awarded the Urey Medal by the European Association of Geochemistry in 2021. She currently is a Research Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Ann Pearson publications indexed by Google Scholar