James P. Kennett

Last updated

James P. Kennett
Born
James Peter Kennett

(1940-09-03) September 3, 1940 (age 85)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesJim
Known for
SpouseDiana Kennett
ChildrenDouglas J Kennett
Scientific career
Fields Paleoceanography
Institutions
Thesis The Kapitean Stage (Upper Miocene) of New Zealand  (1965)
Doctoral advisor Paul Vella
Doctoral students Tessa M. Hill David A. Hodell (Woodwardian Professor of Geology, University of Cambridge, UK)
Website kennett.faculty.geol.ucsb.edu

James P. Kennett is an American paleoceanographer. [1]

Kennet has a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, with a thesis on the Kapitean Stage in New Zealand. [2] In 1986, Kennett became the founding editor of Paleoceanography, [3] [4] [5] and in May 2000, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. [6] [7]

In 1972, Kennett was one of the co-chief scientist of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. In the 1980s he published a book on marine geology, founded the journal Paleoceanography, and served as the Director of the Marine Science Institute. His studies on the contribution of methane to climatic shifts were published in 2002, but were not widely accepted by the climate community. [1]

He is a cofounder and member of the Comet Research Group (CRG), [8] and is known for his contributions to the controversial and refuted Younger Dryas impact hypothesis which asserts that the Clovis culture was destroyed by a shower of comets. [9] [10] He co-authored a paper in collaboration with biblical archaeologists, who believed to have discovered the ancient city of Sodom and evidence of its destruction by a comet at Tell el-Hammam, Jordon. [11] The paper was retracted by Nature in 2025, citing concerns about methodology, analysis, and data interpretation. [12] [13]

References

  1. 1 2 Tinsley H Davis (6 February 2007). "Profile of James P. Kennett". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 104 (6): 1751–3. Bibcode:2007PNAS..104.1751D. doi:10.1073/PNAS.0609142104. ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   1794309 . PMID   17267607. Wikidata   Q28763669.
  2. Kennett, James (1965). The Kapitean Stage (Upper Miocene) of New Zealand (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington. doi: 10.26686/wgtn.16945609 .
  3. "Previous Editors". American Geophysical Union . doi:10.1002/(ISSN)2572-4525. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2022. James P. Kennett* 1986-1987
  4. "Brief History". University of California, Santa Barbara . Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022. Kennett is considered a pioneer in developing paleoceanography as a new field and was founding editor of Paleoceanography.
  5. Thomas, Ellen (22 May 2017). "A Sea Change in Paleoceanography". Eos . Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2022. In 1986, Jim Kennett, Paleoceanography's founding editor...
  6. "National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members". Science . 288 (5468): 957–957. 12 May 2000. doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.288.5468.957. ISSN   0036-8075. Wikidata   Q113533760.
  7. "National Academy of Sciences Member Directory". National Academy of Sciences . Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  8. "Scientists & Members". Comet Research Group. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. Holliday, Vance T.; Daulton, Tyrone L.; Bartlein, Patrick J.; Boslough, Mark B.; Breslawski, Ryan P.; Fisher, Abigail E.; Jorgeson, Ian A.; Scott, Andrew C.; Koeberl, Christian; Marlon, Jennifer; Severinghaus, Jeffrey; Petaev, Michail I.; Claeys, Philippe (26 July 2023). "Comprehensive refutation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH)". Earth-Science Reviews. 247 104502. Bibcode:2023ESRv..24704502H. doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104502 . S2CID   260218223.
  10. Fernandez, Sonia (8 March 2019). "The Day the World Burned". The Current. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  11. Boslough, Mark (2022). "Sodom Meteor Strike Claims Should Be Taken with a Pillar of Salt" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 46 (1): 10–14.
  12. Kincaid, Ellie (21 February 2023). "Journal investigating Sodom comet paper for data problems". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  13. Bunch, Ted E.; LeCompte, Malcolm A.; Adedeji, A. Victor; Wittke, James H.; Burleigh, T. David; Hermes, Robert E.; Mooney, Charles; Batchelor, Dale; et al. (24 April 2025). "Retraction Note: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea". Scientific Reports. 15 (14291) 14291. Bibcode:2025NatSR..1514291B. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-99265-5. PMC   12022329 . PMID   40275027.