Dr. Kenneth Farley

Biography

Kenneth Farley is the W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He earned his B.S. from Yale University in 1986 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 1991. He began his academic career at Caltech as an Assistant Professor from 1993 to 1996, became an Associate Professor in 1997, and reached the rank of Professor in 1998. Since 2003, he has held the position of Keck Foundation Professor. He has been actively involved in administrative roles, including serving as the Director of the Tectonic Observatory and as Division Chair from 2004 to 2014. His research focuses on geochemistry, specifically noble gas isotopes, and their application to a range of Earth science problems such as the chemical and isotopic evolution of the Earth's mantle and atmosphere, geochronometry, and the geologic history of interplanetary dust flux recorded in deep-sea sediments. He has also been a participating scientist in NASA's Mars rover missions, including the Curiosity mission exploring Gale Crater and the Mars 2020 mission. Farley's courses include advanced topics in radiogenic isotope geochemistry, building upon prior coursework and addressing unconventional applications of radioisotopes.

Research Interests

Experience