Professor Dr. Sierra Petersen

Biography

Sierra Petersen is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She earned a B.S. in Geochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 2009 and a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University in 2014. Her research focuses on paleoceanography and paleoclimate, employing geochemical signals preserved in fossil materials to reconstruct past climate and ocean conditions. She has ongoing projects examining interesting time periods, including the end-Cretaceous, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), mid-Miocene climatic optimum, and Quaternary interglacial intervals, with a particular interest in ocean-ice sheet interactions and past ocean circulation patterns. Petersen actively encourages graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to join her research group and engages in collaborative projects within her field.

Research Interests