Earth History

Earth History

Nadja Drabon

Nadja Drabon

Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

My research focuses on the habitability of the early Earth and how it was affected by crustal processes and changing surface environments. The study of the early Earth requires a clear understanding of present-day sedimentary processes as well as an appreciation of the non-uniformitarian character of the early Earth. My research integrates multidisciplinary approaches by applying stratigraphic, provenance and geochemical analyses paired with detailed knowledge of complex geology at outcrop- to basin-scale. Specifically, my contributions to the field focus on: (1) Furthering our understanding of the formation of crust during the Hadean and Archean, (2) evaluating processes of early life recorded in the rock record and studying the influence of impact-related environmental perturbations on the biosphere, and (3) characterizing the poorly understood tectonic processes in the Archean.

Research Group Coordinator:

24 Oxford Street, Rm 367-368
Cambridge, MA 02138
Roger Fu

Roger Fu

John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences
Head Tutor

Research interests include the formation and interior evolution of the Earth and other planetary bodies.  Roger's primary tool is paleomagnetism, which he complements with geodynamical modeling. 

Research Group Coordinator:

20 Oxford St.
Geo Museum 204B
p: 617-384-6991
Rebecca  Fischer

Rebecca Fischer

Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Accretion, core formation, and composition of the deep interiors of Earth and other terrestrial planets. She combines high-pressure, high-temperature mineral physics experiments with planetary-scale modeling.

Fischer received a B.A. in Earth and Planetary Sciences and Integrated Science from Northwestern University in 2009, and a Ph.D. in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago in 2015.

Research Group Coordinator: Stephanie Clayman

Office location: Geological Museum 204C
Mailing address: 20 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138
p: 617-384-6992
Ann Pearson

Ann Pearson

PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences
Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences
Head Tutor

Ann Pearson is the Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences. Her research focuses on applications of analytical chemistry, isotope geochemistry, and molecular biology to biochemical oceanography and Earth history. 

Through study of the “how, when, and why” of microbial processes, her work yields insight about environmental conditions on Earth today, in the past, and about potential human impacts on our future.  Recent projects have focused on the carbon and nitrogen cycles and on pathways of lipid biosynthesis.

Pearson received a Fellowship for Science and Engineering from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation in 2004, a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship in 2009, and was named a Marine Microbiology Initiative Investigator of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2012. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, where she was awarded the C. G. Rossby Award for Best Dissertation in the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate; and a B.A. in Chemistry from Oberlin College.

Research Group Coordinator: Priya Putta

EPS
20 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Office location: Geo Museum, Room 362
p: 617-384-8392, f: 617-495-8839
Daniel Schrag

Daniel Schrag

Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology
Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering
Co-Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

 

Daniel P. Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Co-Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program.

Schrag studies climate and climate change over the broadest range of Earth history. He is particularly interested in how information on climate change from the geologic past can lead to better understanding of anthropogenic climate change in the future. In addition to his work on geochemistry and climatology, Schrag studies energy technology and policy, including carbon capture and storage and low-carbon synthetic fuels.

From 2009-2017, Schrag served on  President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.  Among various honors, he is the recipient of the James B. Macelwane Medal from the American Geophysical Union and a MacArthur Fellowship. Schrag earned a B.S. in geology and geophysics and political science from Yale University and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of California at Berkeley. He came to Harvard in 1997 after teaching at Princeton.

Geochemical oceanography, paleoclimatology, stable isotope geochemistry.

Assistant: Cayla Jett

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Room 433F
26 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
p: (617) 495-7676, f: (617) 496-0425
David  Johnston

David Johnston

Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Director of Graduate Studies

Isotope geochemistry and historical geobiology. Re-animating ancient ecosystems and ocean chemistry using stable isotope systems, chemical speciation techniques, modern microbial experiments (for calibration) and theoretical considerations.

Research Group Coordinator: Mallory Bradbury

EPS
20 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138

Office Location: Geo Mus 363
p: 617-496-5024 f: 617-384-7396
Andrew Knoll

Andrew Knoll

Fisher Professor of Natural History; Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Emeritus

Andy Knoll is the Fisher Professor of Natural History at Harvard University. He received his B.A. in Geology from Lehigh University in 1973 and his Ph.D., also in Geology, from Harvard in 1977.... Read more about Andrew Knoll

Harvard University Botanical Museum
26 Oxford St.
Cambridge MA 02138

Office location: Botanical Museum Room 50
p: 617-495-9306, f: 617-495-5667
2024 Feb 26

EPS Colloquium: Francis Macdonald, UC Santa Barbara

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Geo Mus 102 (Haller Hall) and Zoom

The Great Unconformity and flooding of North America

The Great Unconformity is an iconic feature across North America marked by the contact between Archean-Proterozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks and overlying Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks. It has been proposed the Great Unconformity was created by extreme erosion associated with Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations, which not only delivered limiting nutrients to the ocean that drove the subsequent emergence of animals, but also sent large amounts of sediment to trenches that lubricated subduction zones and...

Read more about EPS Colloquium: Francis Macdonald, UC Santa Barbara

Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellowship - Accepting Applications

October 10, 2023

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences 
Harvard University 
Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 


The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University invites applicants for the Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.  

The Department seeks candidates in the broad field of Earth and Planetary Sciences including but not limited to geology, geochemistry, geobiology, geodynamics, petrology,...

Read more about Reginald A. Daly Postdoctoral Research Fellowship - Accepting Applications
2023 Oct 10

EPS Colloquium - Eve-Lyn Hinckley, University of Colorado Boulder

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Geo Mus 102 (Haller Hall) and Zoom

From Early Earth to Acid Rain and Agriculture: A Broad Look at the Changing Global Sulfur Cycle

Sulfur (S) is a key component of life and an element that has been dramatically changed by human industrial activities, including mining and fossil fuel combustion. Today, the nature of how humans alter the global S cycle is changing. As atmospheric S deposition has declined in response to air quality regulations in the United States and Europe, there has been an increase in S fertilizer applications reported in many large-scale regional crop systems. In addition, intensification...

Read more about EPS Colloquium - Eve-Lyn Hinckley, University of Colorado Boulder
2023 Nov 27

EPS Colloquium - Alison Stokes, University of Plymouth (England, UK)

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Geo Mus 102 (Haller Hall) and Zoom

‘Picking your path’ towards accessible and inclusive geoscience field education

Fieldwork is a critical aspect of geoscience education and there is now a substantive body of research-informed evidence to support its continued inclusion in the undergraduate geoscience curriculum. However, while the value of fieldwork for understanding the Earth and Earth processes is well established, fieldwork as an activity is not inclusive or accessible for all students. This is particularly true for students with disabilities who can encounter multiple barriers to participating in...

Read more about EPS Colloquium - Alison Stokes, University of Plymouth (England, UK)
2023 Oct 16

EPS Colloquium - Paul Segall, Stanford University

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Geo Mus 102 (Haller Hall) and Zoom

Earthquake Insights From the Best Recorded Volcanic Caldera Collapse In History

Two outstanding problems in seismology are predicting the recurrence times of earthquakes and understanding the physical processes that immediately precede them. While geodetic measurements record elastic strain accumulation, most faults have recurrence intervals far longer than available measurements. Foreshocks provide the principal observations of processes prior to mainshocks, yet variability between sequences has limited generalizations of pre-failure behavior. In 2018 Kilauea volcano...

Read more about EPS Colloquium - Paul Segall, Stanford University

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