Advent of Complex Life

Ann Pearson
Laboratory for Molecular Biogeochemistry and Organic Geochemistry
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Harvard University
20 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138
617-384-8392
pearson at eps dot harvard dot edu

Ann Pearson is the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her research focuses on using analytical chemistry, isotopic geochemistry, and molecular biology to approach questions of evolutionary heritage and contemporary function. The "how, when, and why" of microbes yields insight into environmental conditions on Earth today, in the past, and potentially our future. Recent research has focused mainly on understanding the origins of important environmental and taxonomic lipid molecular fossils. The presence of lipids in modern and ancient organic matter reflects the resistance of complex hydrocarbons to both biotic and abiotic degradation, making this class of compounds excellent "biomarkers". Pearson received her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, where she earned the C. G. Rossby Award for Best Dissertation in the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate. In 2004 she received a Fellowship for Science and Engineering from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

Ann Pearson directs the Laboratory for Molecular Biogeochemistry and Organic Geochemsitry. She will be responsible for supervising the work of Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon and Ms. Yundan Pi.

Ann Pearson lab Web site

Materials

Presentation: "Recent, Current, & Future Projects of Pearson Lab" (PDF, 3 Mb)