Ann Pearson

Ann Pearson is the PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences and Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, affiliated with the Department of Geology, Geophysics, and Planetary Science. Her research integrates analytical chemistry, isotope geochemistry, and molecular biology to study Earth’s biochemical oceanography and environmental history.

Education: PhD in Chemical Oceanography from MIT/WHOI (awarded C. G. Rossby Dissertation Prize) and B.A. in Chemistry from Oberlin College.

Research Interests: Focus on microbial processes in Earth’s carbon and nitrogen cycles, lipid biosynthesis pathways, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Recent work explores oxidation effects on organic matter, quinone biosynthesis in aerobic metabolism, and archaeal lipid biomarkers.

Awards: Packard Fellowship (2004), Radcliffe Institute Fellowship (2009), Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Investigator (2012), and 2024 National Academy of Sciences membership.

Lab/Team: Pearson Group, conducting interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of geochemistry and microbiology.