Francien Peterse

Dr. ir. Francien Peterse is an Associate Professor in Organic Geochemistry at Utrecht University's Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences. She leads the Organic Geochemistry group and specializes in reconstructing past climate and carbon cycle dynamics using molecular biomarkers from sedimentary archives. Her research focuses on continental temperature records, particularly in monsoon-influenced regions (East Asia, tropical Africa) and the fate of terrestrial organic carbon in marine systems.

Research Interests: Peterse investigates carbon cycle-climate interactions through biomarker proxies (GDGTs, isotopes). Key themes include: 1) Deconvolving temperature and precipitation signals in monsoon records; 2) Terrestrial organic carbon transport and preservation in marine environments; 3) Developing and calibrating novel paleothermometers (e.g., brGMGTs, phytol εp); 4) High-resolution paleoclimate reconstruction from lake sediments (e.g., Lake Chala). Fieldwork spans the Godavari River, Chinese Loess Plateau, Gulf of Mexico, and East Africa.

Publication Trends (2017-2025): Her recent articles emphasize methodological advances in biomarker proxy development (40%), applications to Quaternary and Eocene climates (35%), and organic carbon cycling in river-ocean systems (25%). Dominant keywords include paleothermometry, GDGTs, monsoon dynamics, carbon transport, and lacustrine archives.

Awards & Grants:

• NWO-Vidi (€800,000; 2019)
• NWO Aspasia (2020)
• UU-NIOZ grant (€350,000; 2021)
• ETH Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011)
• NWO-Veni Fellowship (2013)
• KNAW China Exchange Program (2016)

Research Infrastructure: Peterse co-leads biomarker analyses for international projects including ICDP DeepCHALLA and NICO expeditions. She collaborates extensively with NIOZ and ETH Zürich, focusing on sedimentary lipid biomarkers and isotopic techniques to address fundamental questions in paleoclimatology and biogeochemistry.