J. Taylor Perron

J. Taylor Perron is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He serves on the Martin Fellows Selection Committee and leads the Perron research group based in Building 54, 10th floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Professor Perron's research focuses on Geomorphology - the scientific study of landscapes. His work spans three primary interconnected areas:

• Landscape Evolution: Investigating how rivers, climate, and biology interact to shape Earth's surface over time, with particular interest in dynamic river networks, grain-scale sediment transport mechanics, islands and reefs, and connections between landscape evolution and biological evolution.
• Planetary Surfaces: Using spacecraft data to explore landforms on other worlds, especially rivers and coasts on Mars and Saturn's moon Titan, to understand planetary climate history and potential for life.
• Human Landscape: Collaborating with archaeologists to explore how physical landscapes influenced human prehistory, including studies of carbon-rich soils in the Amazon and archaeological remote sensing.

Professor Perron's publication record demonstrates consistent focus on river network dynamics and drainage basin evolution. His innovative work on the Chi coordinate system for bedrock rivers has provided new methods for measuring drainage basin reorganization and river capture events. Recent publications show increasing integration of field observations from diverse locations including the Amazon Basin and Blue Ridge Escarpment with theoretical modeling approaches.

Professor Perron leads an active research group at MIT, mentoring students and collaborating with researchers worldwide. His work combines fieldwork, mathematical and computational modeling, remote-sensing data analysis, and laboratory experiments to understand Earth's surface processes and their implications for both terrestrial and planetary landscapes.

The Perron research group is based at MIT's Building 54, 10th floor in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they investigate how geology, climate, and life intertwine to shape planetary surfaces across temporal and spatial scales.