Sierra Petersen

Sierra Petersen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan, within the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). She leads the SCIPP Lab, which focuses on reconstructing past climate and ocean conditions using geochemical signals from fossil materials. Her work integrates cutting-edge isotope analysis and field studies across diverse geological time periods and locations, emphasizing collaboration and methodological innovation. She teaches EARTH 296.066, offering undergraduates a research-based course in paleoclimatology and paleontology. Current lab projects include NSF-funded studies on Last Interglacial climate in the Caribbean and Atlantic, Cretaceous climate dynamics, and improving clumped isotope methodologies.

Dr. Petersen holds a B.S. in Geochemistry from the California Institute of Technology (2009) and a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Harvard University (2014). Her research emphasizes sub-annual climate variability preserved in mollusk shells, ocean-ice sheet interactions, and the role of Deccan Traps volcanism in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. She collaborates with institutions like Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and maintains the University of Michigan Stable Isotope Lab with co-PIs Lohmann and Cole.

Her research interests span clumped isotope applications, biologically driven isotopic fractionations (BioDIFs), and interdisciplinary approaches to paleoclimate reconstruction. Recent work explores seasonal climate patterns in ancient greenhouse climates and technical improvements for clumped isotope measurements. She has advised multiple undergraduates and is actively involved in public climate communication through media interviews and NGO engagements like the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

In advising, Dr. Petersen has engaged with graduate students and postdocs through funded fellowships and NSF grants, though recruitment for 2025 is paused. Her lab’s technical innovations include the ClumpDB standardization project and dual-reservoir techniques for small carbonate samples. Current lab locations include renovated spaces in the North University Building (moved 2019), housing advanced mass spectrometry equipment.