Luther professor wins $120,000 grant

Luther College College assistant professor of environmental studies and chemistry Laura Peterson has received a $120,197 grant from the National Science Foundation to support the acquisition of laboratory instruments for paleoclimatological research.
 
Peterson's research is focused on reconstructing the Earth's past climate behavior to further understand current climate system dynamics. An important tool in this research is alkenone paleothermometry, a methodology for estimating past sea surface temperatures through compounds preserved in ocean sediments.

"With the funding from this grant, along with additional funding I've received from Luther College, I'll be able to get my research laboratory up and running," said Peterson. "I look forward to being able to involve Luther students in paleoclimatological research."

The one-year grant will fund the purchase of an accelerated solvent extractor and a gas chromatograph, the instruments necessary to perform alkenone analysis in Peterson's research laboratory at Luther.

Peterson holds the bachelor of arts degree from Carleton College and the master of science and doctoral degrees from Brown University.