Katherine Freeman
Office
235 Deike Building
Dept of Geoscience
University Park, PA 16802
Email: khf4@psu.edu
(814) 863-8177
Mailing Address
235 Deike Building
Dept of Geoscience
University Park, PA 16802
Education
B.S. Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1980
M.S. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1989
Ph.D. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 1991
Honors and Awards
2022 Honorary Doctorate of Science, The University of Chicago
2022 Alumnae Legacy Wall Honoree, Wellesley College
2021 The Day Medal, The Geological Society of America
2020 The Nemmers Prize in Earth Sciences, Northwestern University
2019 Moore Distinguished Scholar, Caltech
2019 Richard Owen Alumni Award, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2017 The Alfred Treibs Award, The Geochemical Society
2013 Fellow, American Geophysical Union
2013 Elected to membership, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
2013 The Wilson Award for Excellence in Research, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
2012 Cozzarelli Prize, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
2012 Heinz Lowenstam Science Innovation Award, European Association of Geochemistry
2011 Fellow, Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry
2011 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
2010 Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
2008 Faculty Mentoring Award, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
2007 Fellow, Geological Society of America
2004 The Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
2002 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award, the Graduate School
2001 Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Earth System Evolution Program
1999 James Lee Wilson Medal in Sedimentology, SEPM, the Society for Sedimentary Geology
1997 The Peter Schenck Award, European Association of Organic Geochemists
Research
My group studies ancient organic compounds from past life on Earth and organics on meteorites and asteroid materials to understand their origins in space and planetary environments. Our group is known particularly for developing novel methods to analyze stable isotope ratios of organic compounds, and their application to past climates, biogeochemistry, and astrobiology. We employ a variety of mass spectrometry methods, including most recently HRMS (Orbitrap MS) to map isotope patterns within natural products.