Department of Earth and Environmental Science

Hermann W. Pfefferkorn

Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Science
University of Pennsylvania
240 South 33rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316

Tel. (215) 898-5156
Fax (215) 898-0964
E-mail: hpfeffer@sas.upenn.edu

Current Research Interests:

Late Paleozoic Paleoclimatology Based on the Study of Fossil Plants

Climate on Earth was similar to today’s conditions during the Carboniferous and Permian. This is the only other time interval when large plants covered the landscape during a cold phase of Earth history (= ice age s.l. or icehouse conditions). Therefore, we can use that Late Paleozoic time interval as a base line to understand current and future changes of today’s vegetation. To achieve this goal I study Carboniferous and Permian fossil floras, their paleoecology and paleoclimatology in North and South America, Europe, and China. I am especially interested in the beginning and end of the ice age. I have focused on tropical floras of the Carboniferous and Permian, but have also included warm temperate floras in the Southern Hemisphere that had not been recognized before. Some of my publications are listed, in reverse chronological order under subheadings that characterize the directions of my research.

I have also worked and taught in several areas of APPLIED GEOLOGY since my graduate student days and have expertise in a number of areas including hydrogeology, environmental questions, origin of Earth materials, coal geology, mine reclamation, and terrestrial sedimentology among others. I am experienced in understanding and explaining Earth systems, both natural and those influenced by human activity, to audiences of any level of previous knowledge.