astronomy

Peter Doran

Peter Doran is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peter Doran rather than just read about it. In short: Peter T. Doran is an American-Canadian Earth scientist who is Professor of Geology and Geophysics and John Franks Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University.

Key takeaways

Peter Doran belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peter Doran to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peter Doran from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter T. Doran is an American-Canadian Earth scientist who is Professor of Geology and Geophysics and John Franks Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University. Prior to 2015, he was faculty in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Doran specializes in polar regions, especially Antarctic climate and ecosystems. Doran was the lead author of a research paper about Antarctic temperatures that was published in the journal Nature in January 2002. Because he and his colleagues found that some parts of Antarctica had cooled between 1964 and 2000, his paper has been frequently cited by opponents of the global warming theory, such as Ann Coulter and Michael Crichton. In an opinion piece in the July 27, 2006 New York Times, Doran characterized this as a "misinterpretation" and stated, "I have never thought such a thing ... I would like to remove my name from the list of scientists who dispute global warming." (The temporary phenomenon is related to the "hole" in the ozone. As the "hole heals" the Antarctic will dramatically warm quickly.) Doran and his graduate student Maggie Kendall Zimmerman also published a paper in the January 27, 2009 issue of Eos showing that active climate researchers almost unanimously agree (97.4%) that humans have had a significant impact on the Earth's climate. This was the first of three different studies by three different groups to establish this scientific consensus figure of 97 to 98% agreement, the others being Anderegg et al. (2010) and Cook et al. (2013). Doran also applies his expertise in extreme polar environments to planetary science and has led and been a member of several NASA-funded projects using polar regions as analogs for Mars and icy/ocean worlds. He was nominated by former Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmidt to be a member of the Planetary Protection Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council in 2008 and served until 2017. In 2018 he was appointed to represent the U.S. as a member of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Panel on Planetary Protection. In 2022 he was made Vice Chair of the Panel. Both an Antarctic stream and glacier were named for Doran by the U.S. Geological Survey to commemorate his many significant research contributions conducted on the continent. Doran was elected as a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2018.

Education Doran did his undergraduate at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario, his Master of Science at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario and moved to the U.S. in 1992 for a Ph.D. in Hydrology and Hydrogeology at the University of Nevada, Reno

Personal life Peter Doran was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. His father, Terence Doran, was a renowned gynecologist and obstetrician with a private practice and a faculty position at the University of Toronto, and was a pioneer of prenatal diagnosis.

Most Cited Publications Source: McKnight, D.M., E.W. Boyer, P.K. Westerhoff, P.T. Doran, et al. 2001. Spectrofluorometric characterization of dissolved organic matter for indication of precursor organic material and aromaticity. Limnology and Oceanography 46 (1), 38–48. Cook, J., N. Oreskes, P.T. Doran, W.R.L. Anderegg, B. Verheggen et al. 2016. Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters 11 (4), 048002 1502. Doran, P.T. and M.K. Zimmerman. 2009. Examining the scientific consensus on climate change. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 90 (3), 22–23. Doran, P.T., J.C Priscu, W.B. Lyons, J.E. Walsh, A.G. Fountain, D.M, McKnight, et al. 2002. Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response. Nature 415 (6871), 517–520.

References

External links Scientists Cry Foul! interview of Doran on On the Media, a National Public Radio program, February 16, 2002 Antarctic cooling, global warming? RealClimate, December 3, 2004 Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response Doran, et al. in the journal Nature January 31, 2002 Cold Pursuits: A Scientist's Quest to Uncover Antarctica's Secrets December 2018 video created by The Wall Street Journal on Doran's Antarctic research

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Doran

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Doran claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peter Doran before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peter Doran ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peter Doran

In research: Peter Doran appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peter Doran in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peter Doran is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1960 births, American Antarctic scientists, American earth scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Doran outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Peter Doran in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peter Doran means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peter Doran out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Doran in simple terms?

Peter T. Doran is an American-Canadian Earth scientist who is Professor of Geology and Geophysics and John Franks Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University.

Why does Peter Doran matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peter Doran?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peter Doran.