Portrait

PERRIN W. DAVIDSON

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor: Daniel Rothman
Email: firstname middleinitial lastinitial at mit dot edu
Office: Building 54, Room 1810

GitHub - ORCID - Google Scholar - ResearchGate


RESEARCH

I am interested in combining nonlinear and statistical physics with applied mathematics to explore the dynamics of living systems on Earth. My work seeks to answer basic questions about how the organization and structure of these systems evolve over vastly different spatial and temporal scales, from the chemical reactions within a single cell to climatic shifts over hundreds of millions of years. A central focus of my research is the Carbon Cycle, investigating how various Earth processes-like photosynthesis and respiration-partition carbon and how theoretical models can help explain observed patterns. I began my time as a graduate student interested in applying modeling of geochemical proxies to constrain a wide range of earth processes, from carbon export in the modern surface ocean to mean ocean temperature during the Last Glacial Maximum.

PUBLICATIONS

Here are some manuscripts in preparation and review:

  1. J. Kenyon, P. W. Davidson*, K. Buesseler, P. Lam, S. Pike: "234Th as a Tracer of Particle Export in the North Pacific." [2024, manuscript in review]
  2. P. W. Davidson, J. Kenyon, K. Buesseler, D. Nicholson, E. Ceballos-Romero: "Surface to Sediment Radioactive Constraints on POC Export." [2024, manuscript in preparation]
  3. P. W. Davidson and D. Rothman: "The Onset and Decay of Climate-Carbon Cycle Disruptions." [2024, manuscript in preparation]
And below are some recent publications:
  1. A. Seltzer, P. W. Davidson*, S. Shackleton, D. Nicholson, S. Khatiwala: "Global Ocean Cooling of 2.3C during the Last Glacial Maximum." [2024, Geophysical Research Letters] (DOI, open-access)
  2. A. Seltzer, D. Nicholson, W. Smethie, R. Tyne, E. Le Roy, R. Stanley, M. Stute, P. Barry, K. McPaul, P. W. Davidson, B. Chang, P. Rafter, P. Lethaby, R. Johnson, S. Khatiwala, W. Jenkins: "Dissolved gases track deep ocean ventilation processes and reveal enhanced benthic denitrification in the deep North Atlantic." [2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] (DOI, open-access)
In the above, * indicates equal contributions.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Education
Present - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Ph.D. Candidate in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science
2022 - The University of Chicago - B.S. in Applied Mathematics and B.A. in Physics

Experience
2022 to Present - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Graduate researcher in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science (Advisor: Daniel Rothman)
2022 to 2023 - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Graduate researcher in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry (Advisors: Alan Seltzer and David Nicholson)
2020 to 2022 - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Undergraduate researcher in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry (Advisors: Ken Buesseler and David Nicholson)
2018 to 2022 - The University of Chicago - Undergraduate researcher in the Department of Geophysical Sciences (Advisor: David Archer)