Peter Doran

{{Third-party|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Peter Doran

| image = Peter Doran, 2015.jpg

| caption = Doran in 2015

| birth_date = June 28, 1960

| workplaces = Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University

| fields = Antarctic climate and ecosystems, astrobiology

}}

Peter T. Doran is an American Earth scientist who is Professor of Geology and Geophysics and John Franks Endowed Chair at Louisiana State University.[https://sites.google.com/site/professorpeterdoran/ Professor Doran's web page] 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."Doran, Peter. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/opinion/27doran.html Cold, Hard Facts]. New York Times 27 July 2006. (The temporary phenomenon is related to the "hole" in the ozone. As the "hole heals" the Antarctic will dramatically warm quickly.){{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Doran and his graduate student Maggie Kendall Zimmerman also published [https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2009EO030002 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){{cite journal |last1=Anderegg |first1=William R. L. |last2=Prall |first2=James W. |last3=Harold |first3=Jacob |last4=Schneider |first4=Stephen H. |title=Expert Credibility in Climate Change |journal=PNAS |date=July 6, 2010 |volume=107 |issue=27 |pages=12107–12109 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1003187107 |pmid=20566872 |pmc=2901439 |bibcode=2010PNAS..10712107A |doi-access=free }} and Cook et al. (2013).{{cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=John |last2=Nuccitelli |first2=Dana |last3=Green |first3=Sarah A. |last4=Richardson |first4=Mark |last5=Winkler |first5=Bärbel |last6=Painting |first6=Rob |last7=Way |first7=Robert |last8=Jacobs |first8=Peter |last9=Skuce |first9=Andrew |title=Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature |journal=Environmental Research Letters |date=May 15, 2013 |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=024024 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024 |bibcode=2013ERL.....8b4024C |s2cid=250675802 |doi-access=free }}

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) [https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/scientific-structure/panels/panel-on-planetary-protection-ppp/ 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.