Kelden Pehr

Biography

Dr. Kelden Pehr has been focusing on petroleum in its various forms since beginning of her career. Her focus is the alteration and preservation of organic matter – essentially of all the components that make up oil and gas – and how that developed through geological time, especially in marine sediments, but also in continental settings. Her PhD focused on problems regarding the maturation of organic matter in immature, mature, and over-mature oil-rich sediments. The big question was: which components would survive until which stage during maturation, and when would they start to break down, and into what? She continued her studies by looking at oil that came from the most unexpected places on Earth: from black smokers in nearly 3000 meters of water depth offshore North and Central America. In tiny droplets, these smokers have been and are still producing oil, questioning the paradigm of how much pressure oil-rich sediments need to mature. Now, Dr. Pehr is continuing her research into oil components in the Williston Basin Icebox and Bakken Formations, as well as applying her knowledge to characterize lignite deposits in North Dakota.

Dr. Pehr holds a doctorate in Geological Sciences from the University of California, Riverside and earned a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from MIT. Prior to joining UND, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Lehigh University.