This method identifies biomarkers in sedimentary organic matter, including rock extracts and petroleum, to provide insight into thermal maturity, depositional environment, reservoir characterization, oil-to-oil and oil-to-rock correlation, and source rock characterization.
Katherine French
Katherine (Kate) French is a research geochemist in the Central Energy Resources Science Center (CERSC) at the USGS in Denver, Colorado. She specializes in organic and petroleum geochemistry with a focus on hydrocarbon biomarkers in rocks, sediments, and oils.
Kate received a B.S. in chemistry from Yale University (2009), completed a Ph.D. in geochemistry from the MIT/WHOI joint program in oceanography (2014), and was an Agouron postdoctoral fellow at WHOI (2016). She started with the USGS in 2017 where she focuses on molecular characterization of sedimentary organic matter, developing improved analytical methods, and enhancing understanding of biomarkers in the sedimentary record. She has applied her research to geobiology of early Earth and Phanerozoic anoxia, organic matter transport from land to sea, and petroleum systems. She is a member of the Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group (MCSG), which is a team that provides technical expertise to maximize the scientific potential of the Mars samples that would be returned to Earth as part of Mars Sample Return (MSR).
Professional Experience
Research Geochemist at the Central Energy Resources Science Center (CERSC) at the USGS in Denver (2017-present)
Agouron Geobiology Postdoctoral Fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI; 2015-2016)
Education and Certifications
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography (MIT/WHOI); Ph.D. in Geochemistry (2010-2014)
Fulbright Scholar in Germany at the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI; 2009-2010)
Yale University; B.S. in Chemistry (2005-2009)
Science and Products
Geochemical data for the Cenomanian-Turonian Eagle Ford Group recorded in the USGS Gulf Coast 3 (GC-3) drill core of southwest Texas
Daily operating standard data used for verification of the Petroleum Geochemistry Research Laboratory Method for Qualitative Biomarker Analysis of Crude Oil and Rock Extracts by Gas Chromatography-Single Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry
Data release for Geochemistry of the Cretaceous Mowry Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Data Release for "Comparability and reproducibility of biomarker ratio values measured by GC-QQQ-MS"
Geochemistry data for the USGS Gulf Coast #1 West Woodway core - A thermally immature core of the Eagle Ford Group in central Texas
This method identifies biomarkers in sedimentary organic matter, including rock extracts and petroleum, to provide insight into thermal maturity, depositional environment, reservoir characterization, oil-to-oil and oil-to-rock correlation, and source rock characterization.
Assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil and gas resources in the Upper Jurassic Smackover Formation, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2022
U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Region 2022 science exchange, showcasing interdisciplinary and state-of-the-art USGS science
Report of the Science Community Workshop on the proposed First Sample Depot for the Mars Sample Return Campaign
Geochemistry of the Cretaceous Mowry Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Biomarkers in the Precambrian: Earth’s ancient sedimentary record of life
Carotenoid biomarkers in Namibian shelf sediments: Anoxygenic photosynthesis during sulfide eruptions in the Benguela Upwelling System
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2019
Comparability and reproducibility of biomarker ratio values measured by GC-QQQ-MS
Trends in thermal maturity indicators for the organic sulfur-rich Eagle Ford Shale
Biomarker similarities between the saline lacustrine Eocene Green River and the Paleoproterozoic Barney Creek Formations
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Central North Slope of Alaska, 2020
Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast, Texas, 2019
Science and Products
Geochemical data for the Cenomanian-Turonian Eagle Ford Group recorded in the USGS Gulf Coast 3 (GC-3) drill core of southwest Texas
Daily operating standard data used for verification of the Petroleum Geochemistry Research Laboratory Method for Qualitative Biomarker Analysis of Crude Oil and Rock Extracts by Gas Chromatography-Single Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry
Data release for Geochemistry of the Cretaceous Mowry Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Data Release for "Comparability and reproducibility of biomarker ratio values measured by GC-QQQ-MS"
Geochemistry data for the USGS Gulf Coast #1 West Woodway core - A thermally immature core of the Eagle Ford Group in central Texas
This method identifies biomarkers in sedimentary organic matter, including rock extracts and petroleum, to provide insight into thermal maturity, depositional environment, reservoir characterization, oil-to-oil and oil-to-rock correlation, and source rock characterization.
This method identifies biomarkers in sedimentary organic matter, including rock extracts and petroleum, to provide insight into thermal maturity, depositional environment, reservoir characterization, oil-to-oil and oil-to-rock correlation, and source rock characterization.