Dr. Petra Dekens

Dr. Petra Dekens is currently serving as the Chair of the Department of Earth & Climate Sciences. Her research in paleoceanography focuses on understanding the mechanisms which sustained the most recent time of sustained global warmth in Earth’s climate history; the early Pliocene. In addition to her climate change research, Dr. Dekens serves on the DEI advisory committee for the AGU, the largest professional society for Earth and space scientists, and has co-authored papers examining the inclusion of women and BIPOC scientists at AGU conferences. At SF State Dr. Dekens serves on the College of Science & Engineering Anti-Racism Task Force, and her work as part of the NSF Transforms team focuses on the Restores initiative to create mechanisms to address bias-related incidents.