Thure E. Cerling

Thure E. Cerling is an American geochemist, born in 1949, Distinguished Professor of Geology, Geophysics and Biology at the University of Utah since 1979, who pioneered the use of stable isotopes as natural tracers of the diets and physiology of modern animals. His carbon isotope research demonstrated the global expansion of C4 photosynthesizing plants between roughly seven and five million years ago, and his studies of stable isotopes preserved in elephant tail hair revealed patterns of animal migration and diet; in 2003 he co-founded Isoforensics after discovering that hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios in human hair correlate with geographic location. He was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences in 2001. He received the Penrose Medal in 2025.