With broad research interests focused on field techniques in aquatic, climate andQuaternary sciences, Dr. Doran has conducted more than ten field seasons in the Canadian High Arctic and at last count about fifteen in the Antarctic in this pursuit.  

Specific research areas include modern hydrological and biogeochemical processes in polar lake systems, and the use of this modern calibration in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, paleolimnology and sedimentology of perennially ice-covered Antarctic lakes, problems in Quaternary dating in the Antarctic dry valleys, biogeochemistry of deeply ice-covered lakes, physical controls on and ecological impact of persistent lake ice covers, modern controls on carbon isotopic signatures in lacustrine systems, and the use of the dry valleys as analogs to help in the search for evidence of extant or extinct life on other worlds. He has also conducted research in microclimatology of polar regions using automated weather stations. This research has been mostly connected to defining the climate controls on ice covers and modeling of polar lake systems.

He is currently a co-PI on the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) project in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica and PI of two NASA projects in the McMurdo Dry Valleys called ASTEP (Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets). To view all Dr. Doran's projects, click here.

There has been a lot of discussion about Dr. Doran et al.'s 2002 Nature paper on Antarctic climate cooling. He published an op-ed in The New York Times to straighten out some confusion in the media. Here are extra relevant links and details.