Rob Jackson
· Michelle and Kevin Douglas Provostial Professor and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for EnergyStanford University · Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
Active 1787–2024
About
Rob Jackson is the Michelle and Kevin Douglas Provostial Professor and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and at the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University. His lab examines the many ways people affect the Earth, producing basic scientific knowledge to help shape policies and reduce the environmental footprint of issues such as global warming and energy extraction. His current research includes examining the effects of climate change and drought on old-growth forests, as well as measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through initiatives like the Global Carbon Project, which he chairs. Jackson leads efforts to establish a global network of methane tower measurements across the Amazon and over 100 sites worldwide, focusing on measuring and reducing methane emissions and air pollution from various sources including oil and gas wells, city streets, and buildings. An accomplished author and photographer, he has published books on climate solutions and the environment, as well as poetry, with his photographs appearing in major media outlets. His accolades include the Blue Planet Prize, fellowships in several prestigious scientific societies, and awards such as the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering from the National Science Foundation.
Research topics
- Environmental science
- Ecology
- Geography
- Geology
- Biology
- Computer Science
- Climatology
- Atmospheric sciences
- Economics
- Environmental resource management
- Oceanography
- Natural resource economics
- Chemistry
- Medicine
- Business
- Soil science
- Economic growth
- Physical geography
- Development economics
- General surgery
- Algorithm
- Engineering
- Agronomy
- Surgery
Selected publications
Communications Earth & Environment · 2024 · 32 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Computer Science
- Environmental science
- Computer Science
Abstract Direct air capture has gained traction as a method for carbon dioxide removal. How and whether direct air capture can be deployed requires securing social license to operate, and increasingly demands environmental justice and just transition principles. Here we use a nationally representative survey to evaluate public perceptions of direct air capture, paired with focus groups to assess community perceptions across four communities in the United States: Houston, Texas; Monaca, Pennsylvania; Bakersfield, California; and Rock Springs, Wyoming. We find conditional support for direct air capture deployment among focus group participants, and majority support for direct air capture deployment among national survey respondents. The most important determinants of project support were procedural justice elements—in particular community involvement in planning and implementation—and anticipated community benefits in the forms of local infrastructure and workforce development, supporting the need to center environmental justice and just transition principles into project planning and implementation. Where concerns over environmental and health implications are strong, direct air capture may not gain local social license to operate, especially in communities with previous negative experiences with industry.
Extensive global wetland loss over the past three centuries
Nature · 2023 · 801 citations
- Environmental science
- Physical geography
- Ecology
A Case Report of Cosmetic Abdominoplasty in a Patient With Colostomy Appliance
The American Journal of Cosmetic Surgery · 2022
- Medicine
- Surgery
- General surgery
Our patient presents with a unique case of both functional and cosmetic concerns following colectomy for the treatment of Crohn’s disease with subsequent massive weight loss following bariatric surgery. She desires abdominoplasty to address these concerns. Thorough preoperative planning and work up set the ground work for a successful procedure. We’ve shared our intraoperative approach, which has never before been published in the literature. Following her procedure, the patient had a mostly uneventful postoperative course. Her functional and cosmetic concerns were addressed with the procedure. The surgical outcome exceeded her expectations. Patients seeking body contouring surgery following bariatric surgery can be expected to increase. We suspect there may be other patients similar to ours that are experiencing similar functional and cosmetic concerns that can be addressed with cosmetic surgery. Due to the extremely unique nature of this case, we’ve shared our approach in hopes that our success can serve as a resource to other surgeons with similar patients.
Earth system science data · 2022 · 1606 citations
- Computer Science
- Environmental science
- Computer Science
Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe and synthesize datasets and methodology to quantify the five major components of the global carbon budget and their uncertainties. Fossil CO2 emissions (EFOS) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, while emissions from land-use change (ELUC), mainly deforestation, are based on land use and land-use change data and bookkeeping models. Atmospheric CO2 concentration is measured directly, and its growth rate (GATM) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The ocean CO2 sink (SOCEAN) is estimated with global ocean biogeochemistry models and observation-based data products. The terrestrial CO2 sink (SLAND) is estimated with dynamic global vegetation models. The resulting carbon budget imbalance (BIM), the difference between the estimated total emissions and the estimated changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere, is a measure of imperfect data and understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle. All uncertainties are reported as ±1σ. For the first time, an approach is shown to reconcile the difference in our ELUC estimate with the one from national greenhouse gas inventories, supporting the assessment of collective countries' climate progress. For the year 2020, EFOS declined by 5.4 % relative to 2019, with fossil emissions at 9.5 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1 (9.3 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1 when the cement carbonation sink is included), and ELUC was 0.9 ± 0.7 GtC yr−1, for a total anthropogenic CO2 emission of 10.2 ± 0.8 GtC yr−1 (37.4 ± 2.9 GtCO2). Also, for 2020, GATM was 5.0 ± 0.2 GtC yr−1 (2.4 ± 0.1 ppm yr−1), SOCEAN was 3.0 ± 0.4 GtC yr−1, and SLAND was 2.9 ± 1 GtC yr−1, with a BIM of −0.8 GtC yr−1. The global atmospheric CO2 concentration averaged over 2020 reached 412.45 ± 0.1 ppm. Preliminary data for 2021 suggest a rebound in EFOS relative to 2020 of +4.8 % (4.2 % to 5.4 %) globally. Overall, the mean and trend in the components of the global carbon budget are consistently estimated over the period 1959–2020, but discrepancies of up to 1 GtC yr−1 persist for the representation of annual to semi-decadal variability in CO2 fluxes. Comparison of estimates from multiple approaches and observations shows (1) a persistent large uncertainty in the estimate of land-use changes emissions, (2) a low agreement between the different methods on the magnitude of the land CO2 flux in the northern extra-tropics, and (3) a discrepancy between the different methods on the strength of the ocean sink over the last decade. This living data update documents changes in the methods and datasets used in this new global carbon budget and the progress in understanding of the global carbon cycle compared with previous publications of this dataset (Friedlingstein et al., 2020, 2019; Le Quéré et al., 2018b, a, 2016, 2015b, a, 2014, 2013). The data presented in this work are available at https://doi.org/10.18160/gcp-2021 (Friedlingstein et al., 2021).
Earth system science data · 2022 · 1779 citations
- Environmental science
- Atmospheric sciences
- Climatology
Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe and synthesize data sets and methodologies to quantify the five major components of the global carbon budget and their uncertainties. Fossil CO2 emissions (EFOS) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, while emissions from land-use change (ELUC), mainly deforestation, are based on land use and land-use change data and bookkeeping models. Atmospheric CO2 concentration is measured directly, and its growth rate (GATM) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The ocean CO2 sink (SOCEAN) is estimated with global ocean biogeochemistry models and observation-based data products. The terrestrial CO2 sink (SLAND) is estimated with dynamic global vegetation models. The resulting carbon budget imbalance (BIM), the difference between the estimated total emissions and the estimated changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere, is a measure of imperfect data and understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle. All uncertainties are reported as ±1σ. For the year 2021, EFOS increased by 5.1 % relative to 2020, with fossil emissions at 10.1 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1 (9.9 ± 0.5 GtC yr−1 when the cement carbonation sink is included), and ELUC was 1.1 ± 0.7 GtC yr−1, for a total anthropogenic CO2 emission (including the cement carbonation sink) of 10.9 ± 0.8 GtC yr−1 (40.0 ± 2.9 GtCO2). Also, for 2021, GATM was 5.2 ± 0.2 GtC yr−1 (2.5 ± 0.1 ppm yr−1), SOCEAN was 2.9 ± 0.4 GtC yr−1, and SLAND was 3.5 ± 0.9 GtC yr−1, with a BIM of −0.6 GtC yr−1 (i.e. the total estimated sources were too low or sinks were too high). The global atmospheric CO2 concentration averaged over 2021 reached 414.71 ± 0.1 ppm. Preliminary data for 2022 suggest an increase in EFOS relative to 2021 of +1.0 % (0.1 % to 1.9 %) globally and atmospheric CO2 concentration reaching 417.2 ppm, more than 50 % above pre-industrial levels (around 278 ppm). Overall, the mean and trend in the components of the global carbon budget are consistently estimated over the period 1959–2021, but discrepancies of up to 1 GtC yr−1 persist for the representation of annual to semi-decadal variability in CO2 fluxes. Comparison of estimates from multiple approaches and observations shows (1) a persistent large uncertainty in the estimate of land-use change emissions, (2) a low agreement between the different methods on the magnitude of the land CO2 flux in the northern extratropics, and (3) a discrepancy between the different methods on the strength of the ocean sink over the last decade. This living data update documents changes in the methods and data sets used in this new global carbon budget and the progress in understanding of the global carbon cycle compared with previous publications of this data set. The data presented in this work are available at https://doi.org/10.18160/GCP-2022 (Friedlingstein et al., 2022b).
Duke University Press eBooks · 2022
- Computer Science
- Computer Science
Duke University in 2009-2010. There I had the opportunity to present and develop some of my thoughts on the two films that would become the basis for my first chapter.
Nature Aging · 2021 · 49 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Gerontology
- Economic growth
- Psychology
Decadal changes in fire frequencies shift tree communities and functional traits
Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2021 · 79 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Ecology
- Environmental science
- Biology
Global and regional drivers of land-use emissions in 1961–2017
Nature · 2021 · 557 citations
- Environmental science
- Agricultural economics
- Natural resource economics
A trade-off between plant and soil carbon storage under elevated CO2
Nature · 2021 · 646 citations
Senior authorCorresponding- Environmental science
- Agronomy
- Ecology
Recent grants
NSF · $317k · 2009–2013
NSF · $15k · 2007–2010
Groundwater Use and Salinity Dynamics at Forested Sites of Temperate South America
NSF · $415k · 2007–2011
Dissertation Research: Tradeoff of Carbon and Water with Agricultural Conversion of Grasslands
NSF · $15k · 2009–2011
NSF · $340k · 2003–2007
Frequent coauthors
- 314 shared
Philippe Ciais
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement
- 227 shared
Marielle Saunois
Université Paris-Saclay
- 193 shared
Philippe Bousquet
Université Paris-Saclay
- 191 shared
Josep G. Canadell
- 148 shared
Benjamin Poulter
- 131 shared
Bo Zheng
Tsinghua University
- 117 shared
Pierre Friedlingstein
Sorbonne Université
- 114 shared
Estéban G. Jobbágy
Centro Científico Tecnológico - San Luis
Labs
Awards & honors
- Blue Planet Prize
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