Expert Profile
James Randerson
Chancellor's Professor Earth System Science
James Randerson studies the global carbon cycle using remote sensing and in-situ measurements and different types of models.
Areas of Expertise
- Climate-Carbon Cycle Feedbacks
- Forests
- Wildfires
- Climate
- Plants
Biography
Randerson studies the global carbon cycle using remote sensing and in-situ measurements and different types of models. Current research themes in his laboratory include climate-carbon cycle feedbacks, land use change, and the effects of fire on ecosystem function and atmospheric composition. He has conducted field work in Alaska and Siberia to assess the long-term impacts of fire on surface energy exchange and fluxes of carbon dioxide. In 2005 Randerson was the recipient of the James B. Macelwane Medal awarded by the American Geophysical Union for "significant contributions to the geophysical sciences by an outstanding young scientist." He received a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (1998) and a B.S. in Chemistry (1992) from Stanford University. He conducted work as a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Berkeley and University of Alaska. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Media
Media Appearances
California Wildfires Have Become More Severe, Killing More Trees, UC Irvine Researchers Find - More State Forests Are Vulnerable to Wildfire Due to Climate Change
Sierra Sun Times, 11/24/2024
As climate warms, California wildfires are becoming more sever, killing more trees
Physical.org, 11/15/2024
Fact Check-Viral video of satellite images is not evidence that Quebec fires were orchestrated attacks
Reuters, 6/13/2023
A Looming El Niño Could Dry the Amazon
WIRED, 2/6/2023
The last thread of hope to revive California’s trees is vanishing
Popular Science, 2/5/2023
Torrential rains wreaking havoc on California communities proving beneficial for state's forests
ABC News, 1/12/2023
How to Save a Forest by Burning It
The New York Times, 9/8/2022
Seeing Hurricanes – Even Just Through the Media – Can Impact Your Mental Health
NDTV, 7/21/2022
California is losing its trees — perhaps permanently — as climate change is shifting its ecosystems
ZME Science, 7/15/2022
Articles
Machine learning to predict final fire size at the time of ignition
International Journal of Wildland Fire
The effect of plant physiological responses to rising CO2 on global streamflow
Nature Climate Change
The Community Land Model Version 5: Description of New Features, Benchmarking, and Impact of Forcing Uncertainty
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
Expansion of Coccidioidomycosis Endemic Regions in the United States in Response to Climate Change
GeoHealth
Expansion of high-latitude deciduous forests driven by interactions between climate warming and fire
Nature Plants volume
Education
Stanford University
PhD, Biological Sciences, 1998
Stanford University
BS, Chemistry, 1992
Accomplishments
- Piers J. Sellers Global Environmental Change Mid-Career Award
- NASA Group Achievement Award
Affiliations
- American Geophysical Union : Fellow
- Ecological Society of America
- American Association for the Advancement of Science
- National Academy of Sciences of the United States