James Zachos is an American paleoclimatologist, oceanographer, and marine scientist. He is currently a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz where he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2017.Stephens, Tim. “Climate scientist James Zachos elected to National Academy of Sciences”. UC Santa Cruz Newscenter. 2017-05-02. His research focuses on the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of late Cretaceous and Cenozoic oceans, and how past climatic conditions help improve forecasts of the consequences of anthropogenic carbon emissions on future climate change.University of California, Santa Cruz. eps.ucsc.edu.Nyack, Al. “Ocean Acidification in Earth’s Past: Insights to the Future”. Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
Overview Professor Zachos has co-authored over 180 publications and has been invited to give over 140 lectures at institutions, universities, and conferences around the world, including Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and Utrecht University, University of São Paulo, and International Conference on Paleoceanography VIII.UC Santa Cruz. websites.pmc.ucsc.edu He has also participated on multiple Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Expeditions to the Arctic and Southern Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. In 2003, Zachos served as the co-chief scientist of Leg 208 expedition to the south Atlantic.Ocean Discovery Program. “A Rapid Rise in Greenhouse Gas Concentrations 55 Million Years Ago: A Deep-Sea Perspective on the Causes and Consequences”. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
Zachos is a fellow of the Geological Society of America, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and American Geophysical Union. In 2016, he received the Milutin Milankovic Medal by the European Geosciences Union, which is awarded to scientists for their outstanding research in long-term climatic changes and modelling.European Geosciences Union. MILUTIN MILANKOVIC MEDAL. 2016. Retrieved 2018-02-06
Research Zachos’ research is focused on the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of late Cretaceous and Cenozoic oceans (i.e., the last 66 million years).Underwood, Time. “Zachos of UC Santa Cruz Speaks About Climate Change Jan. 25. Furman University News. 2018-01-12. This research typically involves analysis of the chemical and isotopic composition of fossil shells from marine sediments to reconstruct past changes ice-volume, ocean temperatures, circulation, productivity, and carbon cycling.University of California, Santa Cruz. eps.ucsc.edu Combined with numerical models, such observations are used to determine the mechanisms responsible for the long and short-term changes in global climate. Presently, Zachos’ research group is studying several episodes of rapid and extreme changes in climate, including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.Yale University. “Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum”. The People of Geology & Geophysics . Retrieved 2018-02-08.
Academic Background In 1981 Zachos received bachelor's degrees in Geology and Economics from the State University of New York, Oneonta.Stephens, Tim. “Earth scientist James Zachos elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union”. UC Santa Cruz Newscenter. Retrieved 2008-02-14. Zachos obtained his M.S. in Geology (1983) at The University of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Geological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. After completing his education, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Michigan from 1988 to 1990 before joining the faculty of the Department of Earth Sciences UC Santa Cruz in 1992. In 2000, he was a visiting fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Recognition
2022 - BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the category "Climate Change".BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award 2022 2018 - Foreign Member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
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