James Zachos | |
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 James Zachos | |
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| Occupation | Oceanographer, paleoclimatologist  |
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James Zachos is an Americanpaleoclimatologist,oceanographer, andmarine scientist. He is currently a professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary sciences atUniversity of California, Santa Cruz where he was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences in 2017.[1][2] His research focuses on the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of lateCretaceous andCenozoic oceans, and how past climatic conditions help improve forecasts of the consequences of anthropogeniccarbon emissions on futureclimate change.[3][4][5]
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, includingStanford University,University of Cambridge, andUtrecht University,University of São Paulo, and International Conference on Paleoceanography VIII.[6] He has also participated on multipleOcean 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.[7]
Zachos is a fellow of theGeological Society of America,American Academy of Arts and Sciences, andAmerican Geophysical Union. In 2016, he received theMilutin Milankovic Medal by the European Geosciences Union, which is awarded to scientists for their outstanding research in long-term climatic changes and modelling.[8]
Zachos’ research is focused on the biological, chemical, and climatic evolution of late Cretaceous and Cenozoic oceans (i.e., the last 66 million years).[9] This research typically involves analysis of the chemical and isotopic composition of fossil shells frommarine sediments to reconstruct past changes ice-volume, ocean temperatures, circulation, productivity, andcarbon cycling.[10] 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 thePaleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.[11][12][13]
In 1981 Zachos received bachelor's degrees in Geology and Economics from theState University of New York, Oneonta.[14] Zachos obtained his M.S. in Geology (1983) at TheUniversity of South Carolina and a Ph.D. in Geological oceanography at theUniversity of Rhode Island. After completing his education, he pursued a postdoctoral fellowship atUniversity 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 theUniversity of Cambridge.
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