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Margaret Torn

Margaret S. Torn

Ecologist & Biogeochemist

Senior Scientist

Building 084, Room 0340

M/S 74R316C

Phone: 510-495-2223

Fax: 510-486-7775

mstorn@lbl.gov

Curriculum Vitae

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar
  • Publication listing
  • Education
  • Experience
  • Awards
  • Professional Affiliations
  • Boards & Committees
  • YouTube Videos

Biography

Margaret S. Torn is Senior Advisor in the Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division (CESD) and lead of the Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions Program Domain, which includes the Atmospheric Systems Research and Terrestrial Ecosystems Science programs. Margaret co-led the former Climate and Carbon Sciences Program Area in the old Earth Sciences Division. She is lead PI for three large DOE-supported projects: AmeriFlux Management Project, Belowground Carbon Cycling Scientific Focus Area, and Land-Atmosphere Interactions, and is co-PI for the Next Generation Ecosystem Experiment in the Arctic. At U.C. Berkeley, Margaret is an Adjunct Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, where she has taught classes on climate change impacts and adaptation, and a seminar on food systems. In 2003 she received the Presidential Early Career Award as one of the country’s top young scientists and was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Zurich.

Margaret is an ecologist and biogeochemist who studies the natural carbon cycle and human impacts on the carbon cycle through land use, energy use, and climate change. Her research uses field experiments, isotopic tracers (14C, 13C), laboratory analysis, and mathematical models. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on topics ranging from the basic mechanisms of soil carbon cycling and ecosystem-climate feedbacks, to ecological aspects of bioenergy production, to strategies for climate-change mitigation.

Publications

  • Researcher ID
  • Google Scholar
  • Publication listing

Research Interests

Margaret is currently studying the effects of thawing permafrost on Arctic ecosystems and their greenhouse gas emissions, and she is pioneering a new approach to soil-warming experiments in temperate and arctic ecosystems. She is an internationally recognized expert in soil carbon cycling, seeking to understand the potential for positive feedbacks that amplify climate change on the one hand, and the potential for soils to act as a large carbon sink on the other. She leads the AmeriFlux Management Project, serving the AmeriFlux network of more than 500 sites in North, Central, and South America that measure exchange of carbon, water, and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere. These data are used by thousands of scientists worldwide. Members of her research group are directly measuring the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their impact on Earth’s energy balance. Margaret is also a founding member of the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, creating road maps of the technical transformation required to protect the climate.

Education

  • Ph.D. Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley, 1994
  • M.S. Energy and Resources, University of California, Berkeley, 1990
  • B.S. Conservation and Resource Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1984, Highest Honors

Experience

  • Adjunct Professor, Energy and Resources, U.C. Berkeley, 2018-Present
  • Senior Advisor, CESD, LBNL, 2015-Present
  • Program Head, Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions, CESD, LBNL, 2001-Present
  • Senior Scientist, Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division (CESD; formerly ESD), LBNL, 2013-Present
  • Associate Adjunct Professor, Energy and Resources, U.C. Berkeley, 2005-2018
  • Staff Scientist, ESD, LBNL, 2005-2013
  • Scientist, Earth Sciences Division (ESD), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), 1998-2005
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, U.C. Irvine and Stanford University, 1994-1998
  • Graduate Research Assistant, Energy and Resources Group, U.C. Berkeley, 1986-1994
  • Research Principal Investigator, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Colorado, 1991-1993
  • Science Intern, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 1985-1986

Awards

  • President, AGU Biogeosciences Section, 2021-2022
  • President-elect, Biogeosciences Section, AGU, 2019-2020
  • Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Science, 2017
  • Union Fellow, American Geophysical Union, 2017
  • Women @ The Lab 2015 Award, 2015
  • Honorary Doctorate, University of Zurich, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, 2015
  • Secretary of Energy Outstanding Mentor Award, 2008
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2003
  • DOE Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, 2003
  • Earth System Science Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1994-1997
  • NASA Global Change Doctoral Fellowship, 1991-1994
  • Switzer Environmental Fellowship, 1990-1992
  • Graduate Opportunity Fellowship, U.C. Berkeley, 1986-1987

Professional Affiliations

  • American Geophysical Union
  • Ecological Society of America

Advisory Boards, Committees, and Councils

  • Core Member, ERG Executive Committee, UC Berkeley (2003-2005 as Affiliate), 2006-Present
  • Member, Division Council, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) - Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division (formerly ESD), 2001-Present
  • Co-Organizer, International Year of Soil Workshop, 2016
  • Co-Chair/Organizer, AmeriFlux Principal Investigators Meeting, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • Co-Organizer, North American Carbon Program NACP fifth all investigators meeting (PIM5) Washington DC, 2015
  • Co-Organizer, Land-Atmosphere Interactions Breakout Session, ASR/ARM Science Team Meeting, 2014
  • Co-Organizer, DOE Workshop: Strategies to Promote Integrated Experiment-Model Approaches to Terrestrial Ecosystem Study, Washington DC, 2012
  • Lead Organizer, Terrestrial Radiocarbon Database international workshop, Berkeley, CA, 2011
  • Organizing Committee and Session Chair, China-US Climate Change Conference, Berkeley, CA, 2006
  • Advisory Board, Reviewer, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), 2005
  • Co-Chair, Continental Synthesis Task Force, Science Steering Group, (NACP), 2005
  • Science advisor, Union of Concerned Scientists assessment of climate change and wildfire impacts in California, 2005
  • Chair, ESD Diversity Committee, LBNL & UC Berkeley, 2003-2006
  • National Technical Advisory Committee, DOE National Institute for Global Environmental Change, 2003-2005
  • Co-Chair and Author, DOE Water Cycle Dynamics and Prediction Program Plan, 2001
  • Co-Organizer, NSF Workshop for Research in Joint Geosciences and Biosciences, Madison, WI, 2001

YouTube Videos

  • Climate Change Hotspot: Point Reyes - Climate Change Lengthens Wildfire Season, February 3, 2021
  • Governor Jerry Brown in Conversation with AGU Scientists: Protecting Earth’s Climate, December 11, 2019
  • AGU Lightning Talks III: Future Climate, December 10, 2019
  • Terrestrial CDR: Ecological Limits and Impacts, May 30, 2011
  • Science at the Theater - How Hot Will It Get? April 22, 2013
  • Science at the Theater: Secrets of the Soil, November 11, 2011
  • The Carbon Cycle with Margaret Torn, October 13, 2011
  • Sit Down with Sabin: Margaret Torn: The Carbon Cycle Like You've Never Seen It, July 7, 2011
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