Jon Gewirtzman

I’m an ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist. I study how carbon, nutrients, and greenhouse gases move through ecosystems, and what that means for Earth’s climate, soils, and water. Ecosystems and climate shape each other: warming, drought, storms, pathogens, and land use alter how ecosystems function, which in turn affects whether they capture or release climate-warming gases. I study both directions of that relationship.

Plants and microbes drive these cycles, so that’s where I focus: which species and communities are present, how they interact, and how their activity adds up, from the microbes living inside a single tree to whole forests and wetlands. I use field measurements, experiments, molecular tools, and sensors I help build. I’m also interested in how this understanding can inform land and nutrient management, greenhouse gas accounting, natural carbon capture, and climate engineering.

I’m a Stanford Science Fellow in the Department of Earth System Science, working with the Jackson Lab. I completed my PhD at the Yale School of the Environment in 2026, and have been a research fellow at Harvard Forest, an LTER Synthesis Fellow with NCEAS, and adjunct faculty in the Connecticut College Department of Botany.

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